• Full-day tour to Biblical Samaria to meet the remnant of the ancient Samaritan people. 
• Explore Mt. Gerizim National Park – a vast archaeological site that is the center of the Samaritan faith. 
• Visit the Samaritan town of Kfar Luza and tour the Samaritan Museum and meet with a local Samaritan priest .
• Explore the archaeological site of Shiloh where, according to the Rabbinic tradition, the Tabernacle of the Ark of the Covenant stood for 400 years.
• Meet with members of the Jewish religious Zionist community to discuss Jewish settlement of this land.

This tour takes us to the heart of Samaria where we will visit the site of two tabernacles mentioned in the Torah and New Testament as well as the communities that have developed around these holy sites. First, we will head up to Mt. Gerizim National Park to see the vast archaeological site that is central to the Samaritan faith tradition.

It is here that the world was created, Noah and Abraham built sacrificial altars, Isaac was bound by his father, and Jacob dreamed of the angels ascending and descending the ladder. According to the Samaritans, this is where the Children of Israel first established the tabernacle that housed the Ark of the Covenant upon entering the land of Israel.

Once numbering in the millions, today there are only some 850 Samaritans left in the world. According to the Samaritans, they are the last surviving remnant of the ten lost tribes of Israel who were carted off by the Assyrians 2,800 years ago. As such, they see themselves as direct descendants of the tribes of Joseph and not Judah. Following our visit to the archaeological site, we will tour the local Samaritan Museum and meet with one of the community’s priests to learn more about this ancient community’s customs and beliefs.

From Mt. Gerizim, we will head south to the Israeli settlement of Shiloh where we will have lunch at a local restaurant before heading to the extensive archaeological site and modern visitor’s center. According to Rabbinic Jewish tradition, it was here and not on Mt. Gerizim that the Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant existed for almost 400 years prior to its eventual transfer to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Following our visit to ancient Shiloh, we will sit down with some local residents to learn about their view of the Arab-Israeli conflict and why, despite widespread international condemnation, they remain committed to settling the lands captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.