RHINE RIVER CRUISE 2019

Education & Entertainment Program Featuring:

Rabbi Marvin Hier, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Dr. Rachel Furst, David Kraus, Rabbi Stewart Weiss, Dr Veerle Vanden Daelen, plus entertainment by Howie Kahn, Cantor Yoni Rose, and Adi Bar – Plus more!

Including History & Heritage Tours & Community Visits to:

• Bamberg
• Würzburg
• Frankfurt
• Worms
• Mainz
• Cologne
• Amsterdam
• Antwerp

Lecture Topics:

• Martyrdom and Piety: The Religious Impulses of Medieval Ashkenaz
• US Israel Politics As It Affects Israel
• Entering the Rhineland—Nuremburg and Furth as Cultural Crossroads
• Introduction to Medieval Ashkenaz: 950-1450 CE
• Bamberg’s Jewish History
• Movie program & Commentary: Churchill – Walking With Destiny
• Beyond Rashi’s Daughters: The Myth of Medieval Ashkenazi Superwomen
• Würzburg: City of Sages
• To Secede or Not To Secede? The Great Frankfurt-Wurzburg Debate
• Digital Terrorism & Hate Around the world – Why ISIS is winning the war
• Frankfurt: The Jerusalem of Germany
• Worms: The Holy Community
• Mainz: The People and the Book
• Cologne: Witness to Exile, Witness to Return
• The Prime Ministers 2 – Soldiers & Peacemakers Menachem Begin & Yitzhak Rabin Movie program & commentary
• And many more!

This captivating journey takes participants along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Rhine through Germany & the Netherlands. There have been Jews in the Rhineland since the first centuries of the Common Era when they first sailed down the Rhine along with the Roman army. The earliest written account of Jewish life in the region is an edict signed in A.D. 321 by Emperor Constantine allowing Jews to be elected to the curia of Cologne.

Vestiges of Jewish life along the banks of the river recall a history marked by extended periods of prosperity and cultural richness, cut short time and again by violence. Virtually intertwined with the vineyards that dot the region, scattered tombstones and a few reconstituted sanctuaries tell the story. With renowned speakers, historians and local community leaders, this cruise explores the past and current rebirth happening throughout this region.

The name Ashkenaz was coined in the Middle Ages by Jews living along the Rhine River in Northern France and Western Germany, and the term became identified primarily with German customs and descendants of German Jews. The center of Ashkenazi Jews later spread to Bohemia, Hungary and Poland-Lithuania. From the mystical valleys and castles of the Rhine to Holland’s windmills, join Kosher River Cruises for an in-depth educational adventure as it explores millennia of Jewish history and heritage along the Rhine River.

The cruise brings participants both art and culture in places that bear witness to thousands of years of European as well as Jewish history. The cruise will be enhanced by your on-board Kosher River Cruise historians, lecturers, and educators, who bring to life each region’s rich and complex Jewish history and heritage.

The all-inclusive program includes delicious Glatt Kosher cuisine, on-board synagogue with daily minyanim, engaging lectures, entertainment and on-board programing, and local tours at the ports of call.

Just imagine watching the river flow from the window of the cabin or one of the decks as it sails to new places and reveals storybook landscapes as guests relax in total comfort. The sublime ambiance and personal service aboard the Kosher River Cruise ship creates an oasis of relaxation that is simply unexcelled. Each one of the bright, airy cabins has unrestricted views of the scenery through panoramic, glass windows, and every cabin features a French balcony (sliding glass windows) that spans the cabin’s width. Experience European travel like never before with the sheer ease of river cruising!