Crystal Cruises Offers Jewish History Tours in Europe

Crystal Cruises is increasing its excursions to explore Europe’s Jewish heritage this year. A predecessor to the line’s new Christian heritage tours, the program gives Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony travelers a chance to learn firsthand about Jewish culture and history. The outings visit neighborhoods, museums, monuments, synagogues, and other sites in or near Palamos, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamburg, Rome, Odessa, St. Petersburg, and Israel.

Highlights include:

*  Haifa: A kibbutz, the ancient holy city of Safed, Golan Heights, and a second-century Jewish burial ground.
*  Girona: El Call, one of Europe’s best-preserved Jewish Quarters, by Segway or foot.
*  Dublin: The homes of Dublin’s Jewish Lord Mayors and ex-Israeli President Herzog, the first dedicated day school, and Jewish cemetery.
*  Stockholm: The Jewish Museum and three local synagogues, from Stockholm’s first (1790) to one whose interior is originally from another synagogue in Hamburg.
*  Berlin: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Grosse Hamburger Strasse deportation area, Otto Weidt’s broom-making factory, and the 205,000-square-foot Holocaust Memorial (two different excursions).
*  Athens: Athens’ Jewish Museum, containing 8,000+ domestic and religious artifacts from 2,300 years of Greek Judaism.
*  Odessa: Kosher refreshments, Ukraine’s only Jewish history museum, Shomrei Shabbos synagogue, and Beit Grand Jewish Cultural Center.
*  Hamburg: Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, home of 100,000+ WWII prisoners.
*  Ashdod: Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Old City, and Holocaust artifact-filled Yad Vashem memorial.