Ep 21: Aliza Bellehsen Avshalom – Guiding Paths and People in Israel

Ep 21: Aliza Bellehsen Avshalom – Guiding Paths and People in Israel

In this episode, I sat down with Aliza Bellehsen Avshalom in her beautiful home in the Galilee for a wide ranging discussion based on her decades of experience as a tour guide in Israel. Among other topics, we talked about Aliza’s fascinating familial connection to Israel, growing up in New Jersey and what led her to train as a tour guide. We discussed her background of working with youth tours and educational tourism; environmental tourism and her love of hiking and the Land of Israel; cultural and ethnographic tourism and her desire to connect with her neighbors in a very multicultural and religiously diverse Galilee; the role of religion in tour guiding and her experiences as a religious Jew guiding devout Christians; multigenerational family tours; and the role that gender may play in tour guiding. In addition, we discussed guiding styles, changes in tour guide training, studying the Talmud and what makes Israel special. Aliza can be reached directly either by email at: aliza.avshalom@gmail.com or through her excellent “Israel Paths and People” website where you can see the gamut of the fantastically interesting tours that she offers.

Free Tour – India and Haifa in the Colonial Era

Come and enjoy a Free Tour (Donations Welcome) in English and learn about Haifa’s fascinating connections to India that date back to the colonial era. Dr Eyal Dujovny, scholar and resident of Haifa, spent over ten years living and researching in India and will lead a free tour that explores the capture of Haifa by Indian soldiers in World War I and the various surprising colonial-era connections between the land of Israel and India.

Virtual Tour of Haifa

Join Dr. Eyal for a virtual tour of his hometown of Haifa. Israel’s most dramatic and beautiful city. Located on the tip of the Carmel Mountain where it meets the sea, we will learn about Haifa’s origins and how it went from being a small town to Israel’s third largest city in a matter of only 30 years. Tickets will be sold on Eventbrite on a donation basis with a $1 minimum donation to attend.