Glitches in the system:

Once, the freezer truck broke. Another time, the mobile kitchen didn’t work. A hotel once forgot about our guests’ booking. I’ve had people sign up for a helicopter ride and the pilot never shows up, people who sign up for a hike but the guide calls in sick. Things happen all the time.

Tips on choosing a tour company:

Know yourself and what you want to get out of your vacation. For example, I don’t arrange five-star accommodations, because our goal is not to spend much time in the hotel. The goal is to spend time out in the world. Our costs go to providing experiences that you’d probably never be able to arrange on your own. Get referrals, sign up with an honest and upfront company so you know what you’re getting… and be flexible. Many times, things happen that are out of the organizer’s control. That’s actually why I don’t book airline tickets myself — I don’t want people to be upset with me if their flights are canceled.

Where do you want to go but haven’t gotten to yet?

Alaska.

How do you create a good Shabbos atmosphere?

Some people say the highlight of their entire vacation is our Shabbos. We have a beautiful oneg Shabbos, minyanim, Melaveh Malkah. Simcha Leiner and Baruch Levine join us to add spirit, and we also arrange top-rate speakers and scholars-in-residence. I purposely hand-pick speakers who love nature and love being there… because if they’re inspired, the rest of us will be too.

What’s most important — accommodations, program, entertainment, or food?

Activities I would rank as number one. Food is number two.

How do you recharge after a successful trip is over?

I go back to my regular jobs. I’m executive director of two yeshivahs, one in Eretz Yisrael and one in Boca Raton. There’s no crash, I’m literally back at work the next day. As Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg taught me, we have very limited time in this world. I try to make the most of it.

What happens when the bus is leaving, and some of the guests just don’t know how to keep to schedule? Or if a guest insists on doing something risky, illegal, or against the rules?

What makes us unique is that we allow each family to customize its own itinerary. We don’t have a bus taking everyone to one destination. Everyone picks different activities and does different things on different days. I tell all the guests on Day One that they’re responsible for getting to their activities. (They’re also responsible for their own car rental.) If they aren’t there on time, then they’ll miss out. Ultimately, it’s their vacation and it’s up to them what they want to make out of it.

One thing I have no patience for, though, is when someone makes a chillul Hashem. If that happens, I’ll give them a full refund, and they’re asked to leave. Many of the locals have never met a Jew before, so this is a wonderful opportunity, as well as a responsibility, to educate people, and hopefully when we leave, they are left feeling positively toward Yidden.

“The People Make It Memorable”

Name: Helit Edelstein

Location: San Diego, California (offices are in Miami and Israel)

Company: Kosherica

Years in the Biz: 30 years

Kashrus: Maritime Glatt Kosher for the cruises, Kosher Mehadrin, and OK for the resorts.

Busy Season: Baruch Hashem, we’re busy all year round

What does organizing a trip look like?

The key to any good program is being extremely organized ahead of time. Making sure we have the equipment we need, getting the highest-quality provisions on time, hiring the best staff, and being 100 percent prepared weeks prior to an event. You can never walk into an event still finalizing details. It would never be smooth under those circumstances.

How did you get started?

Over 30 years ago, my father went on a cruise, and he was limited to eating processed frozen meals. It was intolerable after the second day, and he opted to eat fruits and vegetables for the rest of the voyage. He made a commitment at that point to make kosher options more accessible. He wanted people who kept kashrus to have the opportunity to eat with dignity and grace.

How many people do you take at a time?

It depends on how many we can comfortably fit in the dining space. On some cruises, we take over 700. On riverboats, we’re limited to about 100.

Where do you go, and how many tours do you do per year?

In a normal year, about 12 cruises plus four Pesach hotels and resorts. We go to Alaska, the Caribbean, Iceland, Australia, Italy, France, Vietnam, Hungary, Switzerland, South America, and all over the United States.

Things you didn’t know before you started:

I grew up in this world; it’s the family business. I’ve been involved since I was 16. I was used to it from a very young age.

Your most challenging customer:

There’s always going to be at least one. On one cruise, a guest decided he wasn’t happy with the itinerary and tried to get the captain to reverse course, and got really grumpy when he wouldn’t.

Glitches in the system:

Things happen, but we just work with it. For example, people miss flights — but they’ll catch the next one. If we don’t have a certain product we need — so we’ll have to use a substitute.

Your most memorable groups:

 Every time I’m in the middle of a tour, I feel like this one is for sure the most memorable one ever. I’ve kayaked next to stunning glaciers, seen beautiful museums, heard incredible chazzanus in Russian shuls, but I find that the people I’m with make it really memorable.

Your favorite location:

Paradise Island, Atlantis, in the Bahamas. It’s one of the most beautiful places, with one of the largest marine habitats in the world. Lots of aquariums, magnificent white sandy beaches, a huge resort water park, thrilling slides, and shark tanks you can even swim in. There are also miles of the most gorgeous beaches, where I’ve felt a level of solitude that I’ve never felt anywhere else.

The ideal vacation destination:

 The location isn’t important. Anywhere relaxing with great food is good. What’s really important is if my kids are entertained. If my kids are happy, I’m happy… And of course, a few spa services here and there wouldn’t hurt.

What’s the hardest part?

 The logistics are incredibly complicated and difficult. We need to make sure that everything meets USDA inspections, customs inspections, and our own internal inspections. We need to make sure that we can procure the best ingredients and equipment while holding to very narrow timetables. The hours are long and exhausting, but truly worth it when you see it all come together beautifully.

Where would you never want to visit?

Yemen and Afghanistan. They don’t feel safe to me.

Where do you want to go but haven’t gotten to yet?

South Africa (I grew up there, but haven’t been back since I was a kid) and Thailand.

Tips on choosing a tour company:

Pick a company that’s been around for a while and has good customer service. You’ll be able to tell when you call how efficient and responsive the company is, and that should give you some indication of what your entire trip will be like. Also, pick destinations that will thrill you personally, not just ones that everyone tells you are amazing. And look into the clientele — decide if these are people you’d want to spend your vacation with.

How does Shabbos work?

Kosherica programs are actually a subdivision of a larger cruise. Halachically, we have to be in the minority in order to be allowed to travel on Shabbos. We put together a beautiful Shabbos program with lectures all day, long meals, and events for kids, and make it as engaging as possible. And there’s nothing more magical and calming than staring at the ocean on Shabbos!

How do you deal with cultural sensitivities?

There are people of all different nationalities working in cruise kitchens. We are always careful to be very respectful and pleasant, because we want them to respect our detailed and intense kosher needs.

What happens when the bus is leaving, and some of the guests just don’t know how to keep to schedule? Or if a guest insists on doing something risky, illegal, or against the rules?

The ship has to keep to an extremely strict schedule; the Cruiseline gets penalized thousands of dollars every minute a ship is delayed. We did have someone miss the ship once, but they managed to get on a flight to the next location and meet us there. Fun fact: There’s a prison on board the ships! We’ve never had to use it for our Kosherica customers, but there is a very strict protocol, with police officers and everything. Being on a ship is like living in a little city.

How do you recharge after a successful trip is over?

After 18- to 19-hour work days, I crash. But life goes on, and we always need to prep for the next amazing event.

What’s most important — accommodations, program, entertainment, or food?

Food. When people are full, they’re happy and feel good. When they’re unhappy with the food, it’s hard to concentrate on anything else — even if they’re somewhere magnificent.

“Hey, Any  Rooms Left?”

Name: Sruly Schmidt

Location: Howell, NJ

Company: MYS Events

Years in the Biz: Privately for about six or seven years, publicly for about one year.

Kashrus: Each event is different. We always take a hashgachah with high standards that works for most types of people.

How did you get started?

When my wife and I were a young couple, the first few times we went on vacation, I called a travel agent. At one point, I realized that I had a knack for organizing trips on my own. I was good at arranging details, and we had wonderful family vacations. Whenever extended family and friends wanted to go away, they’d call me for tips: Where should we go? What should we do? How do we do it? I helped them out. I still help families arrange private vacations, but last year I went public and began organizing huge hotel vacations during midwinter break, Shabbos Chanukah, Lag B’omer, Shabbos Hagadol, and Chol Hamoed, and families can just join in on the fun. Our focus is on family-friendly fun; we usually rent out water parks and resorts so we can have our own separate men’s and women’s hours. Then we arrange entertainment and screen it to make sure it meets our community’s high standards… like Baruch Perlowitz’s game shows, the Chicago Boys, bike shows, dog shows, etc. We’ve also recently branched out to private events such as corporate parties, fundraising events, and weddings. We run the entire event from beginning to end.

Where do you go, and how many events do you do per year?

We’re mostly just in the US, but we do a few in Canada and are slowly branching out. We recently did our first trip to Morocco. There’s no set number of events per year. We did about ten big events this year for at least 400 people at local hotels, and a few smaller ones throughout other states.

What does organizing a trip look like?

 The hardest part is finding the destination. Once we find an appropriate place, we plan the itinerary around it, find out what the must-see attractions and highlights are in that area, and decide what we want to accomplish — for example, if it should be a fully catered event, or if it’s going to be more budget-friendly where people bring their own food. Then we kasher the kitchens and ship the food. We always bring a sefer Torah and have a minyan.

How many people do you take at a time?

Our biggest hotel group was 1,700 people during midwinter break. Smaller groups are usually around 30 people, but sometimes it’s just families on their own.

Your most memorable groups:

The midwinter vacation at Kartrite Resort in Monticello, New York. We hosted 1,700 people and were so organized, they were all seated in less than 15 minutes on Friday night. It was a huge success.

Things you didn’t know before you started:

It was a huge surprise to me to discover just how last-minute our community is. Hotels want their lists of people in the reservation at least two to four weeks in advance… and I’m always getting calls three hours before Shabbos, asking, “Hey, can I have a room?”

What’s the hardest part?

After finding the right hotel, it’s keeping the hotel staff happy while simultaneously keeping our clients happy. There are always some kinks with the hotels initially, until we get the standards we’re looking for. Once, a hotel’s smart toilets were muktzeh, and we hired an engineer to come down and build a system to bypass those smart sensors.

I’m also aware that since we have larger families and more children than typical hotel guests, the staff might find that challenging, so I’m always bringing schnapps and gifts for the staff and giving out big tips to keep them happy.

Your most challenging customer:

It’s not so much about the person, it’s more about the timing. We always try to accommodate everyone’s needs. Sometimes there are people who need help with technicalities at a busy time, and when the staff is focused on helping only one family, it slows things down for everyone else and disturbs the entire rhythm of the event.

Glitches in the system:

Once a hotel canceled ten of my guests’ bookings by mistake because they showed up very late. I was with them until 3 a.m. helping them get checked in. Baruch Hashem, everything worked out, but now I always rent extra rooms, just in case.

Your favorite location:

For me, it’s not the location. I love seeing people enjoying themselves, wherever we are.

How do you create a good Shabbos atmosphere?

 We focus on the nitty-gritty details, set up with beautiful décor, make sure to have delicious food… even the lighting has an impact. We hire choirs to sing zemiros and hartzige niggunim during candle-lighting — the mothers always get so emotional, and that starts the entire Shabbos out on the right foot.

What’s most important —accommodations, program, entertainment, or food?

Accommodations. If you’ve had a good night’s sleep and are well rested, it feels like a real vacation. A close second is food, and then program. Entertainment is a huge topper, too.

Where would you never want to visit?

I can’t think of any place I wouldn’t want to visit… except maybe places I’ve already visited. I enjoy visiting new places.

Ideal vacation destination:

If I need to just tune out, I’m happy to sit on a Florida beach, but I would get bored after a while, and would start looking around for some action, hiking, or biking trails.

What happens when the bus is leaving and some of the guests just don’t know how to keep to schedule? Or if a guest insists on doing something risky, illegal, or against the rules?

At our hotel getaways, especially those with water parks, we enforce strict tzniyus rules. For example, we have men and women swim times and insist that everyone walk back to their rooms fully tzniyus. When issues come up, we deal with them gently.

What does organizing a trip look like?

It’s a lot of hard work. Hours of research, advertising, sending out mailings, registering people, and answering their questions. Preparing the itinerary, dealing with payments, hiring people, reserving a hotel, booking the guide.

Where do you want to go but haven’t gotten to yet?

Alaska.

How do you recharge after a successful trip is over?

I’m drained… but after a good night’s sleep, I’m usually back at work the next day.

“It’s More Fun with Friends”

Name: Sheila Schwebel

Location: Flatbush, NY

Company: Tourrific Travel

Years in the Biz: Since 1981

Kashrus: Everything is mehadrin min hamehadrin, chalav Yisrael, and glatt

Busy season: Spring and summer

How did you get started?

Years ago, when I was living in Yerushalayim with my husband and five children, I was thinking of becoming a licensed Israeli tour guide. I had extensive interviews, a police check, and a six-hour psychological test (which were all prerequisites). But when I realized that it would require many hours of intense training, with travel away from my young children, I gave up the idea.

At the suggestion of three BJJ girls, who often came to us for Shabbos, Israel Torah Trip (ITT) was born. I organized and led a six-week tour to Eretz Yisrael for Bais Yaakov graduates (an alternative to seminary). I loved sharing the places we all learn about in Tanach, and getting the girls to see (and love) the Land of our Forefathers through my eyes. It was a phenomenal tour, exploring Israel from north to south every summer with wonderful teenage girls, and it was a zechus to daven at so many kivrei tzaddikim. I found it to be an absolute joy, and I loved it.

Although we eventually moved back to America, I continued leading ITT groups to Israel. At the same time, I started organizing graduation trips for students in the States. Most of those trips were in the spring, but the time of year and the destination varied according to each school’s request — Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls, Virginia, etc.

What does organizing a trip look like?

It’s a lot of hard work. Hours of research, advertising, sending out mailings, registering people, and answering their questions. Preparing the itinerary, dealing with payments, hiring people, reserving a hotel, booking the guide.

How many people do you take at a time?

In order to create an atmosphere of camaraderie, my tours are limited to one bus. Mrs. Rena Tarshish has traveled with me on almost all my trips to Europe and Asia, inspiring all who hear her. Baruch Hashem, we’ve been zocheh to see much of Hashem’s world.

Your most memorable tours:

I have toured Spain many times since my first trip in 2006, but every time I visit Toledo and see Mizmor L’Todah engraved high on the frieze of the magnificent Synagogue of Shmuel HaLevi Abulafia (1356), I feel honored and elated. Standing in the Alhambra, the fortified palace in Granada where the Edict of Expulsion was signed, seems unreal, although quite disturbing.

In 2013, I led a group of 50 women to Russia. On this trip, we were privileged to have Rabbi Hershel Lieber accompanying us and enhancing our trip with his in-depth knowledge of Russian Jewry. Rabbi Lieber traveled to the Soviet Union many times and worked tirelessly for many years to help Jews there. In 1993 he went to Russia with the Novominsker Rebbe and other askanim. Rabbi Lieber and his wife, Pessi, added so much to our wonderful trip. We were in awe as we visited the Hermitage and Peterhof in Saint Petersburg, and the Kremlin in Moscow, and we marveled at the magnificent Choral Synagogues in each city. We also enjoyed an authentic Russian ballet, the famous Swan Lake.

I have taken many students to see the exhibit in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., about the rescue of the Danish Jews. There is a small fisherman’s boat and a video showing how the Jews were ferried from Denmark to Sweden. The Jews left their tables set for Rosh Hashanah after they were warned that Eichmann had decided to ship them to Auschwitz. They were hidden in schools, hospitals, and churches by the Danes until they could be ferried across secretly at night. Of the 7,900 Jews in Denmark before World War II, 7,200 were saved. In 2018, when I took a large group of women to Sweden and Denmark, I was thrilled to follow in the footsteps of the Danish Jews as they were brought to safe houses and then ferried to Sweden.

In August 2021 I was able to organize my first trip after Covid. It was an Amazing Alaska Tour on which 95 percent of the woman climbed the Matanuska Glacier with crampons (spikes), an unforgettable experience.

What’s the hardest part?

All the work and hours of research and preparation.

Things you didn’t know before you started:

It’s been a huge learning experience. When I first started, I used to bring all the food for all the participants myself. Suitcases were all labeled Day One, Day Two, and so on. I learned to lessen my work load and bring along a caterer.

Glitches in the system:

This happened back when I was still cooking all the food and bringing it along with us: After being told we could bring two suitcases (after which I filled everyone’s second suitcases with all the food and kitchen supplies), we were stopped at security and told we could only bring one suitcase per person. No worries, we could still take the second suitcase on board as hand luggage. Then our poor guide was stopped and interrogated — he’d been carrying the suitcase with all my sharp kitchen knives. I had to quickly swoop in to rescue him and explain, throw out all my good knives (!), and buy new ones at our destination.

Your favorite location:

I’m often asked what my favorite place is of all the places I’ve visited. I can honestly say there is not one place I’ve been to that I didn’t love or really enjoy. Sometimes Jewish history is the focus of the tour, and sometimes it’s nature and niflaos haBorei that I revel in with “Mah rabu maasecha, Hashem” constantly on my lips.

My last trip to date was a migration tour to East Africa in August. Whether you’re an animal lover or not, this was the trip of a lifetime. Each new place has a special flavor of its own, and each tour is exciting and interesting. To answer the original question… my favorite place keeps changing all the time.

Where would you never want to visit?

Iran, because of the danger — but honestly, if Israel could have shalom with Jordan, maybe one day, why not?

Your ideal vacation destination:

Costa Rica or Panama with friends. Vacations are more fun with friends.

The little details that make a big difference:

Could be gloves in the winter, sunscreen in the summer.

Tips on choosing a tour company:

There are many good ones out there. Speak to people who have gone (there’s nothing like word of mouth), choose a tour that doesn’t take too many people, and make sure they’re taking people you would enjoy spending time with, whom you think you’d want to get to know better. One of the best parts of going on a tour is the lasting friendships you make with the others on the same trip. My women get together all year, keep up with each other, invite each other to their simchahs. Experiences like these create a lasting bond.

Where do you want to go but haven’t gotten to yet?

South America, to the Amazon and Machu Picchu in Peru.

What’s most important —  accommodations, program, entertainment, or food?

I would say program and accommodations.

How do you create a good Shabbos atmosphere?

I was planning a trip to Morocco for last May, and Mrs. Tarshish couldn’t join us. Although we were staying in Marrakesh, and were able to daven in shul with a minyan on Shabbos, I was working hard to arrange for seudos that would have a special Shabbosdig atmosphere. Suddenly my phone rang and it was Mrs. Miriam Swerdlov, who said, “I saw your ad in Mishpacha, and it’s always been my dream to go to Morocco, can I go with you?” She came along, and with her wit and humor sprinkled in all her divrei Torah, we had the most uplifting and inspiring Shabbos.

What happens when the bus is leaving and some of the guests just don’t know how to keep to schedule? Or if a guest insists on doing something risky, illegal, or against the rules?

We always try to be on time. Sometimes I find myself in the role of nudger, saying, “Let’s go, ladies!” If it looks like one person is really running late, we’re not going to hold up our whole day for one person.

How do you recharge after a successful trip is over?

I’m exhausted, but I’m on such a high, so elated. I don’t really crash. I wallow in joy and gratitude to Hashem for giving me the koach, health, and ability to be able to uplift people. I love what I do so much. I thank Hashem for it every day.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 931)