Zvi Harpaz

Back in high school, I dreaded social studies class. I found it dull and boring. The people and places we studied were just names and lists of facts I learned for tests and soon forgot. So, when I traveled in my 20’s to Israel with my synagogue, I anticipated a similar experience. But our tour guide, Zvi Harpaz, with his dynamic personality and passion for history, helped me find a new appreciation for social studies. Nineteen years later, when my husband, sons, and I returned to Israel, I knew we had to hire Zvi as our private guide. Zvi is incredibly knowledgeable about the sites to which he brings his clients. Sometimes he brings along additional media, such as books or his smart phone, to add interesting elements to the tour experience. His knowledge of many different religions can be incorporated into the stories of the sites you will visit with him, making him an excellent guide for people of all faiths. Wherever he takes you, he knows someone, be it a guard at the highway checkpoint in the West Bank, the cashier at a museum, or the man who lends women scarves to cover their shoulders outside the Church of the Agony. More than once, such individuals told us, unsolicited, that we had hired the best guide in Israel. Zvi’s vast knowledge of the region helps him tailor your tour days to your interests. Our 12 and 14 year old sons loved the museum and bullet factory he scheduled for us. He also has been known to crack jokes while driving from site to site, so don’t fall asleep! Furthermore, he will share interesting anecdotes about the roads and countryside as your drive, making the drives part of the guide experience. The fact that he speaks five languages fluently (soon to be six) makes him even more unique compared to other guides. We were all very impressed with how smoothly he speaks English, with barely an accent, making him very easy to understand and converse with.