Aliza Bellehsen Avshalom – Guiding Paths and People in Israel

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 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: [e-mail] or through her excellent "Israel Paths and People" website where you can see the gamut of the fantastically interesting tours that she offers.