Basic Programs

As you plan your visit, you can choose one of the programs suggested below, or you can combine features from each and create your own program to make your experience at Yad Vashem as meaningful as possible. If you are not interested in a visitors' program, and are seeking general information about visiting Yad Vashem, click here

Especially for You

These programs offer groups/organizations an opportunity to craft their own Yad Vashem experience by choosing targeted programming. The options listed provide the visitors to Yad Vashem an opportunity to focus on a particular subject area relevant to their background, and/or group composition... Some of the many options available are:

• Private tours with one of our art specialists of our art collections and sculpture gardens..

• Searching for roots in Yad Vashem’s vast computerized database with assistance provided by a member of our archival staff

• Participation in one of our many innovative and challenging workshops conducted by Yad Vashem’s educators, historians, and researchers. Topics to be decided by request.

• Ceremonies, lectures, and/or survivors’ testimonies geared for organizations or religious groups.

All in the Family

This program is geared for the families with participants of all ages. It takes into account the varied needs and interests of family members who are sharing the Yad Vashem experience together.

• A guided tour of the No Child’s Play exhibition in Yad Vashem. On display are the toys, games, artwork, diaries, and poems that highlight some of the personal stories of children, providing a glimpse into their lives during the Holocaust. This is a unique opportunity for parents and children to explore together an unusual exhibition that can be appreciated at all levels.

• A visit to the very moving Children’s Memorial.

• Participation in a commemorative ceremony designed especially for families.

 At the conclusion of your visit, you may choose to stop in the restaurant in Yad Vashem’s new Visitors Center overlooking the hills of Jerusalem.

A Bar/Bat Mitzvah to Remember

This program is designed for those family members or group participants that have chosen to make Yad Vashem part of their Israel Bar/Bat mitzvah experience. A Bar/Bat  mitzvah ceremony at Yad Vashem links your family’s past to your child’s future. The package includes:

• Twinning ceremonies in which the bar/bat mitzvah reads the name of a Holocaust victim with the same birthdate and joins their memory to his/her experience. The ceremony also includes readings, recitations by family members and special commemorative prayers.

• Private tours of our grounds and exhibitions will be offered to the bnai mitzvah and their family in advance of or following the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony.

• Interactive searches for family roots in our Hall of Names

At the end of the Yad Vashem Bar/Bat Mitzvah Experience, the participants will receive personalized bar/bat mitzvah certificates specially designed by Yad Vashem.

From All Walks of Life

Tens of thousands of visitors from a variety of religious backgrounds and persuasions visit Yad Vashem annually. This program is geared for their needs and interests. Included in this program are the following options:

• A memorable opportunity to hear some of the stories of Righteous Among the Nations honored at Yad Vashem as one walks along the paths lined with trees planted in their honor. In addition, the participants may choose to hear a testimony related to this subject area.

• Participation in memorial ceremonies designed for people of all faiths.

• Guided tours Yad Vashem’s exhibitions, and commemorative sites, including the Hall of Remembrance, where Pope John Paul delivered his historic address.