Why NYC is the best place on the planet to be for Christmas

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Seasons Greetings! 

Is there any place on the planet that does the holiday season better than New York? The original Dutch colonists of the 17th century gave us Santa Claus (Sinterklaas), the German immigrants of the 19th century gave us Christmas markets (christkindlmarkt), and the department stores of the 20th century gave us the round, jolly gift-giver to all the nice children.

These days, arguably the most famous Christmas tree on earth stands 74 feet tall in the heart of Rockefeller Center, illuminated by 50,000 LED lights strung on five miles of wire. Any Christmas movie set in New York City (think Home Alone 2 or Elf) features scenes with the iconic conifer. However, the tree-lighting tradition started in 1931 with humble beginnings.

Ambitious real estate projects largely ground to a halt during the Great Depression, but the Rockefeller family had no problem continuing construction on Rockefeller Center, then the largest private real estate project in history. To mark the holiday, Italian construction workers put up an impromptu 20-foot balsam fir tree decorated with simple tin can ornaments in the early days of the economic crisis. The gesture would turn into the annual tradition we know today. 

Featured NYC experience: Celebrate the holiday season with a tour of the Met

As you can imagine, New York’s greatest house of culture is no stranger to the holiday spirit. For its Christmas tree, the Met assembles a nativity scene using parts collected over decades. Each piece comes from woodshops in 18th-century Naples to bring ancient Bethlehem to life. 

The Met also celebrates Hanukah, with a stunning Hanukiah from 19th century Ukraine. Before World War II, the elaborate silver candelabra featured prominently in a synagogue that would be destroyed during the Holocaust. After the war the Hanukiah reappeared, seemingly out of thin air, at an auction in New York in 1949. How it survived remains one of its great mysteries. 

To create an ideal New York City trip for your group or family, email me at info@ciceronetravel.com. 

Fun Fact: Speaking of Rockefeller Center, a few years after the Christmas tree tradition began, the institution’s greatest work of art was destroyed.

In 1931, Nelson Rockefeller, undeniable capitalist and scion of one of the wealthiest families on earth, commissioned a fresco for the building’s lobby. The painter was the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a known communist and Soviet sympathizer (and husband to Frida Kahlo). Rivera’s fellow communists chided the artist for selling out, but in an extraordinary act of trolling, he would create Man at the Crossroads, which depicts the struggle between capitalism and communism and features images of Vladimir Lenin. 

As the very embodiment of capitalism, the Rockefellers were not thrilled, taking particular umbrage with the portrait of Lenin, which they asked him to remove. Rivera refused, but offered to add Abraham Lincoln – however, that wasn’t enough to appease the family. The Rockefellers went ahead and destroyed the piece, replacing it with the mural featuring Honest Abe that’s still on view today (below). The image above is a fresco based on the original that Rivera painted in Mexico City’s Opera House, which I had the pleasure of visiting a few years ago. 

What I'm reading: Rick Steves, a giant of the industry, shares his philosophy on the potential for travel to better both ourselves and the world in which live in this expansive interview. 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Blessed Kwanzaa, and only good things for 2025!

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel

Shana Tova (Happy New Year) for 5785!

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Shana Tova and a happy new year to everyone celebrating! 


Every autumn, Jews celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the world. According to Jewish tradition, this year will be the 5785th orbit of the earth around the sun.

I hope everyone had a restful summer. I was fortunate to explore Provence in Southern France – from the foothills of Alps to the Calanques near Marseille at the edge of the Mediterranean. Stunning and fascinating, the region was a fitting subject for Van Gogh and Cezanne’s landscapes. According to Catholic tradition, it’s where Mary Magdalene lived out her final days. It’s also the site of the dramatic departure for some of Europe’s greatest minds fleeing Nazi occupation, including Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt (as dramatized in Netflix’s recent series Transatlantic).

Featured NY Tour: Jewish Brooklyn


Brooklyn is one of the most dynamic and diverse places on Earth and also hosts one of the greatest Jewish stories of the diaspora. The borough has been home to some of the twentieth century’s most influential thinkers, including Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Mark Rothko, Barbara Streisand and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 


I recently led the HAZAK group from Temple Beth Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ on a full-day tour of Jewish Brooklyn. Here are a few highlights:

  • We spent the morning exploring Mel Brooks’s old stomping grounds in Williamsburg – both the current hipster and the Hasidic side of the neighborhood. 

  • Then we passed the location that once hosted Ebbets Field, the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers and their star pitcher, Sandy Koufax. 

  • We saw Erasmus High School, the alma mater of Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand en route to the best falafel in New York City, at Falafel Tanami in Midwood. 

  • We wrapped up the tour at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, arguably the most recognizable synagogue on Earth today after the Western Wall. 

 


To create your ideal New York City or Brooklyn trip, email me at info@ciceronetravel.com. We’ll work together to curate an incredible experience for your organization, group, or family.


Fun Fact: Rosh Hashanah Tashlich on the Williamsburg Bridge


When the Williamsburg Bridge opened in 1903, it provided the avenue for Jewish immigrants in the Lower East Side to a better life in the newly developing borough of Brooklyn. So many took this path in pursuit of the American Dream that the bridge became known as the “Jews’ Highway.” 



Above is a photo of immigrants observing tashlich on the bridge, symbolically casting their sins into the river in the form of breadcrumbs to prepare for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.



Wishing everyone the sweetness of apples and honey for the new year. And may it be a year of peace. 



Thanks for reading, 




Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel



Summer in the City with Cicerone Travel

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Hi All, 

Things have gotten quite hot in New York City lately, as the summer touring season is in full swing! Recently, I’ve guided groups of families, schools, organizations, and congregations visiting and exploring America’s most diverse city. 

The picture above is from my very last tour prior to COVID in March 2020. A film crew from Croatia came to the U.S. to film quirky animal stories, and they wanted me to share the story of the Balto statue in Central Park. We were already talking about the imminent global shutdown, but we got in one final segment for their show. Luckily, they caught one of the last flights back to Croatia before travel restrictions were implemented. 

Stay tuned for updates on another segment I recently filmed for the TV show Impractical Jokers, for their upcoming season! 

Featured Tour: If you love New York City history and tasting foodie classics, sign up for our Lower East Side Tour!

One of New York’s most famous neighborhoods, the Lower East Side was the first stop for many immigrants. It cultivated political, social, artistic, economic, and culinary movements that have helped define the modern American experience. 

On this tour, we explore the birthplace of America’s socialist movements, iconic department stores, and Hollywood film studios. For fuel, we’ll nosh on bagels, pastrami, and pickles. 

The tour lasts 2.5 hours, and we offer two tours per day. Click here to learn more.

Fun Fact: While the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, New York City was a hotbed of revolutionary activity. On our Colonial Tour of Lower Manhattan, you can see the very fence that wrapped around New York’s first park, Bowling Green, when the Declaration was first read aloud.
Inside the fence stood an equestrian statue of King George III, made of lead, which was melted down for bullets for the Continental Army. Along the top of the fence’s posts, there were little crowns that were severed for the same purpose.
The rest of the fence still stands today, 250 years later.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your summer, 

Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel





Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel

May 2024 Newsletter - From Prague to NYC with Cicerone

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Hi All, 

It’s been a robust start to Spring, filled with international travel, flashes of sunshine, and flowers in bloom. We’ve also had a full holiday season; with Eid al Fitr (the conclusion of Ramadan) falling right between Easter and Passover, the three major Abrahamic religions have all found reason to celebrate and pray for peace this month. (And my kid’s school has had many reasons to close.)

I just returned to Brooklyn from leading the Hevreh congregation of Great Barrington, MA in a trip to the magical, fairytale city of Prague. Some highlights included:

  • Visiting Prague Castle, the largest castle on earth, as recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records. It functions as the center of the Czech government – like the Czech Republic's version of the White House. It has served as the seat of power for Holy Roman Emperors, Nazi Governors, Communist Presidents, and now, contemporary Czech leaders. The renowned writer Franz Kafka lived in the castle complex for two years in an old alchemist's house while writing his novel, The Castle.

  • Exploring the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe at the Altneuschul, which dates back to the thirteenth-century. The synagogue’s attic is believed to house the long-dormant remains of the Golem, a mythical figure who inspired Frankenstein, the concept of a robot (a word coined by Karel Capek in Prague), and basically every comic book character ever.

  • Paying our respects at Theresienstadt, the concentration camp. Reflecting on these traumatic moments in history inspires us to work for a better tomorrow.

Featured Tour: To celebrate the Spring holidays, I’m excited to highlight my Biblical Israel tour of the Met Museum in NYC. On this tour, we’ll experience art masterpieces and learn about the contributions of the three Abrahamic religions. The Met exhibits provide a fantastic opportunity to appreciate the range of these civilizations' achievements.

Fun Fact: Speaking of Easter, the picture above shows an ossuary, a bone box used in Jewish burials about 2,000 years ago. It can be found in the Greco-Roman collection at the Met. 

This ossuary would have held the remaining bones of a decomposed body after it had lain on a stone slab in a family tomb – sometimes a cave – for about a year. Were Jesus’s fate that of a common Jew of Roman Judea, his bones would have been collected in a vessel like this. 

Thanks for reading, 

Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel

March 2024 Newsletter - Spring into travel with Cicerone

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Hello to my Cicerone community! It’s been a while since I’ve been in touch. Here’s a bit about what’s going on with me.

The past six months have been an absolute whirlwind in the travel world, and my business has been no exception. Demand for tourism has increased significantly in Europe and New York, while our Israel tours are virtually frozen after reaching all-time highs in September. Here's to better times ahead, for everyone.

I recently got home from a Berlin tour with student groups from three New York synagogues: Temple Israel, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, and Temple Emanu-El. Highlights of the trip included:

  • Visiting with the rising leaders of Europe’s fastest-growing Jewish community. 

  • Discussing German politics and Germany's role in the world with Senator Thomas Heilmann of the Bundestag (German Parliament).

  • Participating in a graffiti workshop to honor an artistic medium that represented freedom during the Cold War. 

This spring, I’ll be leading a wide range of New York City tours and organizing trips throughout Central Europe. 

Featured Tours: 

Fun Fact: This year will mark the 370th anniversary of the arrival of the first permanent Jewish residents of what is now the United States – and it all started right here in old Dutch New Amsterdam. 
 

All the best,
Jonathan
 

Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel