About Us

On the geographical hinge between East and West, Berlin is in a prime position to observe the recent changes in the European Union and take part in the debates and discussions about the role of Europe in the international community. Many of our guests realize that there is not only Jewish history to be found in Europe, but a greater Jewish perspective on related religious, political and cultural issues - and following our client´s needs we have created a network of our tours throughout Europe.
In our many destinations we offer our guests first-hand knowledge and experience of Jewish life today and we share with them our hopes and dreams for the future. Our guides are trained to present you with an eye-opening experience. Let us at Milk & Honey Tours be a part of your next journey and know that you are embarking on a trip you will remember forever.

And now a bit about us personally...


Noa Lerner, owner 

 

Born 1965 near Düsseldorf, studied Theology and History and moved to Berlin in 1999. Noa has worked at various Jewish museums and university departments for Jewish Studies in Germany. She is an active member of the Jewish community of Berlin. Noa’s chuppah was raised in the court-yard of Berlin’s New Synagogue. Her son was born in 2002, the same year that she founded the Network for Jewish Women in German-speaking countries. Noa’s passion is to promote Jewish social and cultural life in all its facets. 

Carolyn Gammon, guide coordinator
 


Born 1959 in Canada, since 1992 in Berlin, Carolyn has three great passions travel, tour guiding and writing. Carolyn has worked as a guide since 1995 and with Milk & Honey since 2002. In her duties as Guide Coordinator, Carolyn has travelled extensively throughout Europe training and administering the vast network of guides who now make up Milk & Honey Tours. Her most recent book, Twice Persecuted, is the life story of Johanna Krause from Dresden who survived persecution as a Jew both under the Nazis and the Communists.


Noa Lerner and Carolyn Gammon can be booked for lectures. 


Our Guides

We hand-pick our guides and put great effort into finding a guide who suits you. The key ingredient is  that not only do all of our guides have a vast knowledge-base of local history and Jewish history, but each one also has an area of specialization. Mostly Jewish Studies or History majors, they come from all walks of life…doing a PhD on the Jewish press in the 19th century, acting in the local Yiddish-speaking theater, leading workshops to unlearn anti-Semitism in schools, working at the local Jewish Museum, organizing intercultural meetings, teaching at university or writing books about fascinating topics on Jewish life past and present. Yet knowledge alone is not enough. We work with people who know how to explain complex social and historical realities in understandable terms. Our guides are worldly. Most speak several languages fluently and have lived or traveled extensively in North and South America, Israel, Australia and all over Europe. This is the Milk & Honey Tours’ style: knowledgeable, sensitive, enthusiastic and with love for the ’Jewish way of life.’ Come and meet our guides and have an enlightening conversation you’ll never forget!



Our office staff

Atalya Laufer – Personal assistant to Noa Lerner



Atalya grew up in Kibbutz Hazorea, and moved to London, where she got a BA in Fine Arts. She continued in post-graduate studies in Drawing. She is now an M.A. student at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. Atalya, as an artist, has influenced the creativity of the whole Milk & Honey Tours team. She brings all her professionalism into the office and does not stop to make us think abut new, innovative projects and concepts. Being herself a guide, she joined the office team in 2009.



Giulia Pines - Tour Coordinator

A Berliner by choice, Giulia hails from the other Jewish world capital New York City. She works full-time in the Milk & Honey office during the high season, managing bookings, writing texts, and providing expert travel knowledge as well as frequent whimsical anecdotes or sarcastic comments, as New Yorkers are known to do. When she isn’t organizing Jewish tours of Europe, Giulia is busy working on her own writing projects, reading historical fiction about Berlin in the 1930’s, or cooking and baking.