SITE of the WEEK
Season’s Greetings
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Carmel on Fire
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Dec em ber
Www.IdentityTour.com
IDENTITY’S The Traveller TIPS NEW S AND INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVEL AND EDUCATION IN ISRAEL
The new travel agent partner program offers travel agents worldwide the opportunity to sell the tours to groups and receive a favorable commission .
Unveiling Travel Agent Partner Program As an allied member of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), we constantly seek ways to nurture long lasting relationships with travel agents. Our executives will be touring the USA and Canada in January to present the new program to travel agencies. The new travel agent partner program offers travel agents worldwide the opportunity to sell the tours to groups and receive a favorable commission of up to $200 a person. The members will also have access to a special "partner web" where they can find all the information
about the tours in one glance, including special limited-time offers, group specials, a stream of off-the-shelf, graphically-designed itineraries, and updates on upcoming attractions and tours as well as new Israeli hot spots. Eran Kolran, Director and CoFounder at Identity Travel Israel, explains: "We are looking to provide our travel agent partners with everything they would need so that together we can reach more people and promote understanding through travel."
SIGHT of the WEEK The Monastery of Notre-Dame de Sept-Douleurs at Latrun, Israel was established by French, German and Flemish monks of the Trappists. Contrary to popular belief, the Trappist monks do not take a vow of silence they will generally only speak when necessary, and idle talk is strongly discouraged. The monks are engaged not in talk but in work, attending to their vineyard and producing wine and olive oil. Touring the beautiful monastery grounds is a wonderful way to spend a sunny day.
2010
THE CARMEL FIRE
F
ire and black smoke plume over Mount Carmel. The media in Israel is playing the blame game: was it a selfish youth that started the fire? Did people not care enough about firefighters? Where was the government? A Rabbi is interviewed and hints that this is a punishment by God for the sins of Israel. I am reminded of a previous time when the Carmel was up in flames. Back then, Elijah challenged the other faiths and the fire and brimstone were materialized by God to light his alter on the Carmel. While smoke from the Carmel still darkened the skies Elijah found refuge in a widow's home. Although food was scarce and would not suffice even her family's appetites the kind widow offered her last loaf of bread to Elijah. She gives to a stranger selflessly and her deed is rewarded "...The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. " (KINGS 1:17) I am reminded of this story because one of the dead in the fire was a 16 year old boy with that same altruistic selfless spirit. This young man was a volunteer in Israel's fire brigades. As news hit the waves that a fire had unleashed its flaming wrath on the pastoral communities of Mount Carmel, our protagonist dropped everything and ran to the rescue. He hoped to save the lives of strangers. When the fire began, the boy was attending his civics lesson at school. He burst out of the classroom dramatically and headed towards the flaming horizon. This boy didn't need to attend a civics class to know what civic responsibility is all about. When he heard the call for help, he felt a burning passion, a fire in his bones and in his heart and was willing to risk his life for the collective good. This type of good fire is what citizenship is all about. In the Bible, the benevolence of the gentile widow is contrasted with Israel's sinful collective and she serves as an example of a Good Samaritan. I hope young people in Israel today will remember this young fire fighter, and that his flame will catch like a brush fire in all of our hearts so that we can become good Samaritans.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
A Fireman takes arms against a raging fire on the Carmel.
S EASON ’ S G REETINGS
Letter From the Founders:
Thank You For a Successful Quarter
Remembering
We strive to constantly perfect the quality of service and enrich your experience.
The Identity Travel Team concludes yet another successful business quarter of expansion; we have experienced a phenomenal quarterly growth. Though we have applied much effort to achieve our goals, we do not forget for one moment the immense role that you, our customers have played in our success. It is with great gratitude and a sense of responsibility that we
accept your trust in our culture and politics of Israel company. We strive to conwill be able to find us and stantly perfect the quality of book their tickets to this service and unforgettable enrich your experience. It is with great gratitude experience. We thank and a sense of responsibilThis Quarter, our travel ity that we accept your our Christian partners and trust in our company. . tours, as well wish them a ERAN KOLRAN AND ILAN as our crossyear full of cultural tours, lucrative have earned us a reputation commissions from our tour. We hope to hear from all of in the industry. This alyou on our website and on lowed us to launch a Travel Facebook, Twitter, Agent Partner Program. We Linkedin and Blogger. hope that through this program many more souls interested in the history,
We wanted to take this opportunity to remind everybody who is enjoying this holiday season where it all began. We want to thank all of our customers and readers for allowing us to take part in their memory of ancient times. We are sure that the past has a message to impart to us all. Whether you have experienced a tour of this land or simply reminisced of its glorious past; feast, celebrate and remember to let the history resonate through the millennia and into your life today. We are certainly reminded of our mission during these festive times: Promoting understanding through travel.