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And all just an hour and a half from Tel Aviv.

The Sha'ar HaGilboa center will boast a 375-acre mountain ski track all year round, rain or shine. How? By covering the decidedly green Gilboa ridge with an artificial substance that imitates ideal snow for skiing.

Read more about it at YNET


]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=84 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:29:12 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=82 Israel Festival and Jerusalem Day, Jerusalem is a great choice for a day or two of recreation. Don't forget to take into account that Jerusalem is a kosher city that keeps the Sabbath, so it is advisable to visit during the week or arrive at the end of the week to soak up the holy Shabbat atmosphere that you won't find in too many other places.

Read more at Haaretz about:
Jerusalem by double-decker bus / The General Tour / Visit the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods /
/ visit during the festival of Sukkoth or during Chanukah / Time Elevator and the Zoo / The Biblical Zoo / Mini Railway / Old City walls, the Kotel / The Cardo / Stalactite Caves / Shop at Emek Refaim / Shlomzion Area



]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=82 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:23:04 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=80 Israel this year stands to break records.

Tourism from January to May of this year has risen 60% percent since 2007 and is on pace to approach 3 million tourists during the entire year, which would break the previous record set in 2000.

The ministry's latest addition is an expansion of its Web site, which now offers interactive maps of tourist hotspots around the country (www.goisrael.com). In addition to a map of the entire state, tourists can access maps of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Eilat, Tiberias and Netanya.

While the ministry's Web site is translated into eleven languages and will have eighteen soon, at present the maps appear only in English. Ami Tzubery, the ministry's director of e-marketing, said that though there may be plans to offer maps in other languages, the site has limited capacity for expansion.

read more at JPost]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=80 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:57:00 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=76 Israeli children with cancer; Oscar-winners Tommy Lee Jones and Sean Penn, attend.

The millionaire principality Monaco held a different kind of movie festival in which Hollywood stars and European millionaires gathered for a benefit for cancer-stricken Israeli children.

The event was dedicated to “Zichron Menachem,” an Israeli association supporting children with cancer and their families. The event, sponsored by the Monaco International Film Festival, the only event in this genre to gather participants for the sake of ill children.

Millions of dollars in funds were raised for both organizations. “Zichron Menachem’s” fundraiser, Mickey Vasser succeeded in touching the hearts of listeners when he told the story of a girl named Michal, an Israeli girl with Leukemia, who surmounted the disease with the help and support she received from the association’s volunteers.

Among the guests of honor at the event were two Oscar-winners; Tommy Lee Jones and Sean Penn, who are both socially active.

Read more at Ynet]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=76 Fri, 23 May 2008 14:16:05 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=74 Israel Taxi Drivers Association have agreed on the advancement of a plan that would see the city's 5,000 cabs converted to hybrid vehicles within the next few years.

Hybrid vehicles use a combination petrol-electric motor that emits a relatively low amount of pollutants. There are currently two types of hybrids marketed in Israel – the Honda Civic hybrid and the Toyota Prius.

Chairman of the Israel Taxi Drivers Association Israel Fried met with Moshe Belsenheim, Tel Aviv Municipality's environmental authority head, and the two agreed that during the next few weeks two of the city's taxi stations would begin using hybrid vehicles. Only one hybrid taxi is currently being used in Tel Aviv, of the Toyota Prius model.

"The taxi drivers needed no persuasion," Belsenheim continued. "They had already checked and come to the conclusion that the switch to hybrids is in their own best interests, both economically and environmentally."

Read more on Ynet

]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=74 Fri, 23 May 2008 14:06:26 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=67 Are you using pay-per-click advertising, online banners, or newspaper ads to promote your business? It may not be the best investment of your advertising budget in a slowing economy. Today we introduce you to a new way to advertise online.

You see it in the news everyday; the economy is slowing. However, even during an economic slowdown you still need to make sure that customers know about your products and services so you can grow your business. If you already advertise online you're probably using banners ads or pay-per-click advertising like Google Adwords. If you're not online then most likely you have ads in your local newspaper. Advertising your business online and in print can be very ineffective, consider:

1. Cost: an average ad online or print can cost thousands per month.
2. Time: your ad will run for only a short time in the paper or online.
3. Audience: due to cost and time, you may not reach the right people.

At Celebrating Israel we're solving these advertising problems with the Forever Israel Tribute Ad launching now to commemorate 60 years of independence.Banner ads and pay-per-click text links may not be the best places to invest your advertising dollars to minimize cost, increase exposure, and target the right people. Let's look at pay-per-click ads:

Pay-per-click ads seem like a good bargain. You only pay when someone clicks on your ads and each click costs an average $0.25 cents (USD). But those clicks can add up fast. A standard ad will get around 200 clicks per day at a cost of $50.

Now we know that we can't just advertise one day and hope to grow our business. If we wanted to run that ad for a month it would cost around $1,500. Extend it longer and it continues to add up: $4,500 per quarter and $18,000 for a year.

Pay-per-click ads also suffer from click fraud. Competitors may be clicking your links which will increase your cost. BusinessWeek has published an excellent article explaining click fraud in detail. Also, consider that the pay-per-click model has begun to slow down significantly. A recent article in the New York Times shows that Google's click rate hasn't grown in the past couple of months. Banner ads suffer from the same problems. You might be spending thousands of dollars on a banner ad that many Internet users have learned to ignore.

If you don't advertise online and you only advertise in your local papers, the problem is even worse. Forbes reports that newspaper circulation continues to decline as more users are getting their news online. If you're not advertising online you're probably not reaching your potential customers.

Celebrating Israel has the solution to these problems with our Forever Israel Tribute Ad which has several key benefits:
1. It never expires. You only pay once.
2. You don't pay-per-click.
3. You can login to your account and change your ad at any time.

Click here to learn more about the Forever Israel Tribute Ad.]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=67 Wed, 7 May 2008 20:00:00 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=70 Israel's National Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers

YOM HASIKARON

The nation bows its head on Tuesday evening for Remembrance Day for the Fallen in Israel's Wars, it will mourn the 22,437 servicemen and women who fell defending the land of Israel since 1860 - the year the first Jews left Jerusalem's Old City walls to settle other parts of the country. Remembrance Day officially begins at 8 p.m., when a one-minute siren will sound across the country.

On Wednesday, the main memorial will take place at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. A two-minute siren will sound at 11 a.m. and a ceremony for overseas Mahal volunteers who fought and died during the War of Independence will take place at the Mahal memorial near the Sha'ar Hagai junction.

Ceremonies will be held at an additional 43 cemeteries around the country.

In honor of Remembrance Day, the Defense Ministry has placed a miniature flag and black ribbon on the graves of all the fallen soldiers in military cemeteries.

]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=70 Tue, 6 May 2008 14:10:36 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=61 REMEMBERING THE SIX MILLION THAT DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST

Celebrating Israel IS REMEMBERING THE SIX MILLION THAT DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST - EACH CANDLE IN THE PICTURE REPRESENTS 1 MILLION.

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialized. It is a solemn day, beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan and ending the following evening, according to the traditional Jewish custom of marking a day. Places of entertainment are closed and memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country. The central ceremonies, in the evening and the following morning, are held at Yad Vashem and are broadcast on the television. Marking the start of the day-in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister dignitaries, survivors, children of survivors and their families, gather together with the general public to take part in the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem in which six torches, representing the six million murdered Jews, are lit. The following morning, the ceremony at Yad Vashem begins with the sounding of a siren for two minutes throughout the entire country. For the duration of the sounding, work is halted, people walking in the streets stop, cars pull off to the side of the road and everybody stands at silent attention in reverence to the victims of the Holocaust.

Please read more at Yad Vashem.org


]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=61 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:21:23 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=45 Professional Duplicating

Congratulations to Professional Duplicating from Tampa, Florida! They added their tribute commemorating Israel's 60th anniversary of independence. Click here to visit their site!

More about Professional Duplicating:
Professional Duplicating offers x-ray duplicating and trial exhibit design located in Tampa, Florida but serving the entire United States.

We have been serving Florida since 1991 with exceptional quality and prompt courteous service; with 24 hour turn around and darkroom techs with 80 years combined experience we strive to make your x-ray duplicating needs as simple as possible.]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=45 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:43:51 -0400 http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=43 Israel with a link to a beautiful version of Hatikvah (National Anthem of ISRAEL) . Congratulations and happy 60th!!
The Barth Family
Click their logo above or click here to see their tribute on the tribute page: Celebrating Israel - A Tribute to 60 Years
Click the icon on the tribute page or click here to see the YouTube video: Even Sh'siyah - Hatikva (Live)
]]> General http://blog.celebratingisrael.com/index.php?itemid=43 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:40:33 -0400