Jim: This is iWork4Him
Martha: Where faith meets work and believers unleash their calling.
Jim: Gift giving is one of the most fun things to do. Generosity flows from our Heavenly Father into our hearts, and then out again as we give from what we've been given. It's what you do every day when you love on your neighbors.
Jim: Several months ago, we uncovered a really cool ministry out of Israel, a ministry that celebrates the history of Israel, but also the business-owning artisans of today. Artza Box brings Israel to real life one Artza box at a time. We decided to partner with Artza Box after we received one as a gift, and Martha was so impressed with the thoughtfulness, creativity, and significance of each item in the box.
Jim: We're dropping this special episode just before the holidays so you have a chance to sign up to give an Artza Box subscription to your friends and family, and perhaps a coworker or boss this Christmas season.
Jim: Today, Itai Schimmel joins us from Tel Aviv, Israel, as the founder of Artza Box, to talk about his mission and how you can get this incredible experience, and then Martha's gonna share about some of the contents out of our first box.
Jim: Itai Schimmel, welcome to the show.
Itai Schimmel: Thank you so much. It's a real pleasure to be on your show and to be able to talk to you, and I'm really excited to to talk about Artza Box with you.
Martha: That's awesome. So tell us, first of all, about the mission behind Artza Box and you can wrap in there how it came to be.
Itai Schimmel: Yeah, of course. I guess we'll start with, We came up with the idea six years ago, and it was during COVID when there was no tourism in Israel, and we were really looking for ways to connect people to Israel, to the Holy Land, to the land of the Bible, in a way which is meaningful and immersive and, people can feel real connection, and also to be able to support small businesses and charities and farmers that were really suffering during the pandemic.
Itai Schimmel: So we had the idea of we'll create this journey which takes you through the Holy Land, and every three months we'll send a gift box to your home, and every box will have a different theme, and there'll be seven items inside that box that bring that theme to life. For example, if we would have a Jerusalem box, we would work with seven artisans, charities who live in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, and they would create foods spices, ceramics, art, hand-carved olive wood and they'd each of them would create something for the box.
Itai Schimmel: We'd put it inside, and there'd also be an accompanying booklet which talks about history and scripture and the connection to the Bible, but also explains to who lives there today and who are the people that you're supporting. And the idea is you open up the box, and it really, it's like the closest you will get to actually walking through the Old City of Jerusalem.
Itai Schimmel: So you'll taste the foods, and you'll smell the smells, and you'll meet the people and speak to, be able to read about them, and you'll hold their crafts and the olive wood in your hand. And then three months later, we'll send you another box and it comes from the Galilee. And then the next box can be from Bethlehem or from Nazareth or from so many different places in Israel. And that's really where the idea of Artza box and how it was born.
Martha: And of course, we love this idea so much. And I'm curious, like, how do you decide what is gonna be those next themes? And I'm sure you're probably four boxes down the road now because artisans need time to create all of the amazing things. But how have you decided that journey?
Itai Schimmel: Yeah. It's it's one of the most fun and creative pArtza what we do at Artza. For us, the most important thing is we want it to be biblically rooted. So we want the box to not just be a gift box from Israel, but it has something which is rooted in scripture, which is rooted in the Bible, a way so that when you receive the box, you feel a connection to your faith and you can understand the scripture and visualize the places which are spoken about in scripture as well. So that's one of the most fundamental parts when we choose a theme of the box.
Itai Schimmel: And then the other criteria is that it has to be something which is gonna provide this incredible immersive experience for our subscribers. So I want whoever's opening the box to be really blown away by the contents inside the box and to really taste and feel and touch and smell whatever it is, the theme that we're trying to bring to life.
Itai Schimmel: So we've had, to date, 26 boxes, which is crazy. Because when we started this journey six, just over six years ago, we had no idea that we'd be 26 boxes in. And thank God scripture is vast, and Israel, although it's a small country, it has a lot to offer. So we have so many ideas for future boxes, and please, God, we're not gonna run out for many years and continue to deliver, amazing, beautiful, immersive boxes to people.
Jim: I am sure you're not gonna run out of ideas. What I, what you might run out of is local artisans. How do you find the local artisans and the recipes and everything else? How do you find those people to work with?
Itai Schimmel: It's hard. It's hard. It's one of the hardest, it's one of the, it's probably the hardest part. We're a small country. There are a lot of artisans, a ton of farmers and small businesses, and a lot of charitable organizations. Thank God. There's a lot of charitable organizations in Israel, from working with kids who have ended up on the streets from difficult backgrounds and families to teenagers and young adults with special abilities and Down syndrome and autism, women who've left abusive relationships.
Itai Schimmel: And a lot of those charitable organizations have as part of the organization, an art studio which is attached to what they do, and a part of the therapy is through art. So it's very important that in every box we partner with one of those organizations, 'cause it's, we really wanna directly support these businesses, these charities.
Itai Schimmel: But then also, from north to south Israel there's, I think over 9 million people who live in this country, so we're able to find those farmers and those, those artisans. And it's important that we work with real people with real stories and real passions. We don't work with the big factories.
Itai Schimmel: We don't work with the big, the huge massive businesses that you'll find in the supermarkets. It's really about finding the small the small businesses who most of them have never had an opportunity to create so many products to reach such a wide audience, and never, n- none of them have ever even dreamed of someone in Texas or, in Alaska off a boat receiving our products.
Itai Schimmel: It's really quite crazy. Those are the people we're really passionate about finding. And it's hard, but, that's part of the job and we enjoy it. We enjoy the search.
Martha: And so worthwhile, because when I think about it, this person who maybe has a in-home business where they sell, maybe a dozen or whatever items a week, we don't even know what that number is, to all of a sudden get the opportunity to sell hundreds if not thousands of items for one specific box for you. It is quite amazing.
Jim: And you've got, I know the Christmas box is about ready to come out. How many Artza Christmas boxes will you send out this year?
Itai Schimmel: We have 16,000 boxes, thank God. Really blessed and grateful and overwhelmed for the, for the Artza community and for the subscribers and all the support we have received.
Itai Schimmel: We have room for new subscribers of course, so you know, whoever's joining, they're guaranteed they'll receive a Christmas box. And like you said before, many of these artisans have sent, they make a dozen or two dozen or a few hundred a week, or a few hundred a month. And when we phone them up and we say, hey, we'd like you to manufacture 15,000 handmade ceramic bowls," let's say.
Itai Schimmel: They often they fall off their chair. But they also, they, they really, they cry with gratitude 'cause it's, it is a real lifeline for these businesses. You know, a lot of them, these are like mom-and-pop shops, and there's usually a passion, but not many of them are really sustainable businesses. And especially with the war, there's really no tourism in this country. This can give them six months of real business, easily. So we're very lucky.
Martha: That's so amazing. Okay, so let's talk about the, the box that I didn't bring it and put it in front of me. But the, the-
Jim: But it's on our shelf.
Martha: But that's the new, that's the Gift of the Magi, right? The orange one is? Okay. So that's the one for Christmas, and I just had h- The first box I received was the Journey... And what was it called? The Jesus Trail. The Jesus Trail. And so let's talk about that for a minute because I don't wanna give away-
Jim: Was that the box that Itai has with him in studio? Is that the box you have next to you?
Itai Schimmel: It is the box I have right here.
Martha: Okay. Ah, look at that. Okay. So let's talk about that one for a minute because here's the thing. I don't wanna give away all the secrets of the Christmas box because that's part of the pleasure, the enjoyment of it.
Jim: She hasn't even told me what's inside the Christmas box yet.
Martha: So but let's talk about this journey becau- Jesus's, the trail tell me again what it was called.
Itai Schimmel: The Jesus Trail.
Martha: Yes. The Jesus Trail. Okay. Yeah. And when you open the box, like Itai said, there's so many things in there that are, some are consumable, and some of them are things that you can use in your kitchen, at your dinner table, that can be sitting on a shelf that can help remind you of this experience.
Martha: But in there one of the things was a, like a dipping bowl for putting your olive oil and your herbs in. And then what's really cool is that there were also the, the seasoning to go with it. But this is not something that somebody threw together. This is a beautifully crafted, it's very, it feels nice, that the dipping bowl.
Martha: It's a good reminder because it's got like the olive leaf on it, right? It's, it's not overwhelmingly huge. It's easy to add it into your kitchen collection and your table. But then the herbs that are with it for the dipping experience, I love that in the book you meet the person who has the spice farm, and so it's really all of that combined.
Jim: Tell us about that person, the spice farm person that you found.
Itai Schimmel: Yeah, of course. So not, but not only that, we also then include recipes as well, so you can then cook with the spices that you've met the person who made who's in your box. So like you said - sorry. Like you said everything is very intentional, and the Jesus Trail is this absolutely magnificent, stunning hike.
Itai Schimmel: Whoever comes to Israel, we really recommend that they do it. They don't have to do the entire thing. They can just visit stops along the way. But it starts in Nazareth, and it's a four-day hike where you end up... You, y- you go from Nazareth, you go through Kfar Kana and then you go to Mount Tabor, and then you end up on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and you go to Capernaum, and you go to the Mount of Beatitudes.
Itai Schimmel: And it's this really magnificent, stunning hike, and I... it's called the Jesus Trail, and the idea is really you're going through all of the biblical locations or what today is believed to be those accurate places of scripture. So really it starts in Nazareth, and you go through all these places, and you can learn scripture along the way.
Itai Schimmel: But you also, you'll... It's stunning. The Galilee is really beautiful. So you're going on this beautiful hike through the hills, and there's lavender fields, and everything is covered in olive trees. So for us, we wanted to bring to life the whole olive tree element to this hike as well 'cause that's, the Galilee is surrounded by it.
Itai Schimmel: So we have this. This is an olive oil dish. This is completely hand-painted. We've been to the factory. We've met the artisan. He's wonderful. And everything's completely hand-painted, and it's You can see it's got a bit of depth, and this is where you pour olive oil inside. And then we have these spices.
Itai Schimmel: This is an olive oil seasoning mix. Now, this is made... His name is Avi. This is him. You can see him in the brochure, and you learn about him when you receive the box. His name is Avi. His father set up the farm, and his son, Or, which means light in Hebrew, he's also working on the farm. So it's three... it's a third-generation farm. And they started off as a small farm and now they have, quite a beautiful plot of land, which is in an area not far from the Sea of Galilee, and they blend today over 2,000 different spice blends.
Jim: Wow.
Itai Schimmel: So everything there is grown in the area, and it's grown in the region. So for this olive oil seasoning mix, they've blended about seven or eight different herbs together, and you pour it in with some olive oil, and then you can break bread, and you dip bread, and you dip it inside, and it's really delicious. And Or, he is the art- he is the farmer as well as the son and many other people. And then there's a recipe. Every single book will have spices of some form of ingredient for cooking.
Jim: Yes.
Itai Schimmel: Because when you come to Israel, food is so much a part of your trip. There's really delicious fresh foods over here. And then there's gonna be a recipe card inside. So here you have labneh, which is this very typical Israeli Middle Eastern, also Arabic dish. It's like a cheese which you have, and then you have the seasoning mix and olive oil over it. And that's just one example of one of the artisans and people inside the box which we have.
Martha: What I love about it is so many times you go somewhere on a trip and you eat something, and then you're like, "Man, I'm craving that forever," right? So this is getting that experience without the travel, if you can't go, or if you've been before and you're like, "I want my family to experience this."
Martha: This is why we get so excited about Artza Box and wanted to share this with our audience because it, there's so many... It, you really are bringing it to life and allowing us to experience the journey. And on the Jesus Trail, just so people understand there was, there... Is it four days of of-
Itai Schimmel: Four days of hiking ... three days of sleeping, yeah.
Martha: So it's the reality of the real journey that it would be on if you were there, and they're walking you through it. So in the book it'll say, "Day one, and this is your experience, and these are who you're meeting, and this is what the trail feels like, and you're going uphill or you're going downhill."
Martha: You really walk us through it immersively. And I want people to understand that every box is different, but the intentionality of that and the support that we're giving to other workers that are trying to live out their, their calling and getting this opportunity to share it with you.
Jim: What I loved about it, Itai, and I said this to you before, is when Martha opened the first box, the Jesus Trail box, she was like, "Oh, my word, I love this. This is so creative. It's, everything in here is incredible." Martha did Christian retail for so many years that she s- was like, "This is fantastic."
Jim: I'm like, wow, if your response is like that, this is bringing Israel alive to everybody. We've all been reading our Bibles forever and ever. I've been reading my Bible for 47 years, and to be able to see that come alive, that's why we wanted to bring the Artza Box to our audience so that Israel could come alive for them, too.
Jim: Because I don't know if I'll ever get to go to this Israel. The Bible talks about a new Israel one day, a whole new heaven and earth. That's probably the one I'll get to go to. But in the meantime, this is a chance for us to experience the Israel that is here and now, which is why we wanted to have you on our show quick today to tell everybody about the deal if somebody signs up with Artza Box.
Jim: So Itai, if they sign up for Artza Box right now, a subscription gives them a year which is four boxes, correct?
Itai Schimmel: Yeah, there's four boxes. So they will receive the Christmas box, which we spoke about. We teased it just before.
Jim: Is there - do we wanna tease anything about the Christmas box? You two - is there anything in the christmas box?
Itai Schimmel: We, yeah, we can tease it. Yeah. So the Christmas box is, we launched it two days ago. So it's always our exciting part, 'cause we launched it, but no one has yet received it. They're starting to receive it as they order. So we'll find out in a few days, people's reactions, and that's always my favorite part, to watch people open up what we've worked so hard on.
Itai Schimmel: It's the Gifts of the Magi, and the idea behind this box was we wanted the items inside to be inspired by gold, frankincense and myrrh. And also, to work with a Christian artisan who lives in Bethlehem, who's an olive wood carver. 'Cause we thought with a Christmas box, that was, that, that's such a special and beautiful item to include inside the box. Bethlehem as well, over 70% of the economy is tourism.
Itai Schimmel: And after the COVID, the pandemic, but also three years of war, they're absolutely suffering, so we wanted to be able to work with them. So we have beautiful olive wood ornaments, and we have, delicious treats and foods, as always. And one of the coolest items, which I'll tease, is in northern Israel, there was a church which was excavated a couple of decades ago, and inside the door of the church, is 1,500 years old, there is, there was a stone uncovered from the entranceway and it had ancient engraving carved into the stone.
Itai Schimmel: And it was a welcome, it was like a welcome prayer welcoming in people who were coming to pray inside the church. And so what we've done is we worked with this amazing artisan. Her name is Hagar. Which is a, a great biblical name. And she has recreated that stone engraving, and she's done it in this golden, this golden layer on top.
Itai Schimmel: And it can be used as a bookend, or it can just be displayed on your shelf. And it's really special. It's super creative, and I thought it was such a nice play on ancient biblical archeology and Israel, but also really fitting into our theme of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And also it's just this really beautiful thing to have inside your home.
Martha: And something that's been uncovered that is, current event conversation as well. I get pretty excited about all this, but I wanna make sure that our listeners know we will give you the link and a promo code that you're gonna use.
Martha: And this special link and promo code helps you to get 20% off of your purchase, and then also helps with the partnership that we have with Artza and iWork4Him. So this is an opportunity- Artza Box. Artza Box. And this is an opportunity for you to make a purchase that's very intentional on all levels.
Martha: And so I hope that you're getting that information of- Our code is 4HIM20 ... our code is 4HIM20. But you need the link, and I'm not gonna read out the whole link for it, but we'll make sure that you have that in all of the social media, all of the emails, all of the information that we give out to you, the show notes.
Martha: We're gonna have a landing page on our website so that it's easy to find. You can get there and get involved. What a great gift for your boss, for your coworkers, for your employees, maybe for customer appreciation ...
Jim: it's a gift that keeps on giving all year long, and you can start it with the Christmas box if you get it, Itai, how late is too late for them to sign up and get the Christmas box?
Itai Schimmel: A very important, an important question. You can order up until December the 17th, and you will still have guaranteed Christmas delivery. We recommend ordering it earlier because we never know how many people are gonna be ordering their Christmas boxes. And we wanna make sure that everyone receives their box. That, that is the date when people have to order by.
Jim: Okay. I love it. Am so excited about this. Itai, any final things you wanna tell us about Artza Box before we go?
Itai Schimmel: Yeah. I think just to build off of what you were saying, it is the, it's the gift that keeps on giving, 'cause you just, you receive one box for Christmas, but then throughout the next year you're gonna receive another box every three months.
Itai Schimmel: So this, if you're gifting it to someone, they're gonna remember and be so grateful for the gift that you got them. But it's also the gift that keeps on giving back as well, because every box is working and supporting seven artisans and businesses. So with every purchase, you're really directly supporting and blessing and sustaining these businesses from north to southern Israel who've really had quite a few difficult years.
Itai Schimmel: It's a really beautiful gift to share the love all ways around. And we're just really excited for people to get their boxes and really have a box which is so deeply also rooted in the meaning of Christmas and have something which is so meaningful. So we're excited.
Jim: Cool.
Jim: Itai Schimmel, thank you so much for being on iWork4Him today. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this. We're gonna share this on our iRetire4Him podcast, on our SheWorks4Him podcast. We're just so grateful that you joined us today on the show all the way from Israel. Thank you, Itai.
Itai Schimmel: Thank you so much.
Jim: You've been listening to iWork4Him with your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers in our workplace. It's our mission field. But ultimately, iWork4Him