Supporting artisans in wartime
Makers of Israel website displays the talents and resilience of homegrown creativity
Want to treat someone to an online personalized cooking class from Israel? Or how about natural aromatherapy candles, handcrafted wood-and-metal wind chimes, a seashell terrazzo menorah, a gourmet package of teas and spices, or other items made by small business owners who’ve been adversely affected by the war?
Makers of Israel (makersofisrael.com) the brainchild of nine women in Israel, North America, and the U.K., is offering a curated collection of Israeli gift items and experiences for international customers, just in time for Chanukah.
Melissa Gruhin of West Orange is one of the founders of this online initiative to support Israeli artisans and share their stories with people around the world. She works for a marketing agency and has traveled to Israel several times over the past few years.
Friends introduced her to organizational consultant and project manager Sara Klaben Avrahami, an American immigrant who has lived in Israel for more than a decade.
“Last September, when I was in Israel, Sara mentioned the idea of this project,” Ms. Gruhin said. “Because she’s a great connector, she was able to bring together people from all walks of her life, with many different skills, to make it happen.
“We started meeting every Sunday remotely. We wanted to launch in time for Chanukah and worked backward to make sure it would happen.”
The primary goal was to support small business owners and introduce them to customers in the diaspora, after what had been a year of extremely low in-person sales.
Each of the 10 artisans in the first collection has a chance to tell his or her story on the website alongside their items on offer, whose prices range from $18 to $540.
Lia Bruce, founder of Saltware Design, said that her candlesticks and menorahs are made from Israeli salt, “embellished with pure earth powders and mixed metals.” She explained that she was inspired by her grandmother, who sewed salt from the Dead Sea into small cotton bags to be worn as protective amulets.
Since starting her business in 2021, Ms. Bruce has contended with severe challenges, including the pandemic and the war, as well as the tragedy of her husband’s death. She has persevered, but the current lack of tourism has significantly impacted her sales. “People don’t have the time, money, or desire to shop,” she said.
Jewelry designer Ronit Malka has several pieces in the inaugural Makers of Israel collection, including a Star of David necklace and a gold hamsa necklace accented by a sapphire, an item she named “Noa” in honor of released hostage Noa Argamani.
Ms. Malka confides that she never wore a Star of David necklace because it was a painful symbol that she associated with the loss of her father during Israel’s Yom Kippur War in 1973. But after October 7, she suddenly felt compelled to design one.
“Among the funerals, the sadness and the pain, crying our hearts out, I thought to myself, maybe now is the time to wear a Star of David necklace,” Ms. Malka said. “I loved the idea of creating a three-dimensional Star of David — one solid form with strong volume — to remind us all that when we are united into one solid form, there is no one stronger than us. Am Yisrael Chai.”
Among the featured Makers of Israel is the Gil School in Tel Aviv, which serves 184 students, ranging in age from 12 to 21, who all have been diagnosed with autism. One of the gift initiative’s founders, Talya Frankel, is a teacher at Gil School, which has taken in displaced students from the north and south of Israel since the war began.
As part of the vocational program, the students designed and crafted personalized Chanukah cards and packaged Chanukah candles reflecting their artistic abilities and growth. Principal Keren Yamin said, “Purchasing these handmade creations not only supports the students’ development but also empowers them to build confidence and engage in meaningful activities.”
In addition to the items and experiences for sale, the Makers of Israel website also offers visitors the opportunity to donate to the project itself or to a rotating featured charity.
As of this writing, donations will benefit Citizens Kitchen, a grassroots wartime meal operation started by Aliya Fastman and Shaendl Davis, sisters originally from Berkeley, California. Ms. Fastman is a founder of Makers of Israel.
Before October 7, their Tel Aviv-based studio, Citrus & Salt, hosted cooking lessons for tourists and locals. When the war broke out, the sisters put out a call for volunteers and started Citizen’s Kitchen, which so far has provided more than 100,000 meals to soldiers, hostage families, reserve duty families, displaced Israelis from the north and south, and the injured.
The other women behind Makers of Israel are Harper Spiro, Rachel Myerson, Maya Liss Grogin, Ruthie Edelstein, and Hannah Wojno.
Ms. Gruhin, 34, is an alumna of Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union in West Orange — it’s now the Golda Och Academy — and her family belongs to B’nai Shalom there.
She said that she and her partners plan to continue offering the current collection through the end of the year and then hope to curate new collections for different seasons and holidays in 2025. “Starting a new initiative is both exciting and challenging, and we want to make it bigger moving forward,” she said.
“This is more than a shopping experience,” Ms. Klaben Avrahami said. “It’s a way to connect with the stories and talents of Israeli makers, to celebrate their resilience, and to support them during a time when they need it most. We all want to do more for our economy, our society, our small businesses and the incredible people around us.”
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