If Ori Gabrieli sells one tallit here in America, then that’s one more than he says he’d be selling in Israel.
“What would be a success?” asked the proprietor of Gabrieli Weaving, one of more than 30 Israeli businesses crisscrossing the country that will land in Sunnyvale on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Every sale I make it’s better than in Israel. My business is doing very bad and that is why I am here.”
Yet “success” in Gabrieli’s terms is more than just raking in the bucks.
“Most people in Israel, you know, have no way of making income and the only way the situation is going to get better is if people start to come to Israel,” he said.
“If I can convince three, four, five families to come to Israel, that will be a success for me.”
But for Bay Area residents unable or unwilling to go to Israel, now the Israel Caravan is coming to you.
The caravan is the brainchild of Stuart Katz, the Long Island, N.Y.-based president of TAL Tours, which books trips to Israel. With business slumping, Katz called some of the many Israeli merchants he’s gotten to know over the years, and set up a huge Long Island Israeli bazaar in June. Between 15,000 and 17,000 people attended the festival, and Katz came up with the idea of taking the Israel Caravan across the nation.
Featuring between 35 and 42 merchants in every stop, the caravan kicked off Monday in Irvine, will make a stop in Sunnyvale’s South Peninsula Hebrew Day School on Tuesday and Wednesday and then weaves through more than 30 cities until mid-March.
With the intifada grinding on well into its second year, times are especially grave for small Israeli businesses like the merchants with Israel Caravan. Approximately 30,000 small businesses shut their doors in 2001 and it is estimated that 50,000 more threw in the towel in 2002.
Daniel Aviya of Tefillin Beit El noted that the purchases patrons make don’t just benefit the men and women standing behind the counter, but each of their employees back home. Before he left, the company’s secretary told him she was praying for his success in America.
“The economy is zero in Israel at the present time, so we are coming to America to be part of our economy. We are a nation without borders,” said Aviya, who resides in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, “across the street” from Ramallah.
“America is doing this for us. The American Jews are with us.”
The caravan got off to a good start in Southern California, with about 5,000 people attending a festival in Irvine, more than Katz thought would come.
“Not bad, not bad, very nice people,” said Gabrieli.
“They really tried to support us, you know? They did everything they can to support us and it is nice.”
Aviya also got off on the right foot.
“It was very well done; very nice and lots of sales. Everyone was happy,” he said.
“They came, they came with their checkbooks, some spent over an hour to get there. It was a good day. It was nice to be welcomed in that way. On our first day here in America, so many made efforts to come and see us. I know everyone appreciated it.”