As far as Ellen Bob is concerned, being a woman in the business world has been nothing but an asset during the 16 years she and her mother have owned and operated their Judaica store in Palo Alto.
“In some ways from our customers’ perspective, it’s been a benefit,” said Ellen Bob, co-owner of bob and bob.
“In the context of religious life, it may be easier to approach a woman with a question than a man. Some of our less knowledgeable customers, I think, feel less intimidated approaching a woman than they would someone who looks like a traditional rabbi or something.”
Ellen Bob and her mother, Shirley Bob, are among a handful of women running Judaica businesses in the Bay Area. All consider their gender a help in their field.
“There really hasn’t been anything to overcome in terms of prejudice against us as women in this business,” Ellen Bob said.
Bob notes that before she started, there was already a tradition in San Francisco of women in the business because of Lieber’s, the now-defunct Judaica store run by a husband-and-wife team. After her husband passed away, the woman kept the business going.
“A lot of our East Coast suppliers may have been surprised by us — not prejudiced, really,” said Bob, who is president of the Mid-Peninsula Jewish Community Day School in Palo Alto. “Many had not worked with women with the kinds of Jewish background knowledge we have. But once they meet us, it’s over.”
More than any gender issues, Bob said, she had to overcome “the thought that I knew a lot before I went into this business. I had no idea how much I didn’t know.”
Aziza Mara, co-owner of L’Chaim in Danville and the mother of two grown children, also has found that being a woman has been an advantage in her business.
Both she and her partner, Eileen Velen, a recently widowed mother of three, like to take time with the customers.
“We shmooze with them, and the customers are delighted we’re here,” she said.
Having recently moved to a larger location, the 4-year-old Judaica business has grown slowly but steadily since the two teamed up to purchase an existing store.
“This is not a big money maker — at least not yet, though it is expanding slowly,” Mara said. “Mostly, this is a labor of love.”
Their partnership works well, she noted. Mara, for example, is a Sephardi Jew from Gibraltar who spent time in Israel. Velen is an Ashkenazi Jew, originally from Chicago.
Their tastes differ, as do their points of reference, which makes for a “nice balance” in the items they purchase for the store.
Taking a slightly different tack in her approach to selling Judaica, Rhoda Wolfe, owner of The Israel Collection in San Francisco, concentrates exclusively on handcrafted items from Israel.
Because she’s open by appointment only and sells specialty Jewish pieces, Wolfe said she hasn’t experienced any prejudice as a businesswoman.
“The only people who contact me want what I have,” she said.
She started the business about 15 years ago with a partner whom she bought out 10 years back.
“I was in Israel 16 years ago visiting my daughter,” Wolfe explained, “People here had thought I must be frightened going there. And I remember looking at all the beautiful things there, and feeling it was a shame that people couldn’t also see the beauty, besides the fear.”
She also decided to go into business because she didn’t inherit any Judaica from her family.
“I had to create my own memories,” she said. “I wanted to provide things that could become family heirlooms.”
For the Bobs, the mother and daughter team is the result of the elder Bob having “exhausted the volunteer circuit” and younger Bob’s dissatisfaction with the newspaper where she was working.
The two women “sat down and discussed what we could do. I’d never worked in a retail store before, and I wasn’t sure I’d like it,” Ellen Bob said. “But it’s 16 years later, and here we are.”
Shirley and Ellen Bob also see themselves as Jewish educators.
“That’s what Mom and I see ourselves doing every day here,” said Ellen Bob.
“Our goal is to make living a Jewish life more accessible — to help people do what they want in terms of their Jewishness — learning what it means to be a Jew, lighting candles or laying tefillin for the first time.
“Many of the people who come in here are disconnected from the Jewish community, and a Jewish bookstore is the first step on their way back. We want to make sure their visit here is positive.”
Though single when she and her mother first started bob and bob, Ellen Bob now is married with three children.
She finds her business one that meshes well with family life, especially since she works with her mother.
“If I have to call in and say one of my kids is sick, my partner always tells me that, of course, I should stay home. It’s nice.”