Ankor isn’t your typical Judaica store.
Among the hamsa-shaped clocks, modern mezuzah covers and Hebrew and English blessings for the home, shoppers at the Palo Alto store will also find lots of merchandise that isn’t explicitly Jewish.
All of the products, however, are handcrafted by Israeli artists and imported from Israel.
The growing collection of items that Ankor sells — leather handbags, laptop cases, muslin shawls, ceramic cups and canvas tote bags — are meant to appeal to anyone who appreciates modern design, fashion and home decor, regardless of culture or religion, according to Nily Shamgar Pessach, the store’s owner.
“We are open to anyone,” Shamgar Pessach told J.
Ankor, which opened June 14 at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, is Hebrew for “sparrow,” a symbol of freedom to Shamgar Pessach. The name is also linked to Sparrow missiles, which Israel fires to test its own air defenses. Shamgar Pessach was a sergeant in Israel’s Air Defense Command from 1999 to 2001 and among the first female combat soldiers to undergo training to operate the country’s missile defense system, she said.
The idea behind Ankor is to showcase the talent of Israeli designers and “give them a stage” in the United States, Shamgar Pessach said. Her shop currently displays and sells the products of 10 Israeli artists, with more in the pipeline. All of the designers have photos and bios displayed next to their products, which are artfully placed around the boutique-like store.
“They are feeling like there is a light in the dark,” Shamgar Pessach said, noting that even before the Israel-Hamas war, small businesses in Israel were struggling to sustain themselves since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shamgar Pessach compared her shop to the Nachalat Binyamin market in Tel Aviv, where twice a week, more than 200 artists sell unique, handmade items.
“It’s a little bit like Nachalat Binyamin here,” she said.
Originally from Ashdod south of Tel Aviv, Shamgar Pessach built her career in business management and retail for big-name Israeli brands over 15 years. She then transitioned into a role as an independent business consultant for small and medium businesses, often supporting designers from the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, a top school of art and design in Ramat Gan.
In September, Shamgar Pessach and her family came to the U.S. as part of the celebration of her daughter’s bat mitzvah. The family’s flight back home to Israel was booked for Oct. 7.
Their flight was canceled. As they began to take in the enormity of the Hamas attack and the implications of a drawn-out war, the family decided to visit the Bay Area, where they have Israeli friends, and stay awhile.
Over the past eight months, the family has made Silicon Valley their home. Shamgar Pessach’s children, ages 12, 10, and 5, are enrolled at Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School in Palo Alto, and Shamgar Pessach has applied for an entrepreneur’s visa.
“The Hausner community and the JCC, they just hugged us,” she said. “Really it’s amazing.”
The idea for opening Ankor came about when Shamgar Pessach met Ronit Jacobs, director of the OFJCC’s Israel Cultural Connection. She told Jacobs about her professional background, and Jacobs suggested she consider opening a shop at the JCC, which housed a Judaica store called Miriam’s Well from 2009 to 2011.
The Peninsula and South Bay have gone without a local Judaica and gift store for years. Alef Bet Judaica in Los Gatos closed its doors in 2016 after 23 years in business, and Palo Alto’s beloved mother-daughter run Bob and Bob closed in 2009 after more than 26 years.
Shamgar Pessach shared her business concept for Ankor in a WhatsApp group that she joined to connect with other Hausner parents. There, she met Eva Gurivich, who is originally from Israel and is helping Ankor get started.
“I feel like it’s something meant to be,” Shamgar Pessach said of meeting Gurivich and opening Ankor.
Gurivich noted that she and Shamgar Pessach are working to add a jewelry and clothing collection to the shop, as well as opening a pop-up shop outside the JCC. They’re also excited to put together seasonal collections for Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah, which will all be handmade items from Israel with a “modern look and feel,” Gurivich said.
“We’re trying to move away from the sad Hanukkah corner,” she joked, referring to the displays at big-box retailers and grocery stores that include a limited selection of Hanukkah-themed items, and, often, random boxes of matzah. (An Instagram account called Hanukkah Fails documents such displays around the U.S.)
Among Ankor’s current products are handmade soaps shaped like hearts etched with words such as “ahava” (“love” in Hebrew) and “Israel: Since 1948.” Other soaps depict images of a menorah. Ceramic cups are hand-painted with images of cypress trees and lush landscapes of Israeli farmland.
“I want to support the Israeli people,” Shamgar Pessach said. “And the way to support the small businesses is just selling their product. This is what they want. They want to continue doing what they do best.”
Shamgar Pessach said she sees herself as doing much more than just importing and selling products. She’s also helping the designers find manufacturers in the United States, as well as price and market their products.
One corner of the store displays a collection of donated gift bags and women’s accessories from the Israeli nonprofit Mamatcal, which supports the spouses of Israeli reservists who are currently serving. Many of those spouses are local to the Bay Area. Ankor will send 100% of the proceeds back to Mamatcal until they sell out, Shamgar Pessach said.
Her next big dream is to open a website for Ankor and to open shops in JCCs around the country in her efforts to support Israel and Israelis.
“It’s a high word,” she said, “but I feel a little bit like an ambassador — a little one.”