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Ariel Pollock Star makes bagels for her small business, Little City Bagels, which is part of the baking collaborative she launched, Lehem Zeh. (Courtesy)
This is the first of a two-part series on the Go Beyond program, made possible thanks to a partnership between Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund and Nefesh B’Nefesh. The Go Beyond program helps new immigrants fulfill their goal of making a new home in Israel’s beautiful periphery towns and cities located in the north and south of the country.
In Yeruham, a town of 10,000 about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Beersheba, small business owner Ariel Pollock Star is putting the finishing touches on Lehem Zeh (Hebrew for “this bread”), a commercial baking collaborative that’s one of a kind in Israel.
You arrived here with a certain set
of knowledge about Israel. Did your ideas about our country change over the last 10 years?
They changed – and for the better. Israel is an eye-opener because of its people and its determination, and the way it is building its economy and international relations. We see that Israel is striving for peace and an improved situation in the Middle East. The development of medicine, start-ups and innovations – all this compels us to learn and apply Israel’s experience at home, in Ukraine.
In all these 10 years we did a lot, so that people would communicate, so that business would develop. Ukraine and Israel have become not just partners but also friends. There is general support in international institutions and in all spheres of business. I think that after the victory over COVID-19, we will become even stronger.