JEWISH WORLD

By ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN H is smile broadens with pride when he hands me a glass of fresh-squeezed juice under the encouraging eye of training supervisor Noa Zwebner. “When Ben started working here two years ago, he wore sunglasses and was very shy. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. We worked really hard with him to communicate along with teaching him how to make coffee and juice,” says Zwebner. “He’s now asking clients what kind of coffee and pastry they want. He’s taking initiative. He’s really made unbelievable progress.” Social eateries across Israel aim to please palates while employing, training and rehabilitating people from disadvantaged populations such as teenage dropouts and dis- abled adults. Café Shalva opened in March 2016 on the new sprawling Jerusalem national headquarters of Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. “The concept of our new campus was to create a place for individuals with disabilities but where everyone feels comfortable coming,” says Avi Samuels, chairman of Shalva. “Everything about it promotes inclusion. It starts with the accessi- ble playground outside where kids with and without disabilities play together, and our inclusive kinder- garten and daycare, sports and music programs.” Café Shalva is popular with the public, says Samuels. “Hundreds of people come and enjoy a great meal with an addition- al aspect of learning about the world of people with disabilities,” he says. “We didn’t want people to come out of pity but for the good food and pleasant environment.” Dualis Social Investment Fund runs four social restaurants in Israel in partnership with NGOs serving Israeli youth in distress. “The model in all our restaurants is that it’s a for-profit business train- ing and employing dropout youth. We always have a social partner organization and a social worker on site,” says Tamar Levine, Dualis marketing director. “We have eight to 12 participants in each restaurant annually. They begin by learning soft skills like coming to work on time and listen- ing to authority,” Levine tells ISRAEL21c. They receive paid on- the-job training under professional chefs, and then get help finding jobs. “We want them to become nor- mative Israeli citizens, and evalua- tions show that between 80 and 90 percent of our alumni are able to do that. We find that food is a really good therapeutic mode. We’re even seeing graduates opening their own places.” If you want to do a meaningful act of philanthropy while enjoying great food, try one of these social enterprise restaurants in Israel. Liliyot, 2 Dafna Street (Asia House), Tel Aviv Liliyot, an upscale kosher restau- rant near the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Tel Aviv Medical Center, trains and employs youth at risk aged 16 to 19 in collaboration with Elem, a nonprofit organization for youth at risk. Israel’s first social enterprise restaurant, Liliyot was established as a nonprofit in 2000 and shifted to profit mode with the founding of Dualis in late 2008. It boasts more than 250 graduates and has gained a reputation for top-notch cuisine and service for regular diners and pri- vate events. Mata’im in Ramat Hanadiv gardens, Zichron Ya’akov Mata’im is a kosher dairy restau- rant established in 2012 in the Ramat Hanadiv public gardens. Together with the Zichron Ya’akov municipality and Elem, the restau- rant trains and employs youth at risk, preparing them for careers in the restaurant trade. Many private parties are held here. Café Ringelblum, 86/6 Ringelblum Street, Beersheva Café Ringelblum, a kosher restaurant in a gentrifying, hip neighborhood of Beersheva, was Dualis’ second investment and was founded by the Tor Hamidbar non- profit organization with the objec- tive of providing meaningful work experience for disadvantaged youth from the neighborhood. Currently the eatery is managed by the Kampai restaurant group. Anna, 10 HaRav Agan Street, Jerusalem Anna kosher Italian restaurant opened in May 2016 in the historic Ticho House, a downtown branch of the Israel Museum. It’s staffed by youth at risk affiliated with the Hut HaMeshulash, ( nonprofit and man- aged by the Mona Group under celebrity chef Moshiko Gamlieli from the famed Machneyuda restaurant. Anna recently received a glowing review in The New York Times. Café Motek, Mara Theater, 1 Kikar Tzahal, Kiryat Shmona Founded in the summer of 2006 at the initiative of social-work stu- dents at Tel-Hai College in northern Israel, Café Motek (Sweetie) is a place where people with and with- out mental illness can meet and work together. It has since moved off campus to the lobby of the Mara Theater in Kiryat Shmona and con- tinues to be operated under the aus- pices of Enosh Israeli Mental Health Association, a national ini- tiative serving approximately 4,500 Israelis across the country. Serving Coffee And Care Popular Israeli social restaurants employ people with challenges continued on page 27 18 JEWISH WORLD • JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2018 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK Social eateries across Israel aim to please palates while employing, training and rehabilitating people. Café Shalva employs people with intellectual disabilities. They learn to be managers, hosts and waiters.