EL AL | Atmosphere

Together, we shall overcome

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The Chocolate Café, Neve Eshkol Center Chocolate crowdfunding

03 Located right by Kibbutz Magen in the Neve Eshkol Center, the Chocolate Café is very well-known in the area. It was the ideal place to go for a coffee and top-notch artisan chocolate pralines, much loved by locals of all ages and walks of life. In recent years, the café had been co-managed by Dvir Karp Z”L, and Uri Steiner. Karp was in charge of the chocolates while Steiner was in charge of the management per se. On October 7 th , Karp was killed by the Hamas terrorists together with his partner, in their home in Kibbutz Re’im. In the aftermath of the attack, Steiner came to the realization that it would take months to get the business back on track and that the funds it would require to sustain it would end up being too much to bear. “Since the massacre occurred, many of our customers have told me how much they miss our café and that’s how the crowdfunding idea came about”, says Steiner. A crowdfunding page has been set up, in support of the beloved Chocolate Café, to ensure the café is there when the people of the Eshkol region are finally able to come back to their homes. “I wish to remain loyal to Dvir’s vision and recipes”, Steiner adds. For more information: headstart.co.il/ project/76203, 054-5677405 Be’eri is a small artisanal dairy farm that has been operating for more than thirty years. It specializes in handmade cow’s milk cheeses and it’s an integral part of the local fabric – the ingredients are all locally sourced and it is involved in many partnerships with local wineries and businesses. Its workers, Dror Or, Dagan Peleg, and Yaakov Banakot, lived through Be’eri Dairy farm Cheese, glorious cheese

The Chocolate Café - Dvir Karp Z”L

Be'eri Dairy - Yaakov Banakot, Dror Or (kidnapped) and Dagan Peleg I Photo: Yahel Batito

the hell of October 7 th . All three spent endless hours hiding in their safe rooms until they were rescued, but eventually it was discovered that Or and his children had been kidnapped and taken to Gaza and his wife, killed. “Dror being kidnapped has shaken us to our core. Without him, our passion is gone. Right now, we’re in deep uncertainty”, says Peleg. The two

have nonetheless decided to get back and salvage what remains and rebuild what was destroyed. Still not yet back to making new cheeses, aging cheeses are being taken care of, and sold at farmers’ markets as well as at the local wineries they usually work with. For more information: beeridairy.co.il

24 ATMOSPHERE JANUARY 2024