January 7, 2007 / 17 Tevet 5767

Business is booming for Michal Hirsch, 30. Hirsch, who specializes in custom-designed birthday cakes, will be expanding her business and opening her own studio/kitchen. But in July and August, Michal could not have dreamed of this expansion; during the war in northern Israel, few people were celebrating. As Hezbollah missiles rained down on Nahariya, where Michal lives, birthday cakes and celebratory parties seemed less important.

“I had no income in the summer,” she recalls, “and even after the ceasefire it took a few months for customers to recover. The turning point for me was in the fall when I applied, and immediately received, a grant from the Jewish Agency to compensate me for some of the economic damage to my business.”  

“We had been digging deep into our savings,” Michal adds, “and there was a feeling nobody cared about our plight. The grant from the Jewish Agency really restored my strength and motivation. I felt I had to carry on for the sake of the people so far away who had given me this gift.”

Immediate emergency grants to very small, independent businesses was one of the first steps the Jewish Agency took after the war – with the generous support of Jewish Federations in the United States through the United Jewish Communities (UJC) – to stop economic collapse. For the duration of the war, work was at a standstill in the North; small business owners and self-employed trade people were in financial ruin. They were unable to pay their bills or support their families.

The immediate emergency funds' first-aid assistance gave hard-working individuals the ability to pay some of their basic bills, including water, electricity and rent, and thus jump-start the process of rehabilitating their businesses.

A nationwide media campaign inviting people to apply, implemented pro-bono by the internationally renowned Gitam/BBDO Advertising Agency founded by Jewish Agency Board member Moshe Teumim, resulted in 7,000 applications. To date, over 2,670 businesses have received emergency funding.

A few years ago Michal, who holds a BA and MA in Urban Planning from Haifa University, decided to turn her “first love” into a full time profession. Cooking in general and, sugar-crafts in particular, allow her to explore innovative designs and recipes.

“I grew up in my Moroccan grandmother’s kitchen,” explains Michal. “And ever since I can remember I loved cooking – especially baking. I always had a talent for designing cakes and there is no greater pleasure than seeing the look of wonder on a small child’s face when they first see their birthday cake.”

But there were no looks of wonder during this summer’s war in Lebanon. Sounds of song and gleeful birthday parties were replaced by horror, tears and fear as missiles slammed into buildings. During the barrage, Michal moved to her brother’s home in the center of the country with her two children, three year old Ariel and then 11 month Daniel, while her husband Nir continued working as a TV cameraman.  

The Jewish Agency grant was a catalyst for Michal; she found the strength and motivation to expand her enterprise. She invested the funds she received in advertising material to promote her birthday cakes. She also expanded into new fields including wedding cakes and edible-promotional materials. “In the past two months I have also designed and baked cakes for local businesses that included the company logo,” she says.

Michal also gives workshops, mainly to women, who cannot afford to buy her cakes but are eager to learn how to surprise their children with their own creations.

“The next stage in growing my business is to open my own studio,” she explains. “The volume of orders for cakes and the size of the workshops are such that it is no longer practical to work from home."

Michal has just been accepted into the small business incubator at the MATI Business Development Center in Akko.  Established with support from the Jewish Agency, the Center seeks to strengthen the region’s economy through assisting in opening new businesses and expanding existing ones. She will receive a subsidized studio/kitchen and business coaching.

“I’m relishing the challenge,” insists Michal. “I really feel that my business has major growth potential.