Levana Halfon runs a manicure, pedicure and eyebrow shaping business in Acre. The 42-
year-old mother of three rents space in a beauty salon and has a thriving clientele.

Summer is her busiest season. This summer, the war brought her to .nancial ruin.
“Everything was just awful,” says Levana painfully.

“My son was in the army. The rest of the family was crowded in a bomb shelter. My husband and I had no income. I don’t know what we would have done without the support of our families.”

The five people who were killed when a Katyusha rocket fell in Acre lived close to Levana. It
is difficult for her to think back to that time.

When the war ended, Levana’s 10-year-old son was su.ering from trauma, and Levana
needed to get her business back on its feet. She heard about the Jewish Agency’s grant for
small businesses and immediately applied.

A week later her daughter screamed from the mailbox that a check from the Jewish Agency
arrived. Levana received approximately $1000.

“I told all my clients about the letter and the check. They all thought I was talking about a
loan. They could not believe that it was a grant that I didn’t have to repay.”

Some 2,600 small business owners like Levana, who su.ered severe .nancial setbacks as a
result of the war, are receiving emergency funds from the Jewish Agency. Some 40% of the
recipients are from non-Jewish populations.