"I made a video at Tiktok where I presented a kiddush cup, and then three customers came. I started laughing, I would hire people to buy from Tiktok," smiles Mor Levy, the owner of the "Mamamakim" store that sells Judaica products in Netanya.
When she started selling Judaica items on social media with the help of the "All of Us" project, which is led by Facebook Israel with other well-known companies, she did not believe that people would purchase such items online, but now she sees no other way.
The Judaica industry is one of the most traditional left in the State of Israel, and it is hard to imagine that items such as mezuzahs or prayer shawls for bar mitzvahs can be purchased through the chain.
But then the corona came and shuffled the cards.
Today, according to Facebook Israel, even the most traditional small and medium-sized businesses have learned how to sell on Instagram, Facebook or any other network.
And sales, it seems, are sky-high.
The Judaica product store, without credit
EBay, for example, reports a 35 percent jump in sales of Rosh Hashanah-related products in the past six months compared to last year.
"We recognize that traditional businesses such as the Judaica business have concerns, and therefore the 'Business of All of Us' program has a unique value," explains Elul Rifman, Director of Partnerships at Facebook Israel, who is leading the successful project in question.
"We raised a lot of money from large companies in the economy, along with the National Student Union and the local government center, and built a solution for businesses in the form of personal accompaniment of students and videos that teach how to work online. A business owner can work from the sidewalk in Jerusalem or from the Old City and reach the whole world - Europe, the United States - everywhere.
"Save us the livelihood"
Such is Vika Koren, a mother of two from Jerusalem, who runs a studio in a sheltered factory.
"Before the Corona I sold mostly at fairs and shops, and then the doors closed and I found myself without labor, because working in a factory was banned, and without shops. I realized there was no escape from the digital world."
Today, Vika also operates its store at the mental health station in the Arnona neighborhood, and at the same time sells it online.
"True, Judaica is basically 'Old Fashion', but I see how things move easily to the internet. Now I'm less stressed when I hear the words closure and isolation, I understand there is life after them too," she says.
Moore also says that the Internet has changed her life.
The business she runs, a Judaica store in downtown Netanya, she received from her father, and before the corona she did not think of opening a website or selling on social media.
"There is not a day that I do not have inquiries on Instagram and Facebook. People buy prayer shawls, for example - write me the measurements and I send. I have customers today all over the country, and even inquiries from abroad."