Achi is a Hebrew word that means my brother. ACHI is also an acronym for the non-profit group American Communities Help­ing Israel. And the two are inter­twined: The goal of the organi­zation is to help our brethren in Israel by encouraging people to buy made-in-Israel products.

ACHI was founded by Su­zanne Weilgus of Monsey, an ed­ucator with an MBA in healthcare administration, with a team of like-minded volunteers from the area: Rochelle Zupnik, an educa­tor and marketing specialist; Glo­ria Gordon, an MSW who works with youth and families, an Lynda Zentman, Principal of Bais Yaakov D’Rav Hirsch.

Zupnik said ACHI was formed after the women visited Isra­el fairs held around New York and New Jersey to give the Israe­li economy a boost, and wanted to find a way to keep the momen­tum going. “The fairs were very successful, but they came and went,” Zupnik said. “We brain­stormed about what we could do to create a not-for-profit geared to a multi-age group, which would come up with easy-to-implement ideas to keep people connected to Israel.” ACHI was the result.

ACHI began by introduc­ing projects for school children. “When we reach children at a young age, it helps create com­mitment and they bring the mes­sage home,” Zupnik said. Their first project, Israeli snack day, has caught on with many day schools. During the first week of school, a class votes on a day when the students can bring in any snack made in Israel.

Last year, ACHI began “The Klee” project: Families designate a bowl—klee is “vessel” in He­brew—to be filled with Israeli products. By displaying your Klee prominently on your table and desk, and always keeping it filled with Israeli edibles, you are show­ing your family, guests, students, and colleagues the importance of Think Israel – Buy Israel,” Zupnik explained. She recommends hav­ing several Klees—one for Shab­bos, one for every day, and one for all your Dead Sea skin care items. A Klee can be simple or elaborate; something you already have or a new item you choose just for this purpose. ACHI made up Klee cards for spreading the word to friends and displaying with your Klee at home.

Last year, Zupnik’s grand­daughter, Miri Hochberg of Te­aneck, made a Klee in the ceram­ics club at the Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey. This year, making a Klee will be a schoolwide pro­ject. Leah Silver, eighth-grade girls’ Jewish Studies teacher and Jewish Programming Studies Facilitator, said the Klee idea fits in beautiful­ly with their curriculum of teach­ing laws and values. “Students will be using paper and cardboard to make some form of container to remind them to keep Israel cen­tral in their lives,” Silver said, “es­pecially during this shmitta year, when farmers must keep the land fallow, the Klee is something each child can take home to keep Isra­el in mind.” ACHI is having discus­sions with the other day schools in Bergen County to implement Klee projects in their curriculum.

And what can you put in your Klee? “We recommend fill­ing your Klee with consumable products from Israel: wine, con­diments (olives and pickles), can­dles, and cheeses, snack foods, desserts, olive oil, and more,” Zup­nik said.

Most kosher grocery stores and, increasingly, bigger super­markets, carry Israeli products. There are also a few stores in Ber­gen County that specialize in Is­raeli products.

Kfir Sayag opened Tenafly’s Emanu-El delicatessen, specializ­ing in imported Israeli products, four years ago after running a sim­ilar store in Queens. “I decided to come here to provide for all of Bergen County,” Sayag said. “I met so many Israelis from this area who came to Queens to shop.”

Sayag imports his stock di­rectly from Israel, selecting many items that are not found in the bigger markets. In addition to shelves filled with canned and boxed goods, he carries hard-to-find items like certain brands of Israeli flour or styles of Emek cheeses. He has many frozen items and bins filled with Isra­el olives and pickles. Behind the counter, a fountain container dis­penses Israeli-style frozen blend­ed ice coffee “like at Aroma,” Say­ag noted. There is a small area where you can order sandwich­es and salads. Emanu-El doesn’t have a mashgiach, but all food is kosher and the meats are Glatt Ko­sher from Brooklyn.

Sayag provides more than just the right products; he gives cus­tomers a link to Israel. When I was there, a steady stream of men, women, and children came in and chatted with Sayag as they made their purchases. Leeron Benesh, a frequent shopper at Emanu-El, grew up in Israel and moved to Demarest 19 years ago. “This is a taste of home. I can get things here I can’t get at the supermar­ket—they may have tahini but not the right one,” Benesh said.

Sayag smiled. “I get to know my customers and what they want,” he said. “This type of rela­tionship you won’t find at a super­market.”

I guess you can’t put your fro­zen blended coffee in a Klee, but you can sip it while putting in any of Emanu-El’s numerous Israeli consumables.

To learn more about Israe­li products and where they are available, visit

www.BuyIsraelGoods.org. The site helps you find Israeli prod­ucts by category, and has a geo­graphical list of retailers through­out the US. For more information about ACHI and “The Klee,” visit www.achi613.org.

By Bracha Schwartz