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May 6, 2011
Bookshoppe’s business is happiness
An Israeli English and French bookstore serves expats.
OLGA LIVSHIN
The Bookshoppe, a charming second-hand bookstore selling books in English and French, is hidden on a quiet little street in Petach Tikvah, Israel. Last year, after 35 years of continuous existence, the business got new owners. But one thing remains constant: the store spreads happiness. It makes its owners, its regular customers and its occasional guests happy. And, it’s made me happy.
In 2007, when I first visited my mother in Israel, I was searching for something to read. A small shop around the corner from her home unexpectedly offered me a place to trade English books and to engage in a bit of gossip. Adrift in the land of Hebrew, an oasis of English was a joy. For me, this joy was personified in one of the owners, Anne Bar-Keshet. She radiated happiness, and I luxuriated in it. And, one day, she told me her story.
Bar-Keshet came to Israel from England in 1960. “I’ve always wanted to emigrate to Israel,” she recalled. “My parents would never allow me to go alone, and I lacked the guts to defy my father.” When a chance to get married and emigrate presented itself, Bar-Keshet grabbed it, although, she told me, she wasn’t in love.
The young family started out in Israel on a kibbutz, but their mentality didn’t fit into the kibbutz’s ideals. After a scandal caused by their use of a personal mattress (the communal mattresses were infested with bedbugs), the Bar-Keshets left the kibbutz and settled on a farm to grow turkeys. Neither the husband nor the wife had had any prior farming experience and their turkey farm didn’t fare well. Neither did their marriage without love.
In 1976, Bar-Keshet took her first independent job in a bookshop. She enjoyed it. “I’ve always loved books,” she said. “Even as a child, I hated dolls but treasured books. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I rented out my books to friends for two pennies. If they paid, they were sure to read the books and return them in good condition.”
Soon after she started working in the bookstore, a small English bookshop in Petach Tikvah was put up for sale. The previous owner sold his stock of 500 books to Bar-Keshet, who, though she was secular to the hilt, partnered with her friend, the wife of an American Orthodox rabbi.
Under new ownership and a new name, the Bookshoppe flourished. Bar-Keshet loved selling books, especially light romances. “Ladies come in, select a book and read a while in the shop. I don’t mind. They’re tired after a hard day. Many have domestic problems. Reading love stories is therapeutic. It helps them relax. Sometimes they buy a book and bring it back for an exchange later.”
Bar-Keshet also admitted that she loved delving into the boxes of old books people brought in for trade. “A box of books is like a treasure chest. There’s always something rare and priceless in every box. I like rummaging through the old paperbacks.”
The Bookshoppe not only provided Bar-Keshet with financial independence, it also granted her personal happiness. Twenty years ago, she met her beloved second husband there at the store.
On a month-long visit to Israel recently, I went back to the Bookshoppe to say hello to Bar-Keshet. To my dismay, I learned that she had passed away. Fortunately, the new owner, Shelley Wartski, was no less welcoming and was an equally happy bookseller.
Wartski had been a regular customer of the Bookshoppe for years, almost since its opening. She has always loved reading. “Some of my first memories are of my parents, sister and me, reading on Sunday afternoons,” she told me. In 1982, like Bar-Keshet, Wartski came to Israel from England.
“Of course, I read Hebrew,” she said, “but it’s never become a pleasure, like reading English.” She values the many friendships she’s made in the shop and she has joined a book club with some of them. “There are plenty of English-speaking people from England, America and Australia among the religious communities in Petach Tikvah,” she explained.
After Bar-Keshet’s death last year, her partner started looking for part-time help. Wartski applied and began working at the Bookshoppe. “It was lovely. I had never worked in a bookshop or a library before, but I liked working with people and books, liked the variety. People talked to me…. It was like a dream coming true, a dream I didn’t know about. I was so happy.”
After a few months, the owner decided to sell the business. Wartski was worried: “I loved the shop. Of course I was upset. What would happen with the new owners? Would they keep me on? Would they keep the shop?” That was when the idea to buy the store first popped into her head. “I [had] never owned a business. It was like in a movie. Buy a shop? Me? What if I couldn’t do it?”
Despite her doubts, Wartski’s husband was supportive. “I felt like G-d was whispering over my shoulder that it’s the right thing to do, that I should do it or I’d regret it,” she said.
She went with her instincts and bought the shop one year ago. “I don’t make a fortune, but the shop doesn’t lose money either. It’s doing OK,” she said. “I found my heart’s desire in this shop.”
It seems she has bought not only the name and the stock of the Bookshoppe. She has inherited its tradition of happiness as well.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She’s available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].
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