Nan Cohen, KEPW welcome Rivki Green from ‘Heart of the World’

Nan Cohen (KEPW) Hi, I’m Nan Cohen from KEPW. This week I have the pleasure of talking with Rivkah Green, who used to live in Corvallis and now lives in Israel, where she is involved with a group called Lev Haolam.  

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) Hi. Thank you so much for having me with you today.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) Thank you. We appreciate you so much taking this time, Rivki, to share some good news. We all really need as much good news as we can get. 

Can you please share with us about Lev Haolam and the meaning of the name? I know what that means—’heart of the world’—but to help with the listeners who may not be Jewish, I’m asking this question to help them understand the Hebrew word.

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) So yes, Lev Haolam, you’re exactly right, Lev Haolam means ‘heart of the world.’ In Hebrew, lev means heart and haolam means the world, so: ‘heart of the world.’ 

And we love this name because it reflects our belief that Israel is so much more than just a place on the map, you know? It’s a land with thousands and thousands of years of history, of faith, of culture, of resilience, you know. 

And our mission is to help connect people around the world with the families who live and work right here in Israel with the products that they create. And so when somebody opens a Lev Haolam box, no matter where they are in the world, it is as if they are connecting personally and immediately with the heart of the world.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) How did you first get involved with Lev Haolam, and what’s your favorite part of the whole process?

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) I first became involved with Lev Haolam because I genuinely shared the values of the company. I believe strongly that supporting small family businesses, small businesses, preserving local traditions, whether they’re ceramic art traditions or farming traditions, helping communities become economically stable. And resilience is just the most meaningful work. And it causes me to jump out of bed every single morning. 

What especially drew me to Lev Haolam is that it is a sustainable model. So rather than a one-time donation, the members of Lev Haolam are really creating an ongoing demand for the products that these families in Israel are making, and that steady support allows the businesses to grow. It provides stable livelihoods and income. And when you have that kind of economic stability, it gives you the possibility to begin dreaming of and planning for the future. 

And it’s my personal belief that local businesses that are strong, communities that are stable. That is what creates the foundation for a more hopeful and peaceful future. 

So when people have the opportunity to work, to create, and to build, you know, for their families, then that is something that I think is worth investing in. 

In my role, I have had, oh my gosh, such the privilege of the last seven years of visiting farmers and artists and people who are in food manufacture and production and small businesses and families all over Israel. 

It’s just remarkable. Everywhere from Otef Aza, which is the southern Gaza border, all the way up to the Golan Heights. And what is fascinating to me is that this incredibly diverse group of Israelis all sort of share something that is universal. And yet at the same time, they each one have a very unique story. And I really love helping those families, those businesses, to share and tell their stories. 

Another part for me that is really very meaningful is to hear from members around the world. You know, once they receive the box, they get in touch with us. 

One story that I can share with you that was so special to me at the beginning of the recent war, following Oct. 7, we started doing some live broadcasts on Facebook, and I got connected with a gentleman in Pakistan, and he initially came not so much in a positive way. 

He came to this broadcast and found as he got to know me and he got to know some of the guests on the broadcast, he realized he made that connection of people, and he and I developed a really nice relationship and have stayed in touch for all of these years. 

And recently, I was able to celebrate his marriage, you know, and that’s the beauty for me. That’s my favorite part is the fact that we are able to connect person-to-person, because I think there’s so much more that unites us than divides us, really.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) Can you tell us a little bit about the surprise box?

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) It’s really fun. It’s fun to do work. That’s fun, you know what I mean? So every month our team curates a surprise box and each month it’s different. The surprise box will contain different things—things like artisanal olive oil or honey from local apiaries. 

We work with a lot of ceramic artists all through Israel who make beautiful one-of-a-kind ceramic handmade gifts. We work with people that make natural, organic skin care, that uses some of the plants and flowers that grow right here in Israel. Spice mixes and chocolates and teas and, you know, the works. It’s always something unique, always something beautiful. 

And what I especially love is that each month, it’s not just a collection of products, but we actually use the box as a vehicle to tell a story. 

So for example, it might be a story about the land of Israel, a box that tells the story of the land through the seven species of the land of Israel. So dates and, you know, olives and wheat and pomegranates and figs and so forth in various different creations. So that’s really fun. 

Or it might be that we tell the story of a community in Israel. So, for example, this year in February, we did a box that I just loved. It was called ‘The Hope Box,’ and we worked with families from the southern border, from Otef Aza. These were families that had been evacuated from their homes and their farms for at least two years following the Oct. 7 attack and the following war. 

And so they came back and had to really start from the beginning, getting the land back and ready to farm. And many of those people went through extremely traumatic experiences on Oct. 7, lost friends and family. And it just it was an extraordinarily difficult two years for them. And I was really overwhelmed with—I just was humbled, I guess, by their resilience. 

And we called it ‘The Hope Box’ because that’s the energy that they brought to coming back to their homes and their communities. They were focused on not on what had happened. They were looking forward. They were focused on a feeling of hope that we can recover, that we can rebuild, that we can create something better for our children. 

And it really was an extraordinarily beautiful box, and it was really special to be involved in that. 

Sometimes also, the boxes can tell biblical stories, which our members really enjoy. So, for example, just a couple of months ago, we did a box that told the story of King David, such a universally known figure from Jewish history, from Israeli history. And it was a fun way to tell his story.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) We understand that you are featuring holiday specials for Tu B’Av, which is coming up July 28.

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) I love that you asked about Tu B’Av because Tu B’Av is a really unique and special day in Israel and really within the Jewish community of the diaspora as well. But it’s often called the Jewish Festival of Love. But it is so much more than a romantic holiday. 

According to the Mishnah, the daughters of Jerusalem wore borrowed white garments and they danced in the vineyards. And this was single daughters, this was not the married daughters. This is what we did before we had Tinder. We dressed up in white and danced in the vineyards. 

But the key to this that I think is so interesting was the fact that they wore the borrowed dresses—because this way nobody would know whether the young lady came from a wealthy family, or a privileged family, or a poor family, difficult circumstances. Everybody was equal, everybody looked the same, and everybody was treated with the same level of equality and dignity. 

And I just—I really love this because, you know, when you look at this tradition, it really reminds us that genuine connection, it begins when we look beyond social status or wealth or outward appearances, and we take a moment and just actually see somebody else as a human being, that we can look at people and put our preconceived notions and prejudices aside, and we can see the holiness in the other, you know, because that is what gives us the opportunity then to connect. 

So today, generally speaking, no, no dancing in the vineyards, although there are some communities that have really revived the tradition and do dance in the vineyards. But it is a holiday that celebrates love and friendship and relationships, and it really just is such a beautiful reminder that this the strongest communities are the ones that are built on kindness and on respect. 

And it’s a good holiday for us at Lev Haolam because it dovetails perfectly into who we are and what our mission is. You know, just to connect people through shared stories and through meaningful products, of course, as well, because that’s very fun.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) Can you please tell us about some of the artisans whose products are being featured?

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) The people that we work with at Lev Haolam are pretty fantastic and it is just an incredible variety of people. It really is a cross-section of Israeli culture. 

You know, some of the people come from multi-generational farming families. They have been working certain parts of the land for generations.

We work with artists, ceramic artists, with beekeepers, people who make soap, chocolatiers, entrepreneurs. I mean, if you can imagine that type of person in Israel, that’s the type of person and business that we work with. 

And all of these incredible artisans that are connected with us and partner with us, the last few years have been incredibly hard. They really have. And it’s very awe-inspiring to see that despite all of these challenges and difficulties that they continue to build, they continue to create the products and to strengthen their communities because they believe in the work and they believe in their communities and they believe in the future. 

You know, you only work and build when you believe in the future. So every purchase, every membership that we have helps these communities to grow and helps these artisans to grow.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) What are some of the results that you have seen from introducing the artisans and sharing their stories with Lev Haolam customers?

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) You know, I think the most significant and meaningful result that we have seen is that people stop seeing just products as products, and they really rather see them as the people behind the product, the face behind the product, the name behind the product. So the biggest result is, I think, that human connection. 

One of the things that we do with our surprise boxes is every month we publish a magazine that goes with the box. And I love this. It’s one of the projects that I’m involved with. But we go and we meet with the artisans, you know, take photos and do interviews so that we can tell their story so that when a person receives the product, they actually get to know the person behind it. 

I mean, you can buy olive oil anywhere, you know. And why is this different? Well, this is different because it’s an olive oil that comes from a particular family with a particular story, maybe unique hardships or joys, whatever it may be. And so it’s a very special part of the box. 

The other side of that, just from an Israeli perspective, is that we have the great honor of seeing these small businesses grow, seeing businesses expand and scale. I’ve seen businesses hire more employees or purchase new equipment, move into bigger production facilities. 

And that’s really the result, is that we are helping businesses to become stabilized in Israel and helping them to continue to function, even during truly a difficult time. 

So it’s just special. It’s a unique way to create economic stability, but also at the same time to make friendships because we really, we call our community family, because it really does feel like extended family where your connection is very, very real.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) What are your hopes for the future of Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, and other neighbors?

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) I’m really glad you asked this question. My hope for all of us is really very simple. I hope for a future where children on every side can grow up safely, happily, with adventure, you know, where families can build stable lives and where people, everybody, all people are able to make a living with dignity and a future where communities have opportunities to thrive, instead of just living through a conflict. 

It’s been amazing. You know, we’ve seen remarkable steps towards a future with our neighbors, like the Abraham Accords, which have normalized relationships with some of our neighbors, something that I hoped for and was amazed to see in my lifetime. 

It’s interesting, you know, the people that I meet every single day, they just pretty much want the things that people everywhere want—you know, security, whether it’s food security, physical security, a meaningful work, an ability to support themselves and their families and create a future with hope for their children. 

Every single Israeli, I think, hopes for the same thing that I hope for, which is a future that is stable. A future where peace is returned to this land. It’s something that I pray for every day. And is it an impossible dream? I don’t think so. I don’t think anything is impossible. 

But as we all know, peace doesn’t break out. I wish it did, but peace doesn’t break out. You know, peace is something that you have to actively work on. And it takes everybody putting the effort in. 

And I think the first step to creating peace is getting to know one another as we are, not as we wish each other were, but as we are. Just to get to know one another, not through the lens of conflict, but just through a lens of, I guess, openness to possibility. Because I think that’s an important step towards a better future. 

And, you know, Lev Haolam I feel like is doing such a powerful daily work because that is what we do every single day. We introduce people, we introduce Israelis who are living and working on the land, who have incredible stories, who just want to build a better future. 

We introduced those people to people around the world, and we introduce it through their stories. So you can see behind the headlines. And we introduce them through their products. And I think this is step one to building real connections. So yes, I hope for a better tomorrow.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) Thank you for sharing your story with KEPW, Rivki. We are so grateful for the time and attention that you’re giving us to do this. I think it’s extremely important for the world to know what’s really going on.

Rivki Green (Lev Haolam) Thank you so much for inviting me to join you today. It means so much to me that you would have me visit and to your incredible community, who I know are focused on building a better future the world over, not just in Eugene, Oregon, but, you know, all over the world, who, like me, know that peace is a choice that we make every single day. And I think it’s one of those things that you think globally and act locally.

So while we all have a—I want to say Rosh Gadol, which is like a big perspective for peace, that also on an individual level, that we just do our best to create peaceful interactions with one another every single day. So thank you for having me. I wish us all shalom and that we should share only good news together.

Nan Cohen (KEPW) This has been Nan Cohen sharing good news today. I had the pleasure and the privilege of connecting KEPW with Rivkah Green from Lev Haolam, connecting artisans and small businesses in Israel with people from all over the world.

You’re listening to KEPW-LP 97.3 FM PeaceWorks Community Radio, also streaming online at KEPW.org.