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the glencoe anchor | April 18, 2019 | 19
Glencoe-based Judaica Gift Shop readies for Passover
Libby Elliott
Freelance Reporter
As 15-year veteran comanagers
of North Shore
Congregation Israel’s
small, in-house Judaica
Gift Shop, Karen Kohn
and Nancy Mantynband
know a thing or two about
what customers purchase
in the busy weeks before
Passover.
From ornate Seder plates
and intricately embroidered
silk matzah covers
to toys, books, tzedakah
boxes, hand-painted candles
and elegant kiddush
cups, Kohn and Mantynband
have spent nearly
two decades scouring the
global marketplace for the
artisanal pieces of Judaica
that function as essential
components of Passover
and other traditional Jewish
rituals and celebrations
like Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah,
and Hanukah.
Throughout the years,
the pair has developed a
reputation for stocking
one of the most diverse,
thoughtfully-curated collections
of Judaica in Chicagoland,
taking pride in
sourcing unusual products
from across the United
States, Israel, South Africa
and beyond.
“We’ve actually met
many of the artists represented
in this store,” Kahn
said. “In some cases, we’ve
built lasting relationships
with them.”
The Glencoe-based
NSCI Judaica Gift Shop is
well known for its extensive
collection of mezuzot,
stocking pieces from over
a dozen designers, including
popular Pennsylvaniabased
Judaica artist, Joy
Stember.
A small vessel typically
made of metal, porcelain
or wood, a mezuzah contains
a prayer written on
a small parchment scroll,
and is typically affixed to
the doorways of Jewish
homes.
The store also stocks a
special car mezuzah, designed
to fit inside a glove
compartment.
“We find that car mezuzot
sell very well in the
spring when lots of teenagers
get their driver’s licenses,”
Mantynband said.
Kohn and Mantynband,
both residents of Highland
Park, are also committed to
fair trade and socially conscious
buying practices.
The shop carries a line of
fabric jewelry called Ficklesticks,
based in Little
Rock, Ark., made by people
with disabilities. The
shop’s best-selling beaded
bracelets are handmade
by a women’s collective in
Nepal.
“We see these products
as a kind of mitzvah,” said
Kahn, referring to the Jewish
religious tradition of
doing good deeds.
Kohn and Mantynband
also stock products crafted
by Michael Aram, an Armenian
artist well known
for his high-end metalwork
Judaica, tableware, jewelry
and home accessories.
And while Aram sells
only a limited selection
of his products through
department stores like
Bloomingdales and Neiman
Marcus, as an NSCI’s
gift shop established itself
as an independent retailer,
and therefore uniquely able
to source everything in Aram’s
thick product catalog.
“We had a customer in
here last week who ordered
an entire set of Michael
Aram plates for her daughter
as a wedding gift,”
Mantynband said.
Many brick and mortar
Judaica stores have been
forced to close under pressure
from online megastores,
making NSCI’s tiny
250-square-foot gift shop
one of the few remaining
Chicago-area Judaica outlets
where customers can
touch and feel a product
before buying it.
Teens often visit the gift
shop with their parents
to select a tallit, the silk
prayer shawl traditionally
worn during Bar and Bat
Mitzvah ceremonies. The
shawls are hand sewn in
Israel and range in price
from $50 to $350.
“When you order a garment
online, you don’t always
know how it will fit,”
Kohn said.
Kohn, Mantynband and
the gift shop’s rotating staff
The Judaica Gift Shop is located inside North Shore
Congregation Israel in Glencoe and offers diverse
collections. Photo Submitted
of six sales associates are
all volunteers with the congregation’s
auxiliary organization,
Women of NSCI.
Profits from NSCI’s Judaica
Gift Shop support the
ongoing work of the congregation
and help maintain
it’s iconic, Minoru Yamasaki-designed
lakefront
synagogue, built in 1964.
Kohn began volunteering
for NSCI’s gift shop
shortly after joining the
synagogue in 1994 with
her family.
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“I do this because I love
the merchandise, the institution
and connecting to
people,” she said.
North Shore Congregation
Israel is located at
1185 Sheridan Road, Glencoe.
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