Several passersby appeared to wonder what was going on at the capital's Clal Center last Thursday, as over 400 people of varying ages danced to music and enjoyed refreshments until well past midnight. The gathering, which took place on the first story of the huge downtown building, marked the opening of a new cooperative shop called B'Shutaf. By the end of the party, it had about 15 new members. Cooperatives are not new to this city. The first cooperative was established about 20 years ago in the Katamonim neighborhood by a group of activists with two goals: to reduce the price of essential products, and to raise women's awareness of social justice. For various reasons, it didn't last long, but the idea of consumers organizing in groups to obtain bargain prices for certain products has long been on the minds of several local activists. Of course, there are the haredi supermarket chains, which offer reduced prices on products that community uses often, but which are open to everyone (though some require patrons to dress modestly). There are also groups of consumers who buy certain products – such as diapers or baby formula – directly from suppliers at a lower cost. These are not cooperatives in the strict sense of the word, but they do provide bargain prices to organized groups. B'Shutaf – from the Hebrew for “partnership” – was born three years ago as a modest local initiative, led by a few students who wanted to find a way to bypass the high prices they were encountering at city supermarkets and mini-marts. Though that was the initial aim, it was certainly not the only one, recalls Tal-El Weisman, one of the founders. The desire to reinforce strong ties with a community and to foster a partnership experience was the basic layer of the initiative. Being a member of the cooperative – which one achieves by purchasing a share – includes an element of responsibility, namely donating one's time to the cooperative's management or at the shop itself, as a cashier or otherwise. “We had two aims,” says Weisman, “and we worked it out in such way that it avoided the usual conflicts between suppliers or owners [and] their clients – we wanted the initiative to be fruitful and sustainable, but we also wanted to provide products at reasonable prices, which is not the case in a regular store.” Weisman adds that the cooperative started as an initiative that suited the ideology of the founders – a group of students who met at the Hebrew University and who wanted to do something that would strengthen their community and sustain their quest for social justice. “We are not a community in the sense that we all think the same or live in the same neighborhood,” explains Ben Borenstein, another member of the cooperative, “but rather a group of young people who share quite a few of the same things – [we're] mostly students, young, [with a similar] way of life. That's how it all began.” During the first three years, B'Shutaf was located in the yard of the Jerusalem Experimental High School, on Rabbi Akiva Street in the city center. But the organizers felt the time had come to enlarge the cooperative community; hence the move to the Clal Center last week. “The basic rule is that you have to be a member of the cooperative in order to shop there,” says Weisman, “although we do allow newcomers to shop freely the first time, so they can get to know us and decide if they want to join. But the rule is that you have to share it with the community of the cooperative, and buy your share. As for the products, it's not that we sit and debate over each one to decide if it fits our views or not – that wouldn't be realistic anyway – but there is a general trend that we prefer products that are not the usual junk available anywhere else.” While there are a few products on display at the new shop that are not considered healthy, like cookies and processed snacks, the aim is to reduce them as much as possible. For the moment, the cooperative does not sell meat or poultry, but it does sell tuna, says Weisman. There is no definitive decision about keeping it vegetarian, though it seems that, as in the previous years, most of the products are supplied according to the clients' requests. “Does this cooperative want to sell meat or refrain from it? We still have no final answer,” says Dan Kessler, the shop's director and the only member who is a salaried employee of the cooperative. Kessler, who comes from the restaurant business, says he has never even tried to get his merchandise from the large providers, “who don't like to sell to cooperatives anyway,” he stresses. “Although they might sell to large yeshivot or the like, I don't go there at all. There are quite enough suppliers in the medium range, and we get along fine.” The social aspect and strong emphasis on healthy items aside, the cooperative's standard basket of products is not cheaper than the one from the Rami Levy supermarket, he says. “But it can be between 10 percent and 30% less expensive than in the average neighborhood groceries, and certainly less than in the 24/7 shops.” Weisman, who has been there from the beginning, says the original group of students didn't even have a business adviser, but he adds that since the whole thing was limited to a handful of friends who specified exactly what they needed, the risks were practically nonexistent. Today, Kessler says he can get better prices thanks to the growing number of clients he serves, and the opening of the new shop in the Clal Center is a landmark decision by the cooperative's board to extend the group's activity and reach new members. Apart from him, all the workers at the shop are volunteers from the cooperative. Becoming a member requires a one-time payment of NIS 300 for a share – a sum that is reimbursed if the member decides to end his or her membership. The second requirement is to put in at least three hours a month at the shop. Kessler has three people on each shift – a cashier, a storekeeper and a shift superviser. Regarding what it's like to work with a staff of volunteers, Kessler says it has its pros and cons. “On the positive side, they are great people; their motivation is sky-high, and so is their goodwill. The contrasting aspect is the lack of experience, but since all of them – workers and clients – are ultimately on the same side, everything goes well and smoothly, and we just learn more every day.” Yonatan Golan is the president of the cooperative, having returned from spending some time abroad. “We are not the only cooperative in the country that provides its members with reduced-price products,” he says, “but we are the only one in which membership means that you have to be active in the [upkeep] of the cooperative.” At the moment, there are more than 300 members, about 100 of whom are “frozen” members – “people who are not in the country or in Jerusalem for now, and although they could leave the cooperative and get back their share money, they decided not to do so,” he explains. “So they are members, but not active – this is allowed for one year, and then they have to decide.” About 70% of the members are students; the rest are people who have finished their studies and decided to remain in Jerusalem – like Borenstein – or young singles or couples who joined after college. Golan himself has a bachelor's degree in physics and is currently studying for his master's at HU. The board consists of six women and five men, but according to Golan, they primarily represent a particular sector of society. “They are mostly students or recent graduates, Ashkenazim, rather left-wing or inclined toward socialist ideas – what we usually describe as 'bleeding-heart' – and that is exactly what we would like to change, mostly through the opening of the shop in the Clal Center,” he says. “We want to reach other parts of the population in the city.” The festive inauguration of the shop last Thursday, which was heavily publicized on Facebook and student networks, brought in a crowd, and a lot of new customers. The plan is to reach new markets – not only students and singles, but more young couples and young families, and anyone who likes the idea of shopping to support a social initiative. “The party was successful,” says Golan. “It attracted many new people. We hope to continue in that direction.”
