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<\/a>\n\t\tA colorful wall in Batya\u2019s Vintage House, 2025 (Courtesy)<\/p>\n
Ezri says she used to sit with her brother and father going through old art auction catalogs. Some of her fondest childhood memories are of turning the pages one by one, enchanted by the art and learning about it.<\/p>\n
For years, she filled her own home with vintage treasures but never imagined turning her passion into a profession.<\/p>\n
That changed during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
After nearly a decade living in Tel Aviv, Ezri returned to Jerusalem, uncertain about what came next. She found herself unemployed for almost a year and weighed down by uncertainty. At the same time, the family storefront sat empty after its previous tenant left.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my mother\u2019s idea to open a new store in the old location,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd all the stars aligned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezri filled the space with pieces from her own collection, adding items inherited from her parents as well as discoveries from flea markets, private homes and collectors who now seek her out. Alongside vintage objects, she brings years of experience working in her brother\u2019s art gallery, giving Israeli art a prominent place among the eclectic mix.<\/p>\n
\t The store specializes primarily in vintage pieces \u2014 roughly 30 to 100 years old \u2014 rather than formal antiques, giving it a lighter, more playful atmosphere filled with colorful ceramics, artwork, glassware and furniture.<\/p>\n More importantly, Ezri believes these objects preserve something increasingly rare.<\/p>\n \u201cToday everything is manufactured,\u201d she says. \u201cThousands of the same cups. Millions of the same plates. Here you can hold something and see the hand that painted it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the best salesperson,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople come in and say, \u2018Can I just look?\u2019 Of course you can. You can look, smell, touch. You don\u2019t have to buy anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Among her favorite discoveries are centuries-old books and maps that reveal how borders, place names and political realities have shifted over time. One of her prized possessions is a 350-year-old medical text documenting remedies from long before the era of modern hospitals.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t very good at history in school,\u201d she admits. \u201cNow I feel like I\u2019m learning history every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Ezri says she\u2019d especially love to visit the early 18th century, because she\u2019d love to see the world before so many of the modern narratives took shape. \u201cBut I don\u2019t really need a time machine,\u201d she says, because each object on her shelves offers a doorway into another era, and the feelings that come with it.<\/p>\n Visitors arrive from across Jerusalem, throughout Israel and around the world. Australians, Americans, South Africans, Brazilians and Europeans wander through the shop, many becoming friends who still send her \u201cShabbat shalom\u201d messages years after their first visit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel like work,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople come to see me. It\u2019s like I\u2019m going out with my friends every day.\u201d<\/p>\n \t During our interview, several people came in just to say hello, including a mother and her teenage son.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m teaching my son how to interact in a store,\u201d the mother tells Ezri. \u201cCould we look around?<\/p>\n Ezri welcomes them with a warm smile.<\/p>\n \u201cI like that one,\u201d the teenager says, pointing to a cherry red dinner plate straight out of my childhood kitchen in the 1980s.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can hold it!\u201d Ezri replies. \u201cEverything here was once used and is meant to be used again!\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tRubber Duckies at Batya\u2019s Vintage House add a whimsical touch, 2026 (Courtesy)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n\t\tBatya \u2018Betty\u2019 Ezri stands in front of an array of vintage items, 2026 (Courtesy)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tWe can’t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYes, I’ll join\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n