By Joyce Spielberger, BJF

For the past year, Birmingham Jewish Federation Projects Assistant Samantha Dubrinsky and I have been on the receiving end of wonderful emails from you, our Update readers, to alert us to Israeli-made products being sold in the Birmingham area. So, imagine my surprise when I recently made my own BUY BUY ISRAEL discovery in Harper's Salon in Mountain Brook Village.

As I like to do, I arrived early for my hair appointment with Harper's owner Cherie Greenberg. As I waited my turn, I chatted with Cherie and Jennifer Kennedy, the client in her chair at the time. Cherie was just adding some finishing touches to Jennifer's hair with Moroccanoil's shine spray when I noticed what I thought was Hebrew writing on the bottle. When I commented on it, Cherie said, "Yes! Moroccanoil products are made in Israel -- they are terrific!"

Don't let the name fool you! Although the oil for this extensive line of hair care products comes from the Souss-Massa region of Morocco, Moroccanoil products are made and refined in Israel, which is known as having one of the highest manufacturing standards in the world. The Israeli facility is state-of-the-art and expertly preserves the integrity of the oil's nutritious components -- including Omega 6 (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and antioxidant vitamins A, C and E.

It is also nice to know that Moroccanoil's Argan oil is harvested under a fair trade program which provides substantial socio-economic support to thousands of families in the Souss-Massa region of Morocco. Revenue from this project provides income to families and helps improve the working conditions of rural women. This project also helps provide reading, writing and management classes, as well as modern infrastructure and technology that help make harvesting easier and more efficient, ensuring long-term management of the Argan forest.

These are great reasons to feel good about using Moroccanoil hair care products! Ask your salon to carry and use them and please continue to let us know about your "made in Israel" finds. The BJF's BUY BUY ISRAEL initiative is a proactive way to combat efforts by those who want to say "bye bye" to Israel through economic boycotts. Please send information and a picture of yourself with your find to Samantha at samd@bjf.org.

Pictured is Harper's Salon owner Cherie Greenberg using Israeli-manufactured Moroccanoil Spray Shine on Jennifer Kennedy.

Speaking of BUY BUY ISRAEL, Betsy Prince, located in Brookwood Village, is currently offering a line by Israeli designer Karen Klein. Recognizing a need for contemporary ready-to-wear outfits that truly fit and compliment women, Karen creates stylish yet effortless clothing with various women shapes in mind. Karen's aesthetics and artistic style revealed itself early through her passion for oil painting and jewelry design, and later through her taste in fashion.

While enrolling at Israel's leading fashion institute, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Karen joined Bagir Ltd., a leader in innovative tailored clothing, as a designer assistant. She was quickly promoted to serve as the Research and Development manager for the European market. Karen gained most of her experience at Bagir working with European household names such as Pierre Balmen and Next.

Karen's career continued to flourish when she joined No Name, a prominent Israeli women's wear retailer as vice president. Under her direction No Name's collection evolved and its sales increased dramatically.

In 2005, Karen moved to the US and founded Karen Klein Fashion, Inc. Come by Betsy Prince for a Spring 2012 trunk show today and Friday. The store is open 10am-7pm both days.

Update had a story Wednesday on a Birmingham-area church using its sign to stand up to anti-Semitism. (See below link.) A nice response came from Norman Patrick, one of our Christian readers who lives in Tuscaloosa.

"May I be one of the first to thank this church's pastor for having the courage to do the right thing and stand up against the hate demonstrated by this anti-Semitic act," wrote Norman. "May more churches use this as an opportunity to post their support in this manner. Blessings and love to my Jewish friends."

We thank the church, Mount Signal Baptist Church in Chelsea, and its pastor, Leonard Irvin, for standing up to hate. We also thank Norman, a faithful Update reader, for his comments.

Update reader John Wright Jr., a member of Birmingham's Catholic community, recalled in a letter that appeared in the Birmingham News this week a conversation he had with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. John has been a catalyst for The Birmingham Jewish Federation's involvement in the annual remembrance of Father James Coyle, murdered in an anti-Catholic hate crime in Birmingham in 1921.

"As we recall the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s inspiring words and life, I am reminded of what King told me when I had the privilege of a private interview with him shortly after 'Bloody Sunday' in Selma in March 1965," wrote John. "I asked him how he stayed so calm amid the danger and chaos then present in Selma. He said, calmly, 'I believe in the rightness of our cause and that God is on our side.'"