Chabad of Bondi: An Australian Adventure!

Okay, so let me tell you about something very exciting!!!

It starts with Chabad of Bondi (pronounced “bond-eye”) in Australia. What’s interesting about this community is that they cater mainly to a Russian-speaking community. A lot of Russians have moved to this area over the years, and they’ve got a mix of all different ages and stages.

So it’s a very special and particularly welcoming community!

The Project Begins

When Chabad of Bondi came to me, they were building a new state-of-the-art, super modern building. The rabbi and team approached me with their vision:

They wanted a minimalistic look: Clean, stylish, and calming.

We had a Zoom with them to discuss ideas. They wanted two coordinating parochets, one for the year and a special one for the high holidays. It also needed to fit on a special hanging system that they had installed, which was a very important detail for them.

The architect’s first render got a chuckle from us. Can you see why?

Step by step, we pared down the original drawings until we arrived at the final design.

So many choices to make!! But they knew exactly what they wanted.

Choosing Materials and Fonts

We sent lots and lots of renders to Australia (And many many blue fabric samples!!).

When creating a breathtaking parochet, the nuance in color and texture matter.

We take every detail into consideration down to the very stitch!

They ended up choosing a classic German velvet, and we let them pick the Hebrew fonts from a sample we sent as well. They also wanted a matching bima cover, which we designed to complement the parochet.

Finally, mazal tov!!! The approved design.

The Final Parochet

In the end, the parochet reads Shema Yisrael, with a gold on white version for the high holidays.

We also included nikud and other small details like the swirl patterns in different directions. The final design went through a lot of refining until it was juuuuust right!

I really love how it turned out. Even though I sometimes do extravagant designs with millions of stitches and crystals, this calming style is perfect for tefilla and connecting with Hashem.

BH, the community has gotten so many compliments about it!!

A Heartwarming Moment

Recently, I got an email from someone in Sydney who had been to Chabad of Bondi. She said she saw the parochet and sent me a photo of her friend’s kids taking photos right in front of it. How cute is that????