Five Towns Meets Chassidish

When one of the shul members of a chassidish shul, in Yerushalayim, came to me asking for a new parochet, I didn't know what a story would unfold!

So I got a phone call one day, “Hi, I’d like to order a parochet. How do we get started?” I told him to send me the mock-ups of the Aron Kodesh to see what we were working with.

The shul member is a Chassidish Rebbe, who has a small kehillah on Rechov Eli Hakohen, Ezrat Torah Yerushalayim. They just installed a beautiful new Aron Kodesh, made with carved engravings, and they wanted the crown of the piece with a new parochet.

Have a look at these modern chassidish designs on the Aron Kodesh.

So for the Rebbe, it was very important to him that we take the engravings of the Aron Kodesh and bring them into the design of the Parochet, to make it as one.

Here you can see the engravings and what design he was going for.

We have started the rough drafting process to explore how the design will come together. We were focusing on experimenting with different ways to integrate the engravings into the parochet, considering various styles and placements to achieve the best balance of aesthetics and tradition.

Here are some of the options we presented to the Rebbe, and his wife, who I was also in contact with.

We took inspiration from the engravings and went with brown and gold, the same colors used in the Aron Kodesh.  Plus adding the traditional crown that most Chassidish parochets have, with the passuk.

The idea of the passuk was from the Rebbe, it's from chassidish piyutim, literature, it's a deep thought of what tefilla is:

"בכל לב ובכל נפש ובכל מעודו נמליכו ובניחדו"

"With all [our] heart, with all [our] soul, and with all [our] might, we crown Him and unify Him"

It's like a declaration of devotion and commitment to Hashem's sovereignty and oneness. Deep and beautiful!

Back to the designing.

We attempted to create a continuation of the semi-half door on the Aron Kodesh and close it as shown above. But, the Rabbi and Rebbitzen wanted the design without the borders, they wanted it to flow from the Aron Kodesh to the Parochet, as one flowing piece.

Here are a few attempts at removing the border. They liked how the wording appeared within the crown without the white background and appreciated the open space at the sides. There was still something missing, so by now you know the drill, emails back and forth of getting to the right design that they liked and felt inspired with.

Here are a few more drafts, even though the differences are small, every detail counts.

As we approached the final design, we ordered high-end French tassels from Samuel & Sons for the bottom of the parochet. This allowed us to prepare all our materials for sewing it together.

In the end, this is what we decided on, and the Rabbi and Rebbitzen were thrilled with the result!

They were so in love with the design. However, when they presented it to the donor, it didn’t align with his vision for the parochet, revealing a clear contrast between their artistic inspiration and his expectations. He felt the design needed to be changed. It had to be more colorful and youthful. After months of back and forth, and putting in so much, we reached a standstill on the design!

So, I suggested we do a Zoom meeting together, with me, the Rabbi, and the donor. This way we could get to some compromise. 

You never know where your customers are coming from...

This donor, from The Five Towns, has been referring many customers to me without my knowledge. We think our business comes from Google ads, advertising, etc. Dean Blumenthal, the donor, has been following me on Linkedin, and he has been sending me customers all this time, and I didn't know he existed! He has donated a lot in the past to shuls and organizations. Hashkocha is that he decided to donate a very ornate parochet to a shul in Jerusalem and insisted on only buying from Chana Gamliel. And here he was the donor for this Chassidish shul!

During our Zoom, Dean captivated me with stories of Jewish history dating back to the 1970s, detailing his efforts in building the community in The Five Towns.  With tears in his eyes, he was telling me this story of how he set up this chassidish shul.

In the 1970s, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky personally told Dean that he had decided to bring his brother-in-law (who is the father of the Rebbe I am working with on this parochet) to be the first Chassidish family in The Five Towns. Until then, the community was mostly Modern Orthodox, but they felt that something was missing. They wanted to introduce a Chassidish presence to bring the unique Roach and influence they believed was lacking. So the Rebbe’s father was sent to the five towns to open a branch of their Chassidus. Dean began reminiscing about the close connections he had with the Rebbe's family and how close he felt about building up the community.  Dean has been donating many items for this shul, and now for the Rebbe's son who is now based in Yerushalayim.

He has an appreciation for architecture and it's really important to him that the Parochet, that he's donating to this Chessidish shul in Jerusalem, that it should excite the younger generation and inspire them.  He wanted to bring in the architectural influences and to be something really high-end, colorful, modern, and maybe a flame you know, like some of my new parochets that I've done in the past.

Then, I told him the story of this parochet (above) that I made for a chassidish rabbi in London, who wanted to honor his nine ancestors who were all Chassidish rabbis before him. So, we made a very heavy chassidish-looking parochet with lots of embroidered flowers and swirls and leaves and tons of Swarovski crystals. It's not like the colorful flame that you would see in many shuls that I've done in the five towns. They like the colorful flame because that's what they're used to, and that's what connects them to Hashem. So I explained to Dean that this type of design resonates deeply with the Chassidim. For them, this look nourishes their neshama in the same way that a vibrant flame uplifts the soul of someone from the Five Towns.

That made him realize that what he truly wants for the parochet is not necessarily a colorful flame, but rather to inspire the younger generation—to connect them to the Rebbe, his Torah, and to Judaism in a way that excites and engages them.

So when we framed it that way, we were able to present the design we had been working on. This is what excites the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin—it makes them feel deeply connected to Hashem. And, it also carries the architectural influences because we are quite literally incorporating elements from the Aron Kodesh into the parochet, seamlessly blending the two. 

After hearing all that, Dean became excited about the idea. His main focus was ensuring that those coming to the shul would feel inspired and uplifted by the Rebbe. He listened as the Rebbe explained the piyut he had chosen for the parochet and was deeply moved by it.

Filled with admiration and pride for the Rebbe, Dean gave him a bracha, saying that both he and the parochet would inspire so many people to join the new shul that they would eventually need to build yet another one.

So, with the bracha in hand, we were ready to continue our journey in creating this magnificent and meaningful parochet!

These are the thread colors we used to create the gradients in the design swirls.

Below, is the color coding we use to tell our embroidery machining which thread to use to make the gradient.

And here is what it looks like to the machine when we put it through the system.

Here’s how the parochet looks after being processed through the machine.

After that, we make a map of where the Swarovski crystals go.

Here is one of my talented seamstresses carefully hand-sewing each individual crystal. It's a lot of work and a lot of crystals.

Look at the amazing swirls and colorful gradients on the parochet when everything is all sewn up! The patterns really come alive, and the blend of colors adds such a warm touch. You’re going to love how it looks when it’s all finished!

Here are some close-ups.

Once everything was set, we were excited to send off this beautiful and meaningful parochet to its new home at the shul of Rebbe Speigel on Rechov Eli Hakohen, Ezrat Torah, Yerushalayim!

You can never have too many pictures; its beauty is just too amazing to capture!

Here it is shining in all its glory! Members of the community come to the shul to learn and find inspiration in the Rebbe's Torah. That's exactly what Dean hoped for!

Creating this parochet was an incredible journey. I learned so much and built meaningful connections along the way. Hearing Dean’s story about his relationship with the Rebbe and his role in building the community was truly inspiring. It reminded me that you never know the amazing stories people carry with them!