New Hand Painted Clergy Tallits for Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills!

You can imagine my excitement when our clergy asked if I would be able to design brand new matching tallitot for them.

What an honor! And a challenge -- but we all know I love those. These had to be shaped a little differently than my regular tallit line, since traditionally clergy stoles, also known as ataras, are thinner than standard tallitot and worn more like a long scarf than a shawl. Furthermore, we had to make sure that they would be super duper comfortable, because unlike most of us, Jewish clergy wear their tallitot aaaall the time for many hours on end. 

I got together with my old art school friend Ruth, who is a fashion designer. She is incredibly knowledgeable about fabric and how to construct clothing to be both functional and fashionable. As my go-to partner for all things fabric related, she helped me make my dream of releasing a line of wearable art tallits a reality a few years ago. Together, we came up with a plan for this brand new product -- wearable art tallitot for Rabbis and Cantors!

I got to work! 

First, the clergy and I brainstormed ideas of what they would like on their tallit. They came up with a nature theme, specifically with branches of a Tree of Life. I presented the clergy with some tallit design sketches:

After a few revisions, here is the final sketch they settled on:

What was really cool about this project was that each tallit was special and unique with painted details. The clergy each got a different passage or psalm on their tallit, which I painted on by hand with gold leaf, and they also requested unique details throughout, different mini paintings for each of them. 

Rabbi Alban wanted sunshines throughout, because her first name, Liora, means light:

Cantor Weiss wanted a logo with a treble clef inside a Jewish star:

And Rabbi Aaron wanted a beautiful colorful Hamsa based on a drawing by his beloved mother, who is also a ketubah artist:

After all the painting was complete, I brought the finished painting to Ruth, who carefully constructed each tallit. 

Here is how their tallitot came to life:

 I had so much fun bringing them over to Temple Emanuel for the big tallit reveal! Here are the four of us together (I am wearing the extra tallit they ordered):

I decided they need matching kippahs for their tallit, so Ruth and I got on that too:

And guess what? We also made a huge 5 foot challah cover to match the tallitot!

Here we are debuting at our Tashlich at the beach:

Oh boy, oh boy, did I kvell watching the three of them lead high holiday services in their tallitot!

I mean honestly, what could be more rewarding for a Jewish artist?

These gorgeous professional photos are by Trisha Harrison photography. 

Want to be inspired and moved? Watch Rabbi Aaron's Yom Kippur sermon on antisemitism:

Thank you, Rabbi Aaron, Rabbi Alban, and Cantor Weiss for choosing me as your partner for this amazing project. And thank you, even more, for giving our family such a meaningful Jewish home in Los Angeles. 

If you're ever in LA, come check out Temple Emanuel's services! I promise, you won't regret it - and if you see me there, make sure to say hi!

Inspired? Check out my full wearable art tallit collection or consider commissioning your own one-of-a-kind painted tallit! Am Yisrael Chai!