Why I Started Making Judaica ✨🔯

Why I Started Making Judaica ✨🔯

top view of modern shabbat candle set with matching kiddush cup


The College Menorah Fiasco

When I left for college, my mom wanted to buy me a menorah.

It felt like a milestone, a little ritual to take with me. I was so excited. We went all over the NYC, poking around Judaica stores, gift shops, and department stores hoping to find something that felt like me. Something modern, sparkly, colorful, maybe playful. Something different but still cool.

I didn’t find it.

I settled on something that was close enough. It did the job, but it never quite felt like mine. And if I’m honest, that feeling never really left me. 

 

A modern ceramic menorah with pink glaze sits on a wood table.


The Aha Moment 

Fast forward 15 years. I’m married now. We bought our first house. I’m setting up shelves and lighting candles and preparing to celebrate holidays in a space that actually feels like home.

And again I start looking for Judaica that reflects this next chapter. Something beautiful, intentional, and rooted in tradition, but still modern. Still cute. Still me. 

And again I cannot find it.

So naturally, I decided to make it myself.

 

A jewish star is inscribed in ap piece of bone dry clay among other scraps


The Turning Point

Once I made the menorah, I realized that non of my Judaica really felt like me. That's when I decided to pivot my entire ceramics business from joyful mugs to Joyful Judaica. 

This brand is the convergence of a lot of different threads in my life:

  • I went to Solomon Schechter from kindergarten through 8th grade, so I have a deep foundation in Jewish education and ritual.
  • I studied fine art in college, where I discovered ceramics and fell hard for it.
  • I worked in advertising after that, which taught me how to tell stories and speak in images.
  • Then I went to grad school, where I was introduced to design and technology and how to think through form, function, and systems.

Every piece I make pulls from all of that.

 

Top view of Pom Honey Pot showing Jewish Star shape formed by honey

My First Judaica Collection

Right now my collection includes:

  • A menorah

  • Three mezuzah designs: the Arch Mezuzah, the Squizuzah Mezuzah, and the Ribbon Mezuzah

  • Two Kiddush cups: the Pom Kiddush Cup and the Stemmed Kiddush Cup

  • One set of Shabbat candle holders

  • And my Pom Honey Pot for Rosh Hashanah

They’re all handmade in small batches in my home studio. I design each one to feel timeless but still fresh, clean enough to live in modern spaces, but warm and familiar enough to hold ritual.

 

The Squizuzah Mezuzah in Aqua Glaze - a Modern Mezuzah Design

My Judaica Mission

I think Judaica should feel like you.

It should be something you’re excited to pull out, not just because it’s tradition, but because it fits your vibe and your spirit and your sense of beauty.

If you’ve ever felt like the only Judaica options were old-fashioned, mass-produced or just not quite right, then this space is for you.

 

Handmade Kiddush Cups sit in the kiln. We see the foot of each just with form the shape of a Jewish Star.

Thank You

Thanks for being here.

Whether you’re lighting candles every shabbat or just reconnecting with ritual for the first time in years, I hope this work makes the experience feel just a little more yours.

I can’t wait to share more.

XOXO, 

Feldi <3 

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