TEL AVIV is the mecca of Israel's fashion world, but not every fashion designer wants to be in Tel Aviv. Some actually prefer Jerusalem. Among them is Shenkar College of Engineering and Design graduate Tamar Primak, who has worked extensively in England and Germany and is now back home. Primak has teamed up with fellow designer Poua Lev and has opened a fashion atelier and boutique at the Sapir Center in Givat Shaul. Asked whether she had chosen Givat Shaul as a base because she catered to a haredi clientele, Primak laughed and said that the reason she'd opted for the Sapir Center was that rent was far less expensive than in other parts of the city, and she was also afforded a lot more space.
Primak and Lev have called their enterprise Ishtar after the Babylonian goddess of fertility. This may have something to do with the fact that Primak likes to design for women with fuller figures. She wants women to feel natural and unselfconscious in her creations.
Ishtar was officially launched last Friday at a showing at the Jerusalem House of Quality Arts and Crafts Center on Derech Hebron, which is just a few doors down from the Begin Heritage Center and diagonally across the road from the Cinematheque.
It was not your usual fashion show: There were no models and the garments were displayed on a large square frame suspended from the ceiling of one of the art galleries. Items from the collection were worn by Primak and Lev as well as by relatives and friends, of varying ages and body shapes, who mingled with the crowd which had gathered in the courtyard for wine and stuffed grape leaves as well as for a trumpet and guitar concert.
Among the invitees was Leah Peretz, the fashion director of Shenkar, who was enthusiastic about the fashions and "terribly proud" of what Primak and Lev have achieved.
AT THE Hazvi Yisrael Synagogue, midway between the Jerusalem Theater and the Inbal Hotel, everyone knows that if they want anything done, they can rely on Menachem Levinsky, the beadle. Levinsky is one of those rare human beings who doesn't believe in passing the buck, but is the first to assume responsibility.
Last Saturday Levinsky and his wife, Chani, celebrated the bar mitzva of their son Itamar. Many relatives and friends from near and far abandoned other congregations to join in the festivities and hear Itamar do a marathon reading of both the Torah portion and the haftara. At one stage between the two, when he was nearly out of breath, he turned around to face the women's gallery. One of his sisters gave him the thumbs-up sign, which brought a huge smile to his face, and he happily turned his attention back to the scriptures.
As if that weren't enough, at the conclusion of the service father and son made a siyum (a celebration marking the conclusion of a body of talmudic literature) on Tractate Rosh Hashana. Afterward, the Levinskys sponsored a much more lavish kiddush than that usually provided at the synagogue.
IN THE conundrum as to whether Mayor Uri Lupolianski will once again throw his hat in the ring in the contest for mayor of Jerusalem, the local weekly Kol Hazman recently published a story to the effect that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pressuring Lupolianski to run for another term. While it's true that Bloomberg has substantial philanthropic interests in Jerusalem as well as business interests, one can't help wondering why he particularly wants Lupolianski to remain at the helm.
AS PART of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations Osem is sponsoring a NIS 6 million Feel at Home Festival in Sderot during the intermediate days of Succot. Thirty Sderot women from a variety of backgrounds will use Osem products to cook up a storm of mouthwatering delicacies.
Since Jews can summon humor under almost any circumstances, Osem CEO Gezi Kaplan, a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the team in red, said that the festival had been planned long before the cease-fire from Gaza, and that for him as a Hapoel fan "red alert" had special meaning. "Yeah, but Bamba is yellow," retorted Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal, who is an avid fan of Betar, whose colors are yellow and black.
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