By G-d’s design: dressmaker’s journey to Judaism

From designing gowns for the upcoming Mrs Universe pageant to teaching sewing to religious schoolgirls, dress designer Talitah Helmand blends her love for fashion and Judaism. Also known as Tehila Chaya since she converted in 2022, she says her calling to the faith came in her dreams.

“I always felt strange where I was,” says Helmand. “I felt like a square peg in a round hole.” Yet when her dreams began to include Jewish symbolism including a chai necklace, she felt a strong calling to the religion. “I didn’t know about the chai until I dreamt about it. I was so surprised to hear later that it meant life.

“I studied theology, and I was interested in the Torah,” she says. “I was always attracted to Judaism. In my own spiritual life, it was like I was standing at Mount Sinai, and I saw the Jewish nation in front of me.

“My neshama [soul] was always there, but I wasn’t. It was only when I came out of the mikvah, when I actually felt, ‘I’m in Mount Sinai. I’m where I belong’. I came home.” Growing up in a religious Christian home, she says she always wanted to know the “real” creator, the one who created Shabbat and the fathers and mothers of Israel.

“It was only when I went through a divorce that I davened to Hashem and said, ‘Please take me to your people, for these aren’t my people.’” Though she came across Jewish people, Helmand was never fully exposed to the religion. “When I approached the Beth Din, I knew this was where I belonged. So, I gave up everything and moved from the West Rand to the northern suburbs. It took me many years to find out what Judaism was really about, because you don’t really know the intricacies, you just know that you belong there.”

The conversion itself took Helmand just less than four years. During that time, her daughter also began the conversion process but ultimately decided she was too young to make the commitment. Unwavering, Helmand put her career as a successful designer aside to focus on her Jewish journey. While she admits it was difficult, she says it wasn’t really a sacrifice. “I just knew I had to go, and I couldn’t take my business – a bridal studio – with me when I moved. There was too much stuff to bring to Joburg, and all I wanted was to come and learn.”

During her move, she learned of a business initiative aimed at generating income for Jewish food fund Yad Aharon & Michael in the pages of the SA Jewish Report. She ultimately donated the contents of her store to this campaign. Though most of her time was dedicated to Jewish studies, Helmand also worked for Yad Aharon’s former managing director, Alice Friedman.

Today, in addition to reviving her bridal boutique, Talitah Couture, where she handmakes original wedding gowns, Helmand also teaches dressmaking. During her conversion, which she completed almost two years ago, Helmand was asked to teach sewing to young girls in the Jewish community. This opened the door to a job teaching at a local cheder.

She has also continued to build up clientele through her work in fashion design, which led her to the Mrs Universe South Africa pageant. “This is the second year that I’ll be dressing the winner competing in the Mrs Universe pageant, due to take place in South Korea from 2 to 10 October,” she says. “She’ll be wearing two of my gowns.”

After matriculating at 17, Helmand studied fashion design. During her studies, she entered and won a competition and was subsequently asked by a successful designer to design matric farewell dresses. “I was only 18, and I was already in her business making evening wear for boutiques. I eventually also began making wedding dresses and, through an agent, expanded my work to Cape Town.”

Helmand later opened a bridal studio at Oakfield Farm along the wedding mile in Muldersdrift, which progressively grew. She also started an online shop making linen and bedding, which she closed upon embarking on her conversion.

Helmand is planning to create more sewing classes for the Jewish community. “Most of the girls are religious, so I teach them fashion skills in a safe environment, because they don’t really have phones or use the internet.” She’s therefore writing a book and recording some videos to give the girls resources. “They make their own Shabbos and festival clothes. It’s absolutely amazing to see how from a very young age, they are creating their own gowns.”

While she’s contemplated making aliya, Helmand says she loves this community and her students. “My daughter doesn’t live with me and Hashem is giving me comfort through interaction with these young girls. Their laughter and brightness is something I could never exchange.”

Helmand loves infusing modesty into her bridal gowns, and dresses a growing number of women in the community. She also makes dresses for Droom Troue (Dream Weddings) broadcast on Afrikaans digital television network NET Afrikaans that follows couples’ journeys to becoming husband and wife. “I think I’ve made about 80 dresses for it alone in the past two years,” she laughs. “I work alone under extreme pressure, but I’m used to it. I’m focused on my creations.”

In creating her Jewish identity, Helmand says she always knew that the name “Chaya” would be included in her Hebrew name. This was in recognition of her dream about the chai necklace. Yet Tehila came as a surprise.

“Before my conversion, I asked Hashem what my name would be and for him to send me someone to help with this. After some time, I had a phone call one day and the lady at the other end said she really liked the name ‘Tehila’ because it sounded like a flower. It just grew on me, and so I became Tehila Chaya.”