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Gavi Weitzman
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
Courtesy of Gavi Weitzman
C reativity is the heartbeat that brings Judaism to life for Gavi
Weitzman. The 24-year-old Philadelphia Moishe House resident has
found Jewish community through music, art and adding levity to
tradition. “Jewish text, I think, is so rich, and ritual itself is also such a vast
expanse of things … Doing art about it makes me feel more connected
to it and makes me want to understand it more and to engage with
it,” Weitzman said.

Nestled near Rittenhouse Square, Moishe House is commit-
ted to bringing together young Jews and connecting them to an
ancient religion and culture through programming rooted in modern
sensibilities. Since moving into the house in September, Weitzman has helped
organize a musical havdalah with Philadelphia Jewish music educator
Marni Loffman. In December, she
planned a prom-themed Chanukah
party, dubbed Promukkah. Hosted at
Congregation Mikveh Israel, the event
had gelt, a photo booth and homemade
hors d’oeuvres catered by Weitzman
and her friends. About 120 people
showed up.

“That event was probably the biggest
thing we’ve ever done and exemplifies,
I think, our approach to events, which
is very playful and fun,” she said. “And
everyone wants an excuse to put on a
fancy dress.”
Weitzman attends the South
Philadelphia Shtiebel for Shabbat
services, a community that mixes
Orthodox Jewish traditions with
progressive practices, such as having
a woman spiritual leader in Rabbanit
Dasi Fruchter.

“I am interested in exploring the
fringes of Jewish spaces, if that makes
sense, the more progressive, more
open and more questioning spaces,”
Weitzman said.

Though originally from San Diego,
Weitzman spent her teenage years in
Bala Cynwyd, growing up in a Modern
Orthodox household. She left the city
for college and studied studio art at
Washington University in St. Louis’
Sam Fox School of Design and Visual
Arts before returning to Philadelphia.

As she looked for Jewish community
outside of her immediate Orthodox
upbringing, Weitzman attended a
Passover seder at the Philadelphia
Moishe House. Within six months, she
moved in with her Jewish roommates-
turned-best friends.

“I thought I would give myself a lot of
agency in my own life,” she said. “And
I am someone who really thrives when
they’re put in a leadership position.”
“Moishe House was the perfect
fit for me and was a great way to
meet people outside of the traditional
Orthodox world,” she added.

As a visual artist, Weitzman contin-
ues to play with her Judaism and
Orthodox upbringing. She’s particu-
larly interested in hair in the Jewish
context and the relationship between
hair, femininity and Jewish tradition,
which sometimes treats hair as beauti-
ful and something to be covered to
maintain modesty.

Hair, because of the random and
infinite configurations in which it can
fall, makes it an exciting medium.

From sculptures to prints and collages,
Weitzman features the material by
adding disembodied curls and locks
to her pieces. She wants to press
her viewers to question when hair
goes from beautiful and flowing to
something gross or undesirable, like
clumps clogging a shower drain.

Weitzman has explored themes of
femininity, beauty and Jewish ritual
by adding hair extensions to kippot
and crocheting a bikini in the shape
of kippot and adding accompanying
tzitzit to the garment.

Most recently, Weitzman partic-
ipated in an apprenticeship at the
Fabric Workshop and Museum, where
she created “Hair Paths.” The piece
is a large-scale series of screenprints
where curly locks of hair are stamped
in red on a blank canvas. Weitzman
toyed with turning these prints into hair
coverings. “Once you get married, there’s a
custom for covering your hair,”
Weitzman said. “And I was thinking
about, what does that feel like? What
does that do to you, when you look
in the mirror and you don’t look at
your own hair, or you look at someone
else’s hair, or your hair is covered, how
does that feel?”
Weitzman’s pieces may be subver-
sive, but they’re hardly sacrilegious.

Like her other creative pursuits,
Weitzman’s art is a way to engage with
her Judaism and dig deep into rituals
and culture, finding a way to make
being Jewish meaningful and relevant
to her and other young Jews.

“That, I feel like, is a prime example
of being playful, but also starting a
serious conversation about gender
and gender roles in Judaism,” she
said. ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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