I met Lior Dahan and Israel Ravid through private supervision. Actually, because of the smell. The smell of processed leather that came from their factory drew me in and saw what they were making there.
The factory, located on Adam and Olomo Street in the Givat Shaul neighborhood, attracts not only people like me, but mainly dozens of yeshiva students who come to buy the only product they make from leather: belts.
When Yom Kippur arrived, which forbade wearing leather shoes, and the custom of flogging the bathers on the eve of the holiday with ox leather belts, I went out to the factory again to hear their story.
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In the video presented here, you will hear about the process: what they do from receiving the leather to creating the belt.
Lior, who began his journey working on leather with a man who passed away, discovered that he fell in love with the product and began to focus on just one thing: belts. Israel, his current partner, specializes primarily in design and marketing. Both are distant from the world of religion in appearance, but in their souls they are closer than many others.
Lior tells Haredim 10 that the products they make for yeshiva students are based on a fashionable demand that exists only among yeshiva students, who want to imitate super brands and produce similar things.
Israel, who joins us for the interview, arrives and recites the poem "El Nura Alila.".
Do people order special belts for Yom Kippur? "No," they both answer together. "But if they order, we will prepare and make the belt according to the Halacha requirements, from two types of leather and sew them exactly as they request, with as many layers as they want.".
""We try not to use pigskin for our work," says Lior, explaining that according to Jewish law it is permissible to enjoy it, but they themselves try not to use it.
Watch.
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