What I Witnessed From Behind Our Website
By Alissa Haroush
Before October 7, one customer looked at a tiny Star of David necklace we had designed and smiled.
"It's beautiful," she said. "But you need a magnifying glass to see it."
She wasn't criticizing us.
She was describing exactly what so many customers wanted.
For years, people asked for the smallest Star of David we could make. Something delicate. Something personal. Something they could wear every day without drawing attention to it.
And we listened.
Like many jewelry brands, we evolved with our customers. We introduced designs centered around blessings, protection, luck, and love. After COVID, Hamsas and Evil Eyes became some of our most requested collections as people searched for symbols of comfort and hope.
We even expanded into home décor and more universal gift items to fill out our wholesale collections for gift stores across the country.
If I looked at our wholesale line before October 7, I'd estimate that only about five percent of it featured the Star of David.
It wasn't because we didn't believe in it.
It was because our customers weren't asking for more.
Then October 7, 2023 happened.
Almost overnight, everything changed.
I didn't learn about this shift from a market report or a fashion forecast.
I watched it happen from behind our website.
One order at a time.
One customer email at a time.
One conversation at a time.
The requests for tiny Stars of David slowly disappeared.
Instead, customers began asking for something entirely different.
They wanted larger Stars.
More elegant Stars.
Sterling silver.
Solid gold.
Diamonds.
Jewelry that wasn't simply meaningful, but beautiful enough to wear every single day.
Today, I honestly can't remember the last customer who asked us to make a Star of David smaller.
Instead, they ask if it's available in 14k gold.
If it comes in diamonds.
If it's something they can wear every day.
We didn't create that demand.
We responded to it.
What surprised me most wasn't simply that people wanted more Stars of David.
It was why.
For many of our customers, wearing Jewish jewelry had become something much deeper than fashion.
It became identity.
Over the past two years, I've watched mothers purchase Stars of David for daughters leaving for college. Grandparents buying necklaces for grandchildren. Women buying their first Star after years of wearing none at all.
Many told us they wanted something they could wear proudly.
Not hidden beneath a shirt.
Not only on Jewish holidays.
Every day.
That same shift began appearing in our customer reviews.
Before October 7, customers often described their jewelry with words like "small," "simple," and "dainty."
After October 7, we started reading different words.
"Pride."
"Faith."
"Empowered."
"Keep Israel close to my heart."
One customer wrote:
"The dainty silver Magen David is a truly gorgeous piece and one for any female to wear with pride and to cherish always."
Another shared:
"They make me feel empowered, emboldened, and keep Israel close to my heart."
Those reviews reminded me that jewelry can become something much bigger than the metal it's made from.
The Star of David itself hasn't changed.
The meaning people attach to wearing it has.
Another thing changed, too.
Jewish jewelry became more beautiful than ever.
For years, meaningful jewelry often looked traditional or ceremonial. Today, it stands comfortably beside the finest designer jewelry in the world.
Minimalist designs.
Hand-set diamonds.
Solid gold.
Sterling silver.
Modern silhouettes that don't ask people to choose between elegance and identity.
They can have both.
At Alef Bet, our own collections have evolved alongside our customers.
Today, our bestselling fine jewelry design is a hand-cut diamond Star of David.
It's not our bestseller because it's flashy.
It's our bestseller because it's timeless.
It's elegant enough to wear every day while carrying thousands of years of meaning.
Twenty-seven years ago, I never would have imagined writing those words.
Back then, we were making tiny Stars because that's what customers wanted.
Today, we're designing heirloom-quality Stars because that's what they're asking for now.
Looking back, I don't think October 7 changed the Star of David.
It changed how many of us felt about wearing it.
Jewelry has always been personal.
Today, for many Jewish people, it has also become visible.
It has become a quiet declaration of faith.
A connection to family.
A reminder of heritage.
A symbol of resilience.
And perhaps most importantly, a beautiful way to say, without speaking a word:
This is who I am.
About the Author
Alissa Haroush is the founder of Alef Bet Jewelry, a California-based company specializing in meaningful Jewish jewelry since 1998. Through nearly three decades of conversations with customers around the world, she has witnessed how Jewish jewelry has evolved from a quiet expression of faith into a visible celebration of identity, heritage, and resilience.