Last month I shared with you “how I met my tichel.” Soon I was to discover that there was another Tichel Lady out there. Here’s how I met her!
It was two years since I started my website, Rivka Malka.com, as a way to reach out and connect to Jews whom I wouldn’t otherwise meet. Thanks to the excellent advice of Yisroel Bethea, I started by making tichel-tying videos. At first, I really didn’t want to. I thought, “Most of the people I’m reaching out to don’t cover their hair or are not even married.
Yisroel disagreed: “What will come through is your authenticity. That’s what people want. They know you for your tichels; go show them tichels.” So that’s what I did.
Meanwhile, not too far away, another site was being born – a sister site, you could say. About a month or two after I started my site I received an email from Andrea Grinberg. She wrote that she had almost the same website as me! Both of our websites were dedicated to sharing genuine uplifting life experiences and tichel tying!
I looked it up and couldn’t believe it! Her story was wonderful, and her take on Yiddishkeit was joyful and whole. Over the next year, our blogs grew. I would see Andrea’s posts, and she would see mine. It was an odd thing: Like the twins in The Parent Trap, before they found out they were sisters, we couldn’t quite figure it out. Who is this awesome person? Is she my friend or does her similarity in some weird way threaten me? People would start referencing us together, even though we hadn’t even met!
Separately, we each came to the realization that being Number One is not what matters. Shining light is. And the more people shining light the better. And the more you let your light shine, for the sake of Hashem, the more room there is for others’ light to shine. Instead of seeing ourselves as lone teachers, we began to realize that we were part of something much greater, the Grand Sisterhood of women, and that within each and every woman is power to give and to influence.
We worked on ourselves to embrace the truth: Each person has a mission that’s unique to him or her, no one is replicable, and no one is superfluous. It’s a mistake to spend time judging and wondering if someone is better at something than you. You need to offer your piece of goodness to the world. The world would not be complete without it.
That summer, my then-15-year-old daughter went to Israel for six weeks. During that time, she got terribly sick for a few days and was staying at my sister’s house. When the kids went to school and my sister went to work, she was alone all day and in pain.
What did I do? I messaged Andrea! Andrea, whom I never even met! Together with her husband Yonatan, she traveled at least an hour to visit Hadassa. They brought her tea, throat drops, and other comforts. Best of all, they gave my daughter love when she needed it most.
Towards the end of the year, Andrea came to visit. It was our first time meeting! At that point I had slowed down making tichel videos and was sharing more Torah content, while Andrea had increased her tichel teaching to the point where she started Wrapunzel – and created a community of head covering women.
A year passed; Wrapunzel grew. WOW (the outreach program where I worked) grew too, and I was busier than ever. Then, six months ago, Andrea and Yonatan came for a visit. Yonatan had applied for a violin fellowship at Peabody, and they were thinking of moving to Baltimore. My husband suggested they check out a house around the corner. The rest is history.
Both Andrea and I had received hundreds of emails over the years asking, “Where can I get a tichel like yours? Please, can you sell them?” Our friends and neighbors would always say, “We need to learn how to do that.” We knew we wanted to help them, but neither of us could do it alone. So we sat down together; the two of us and our husbands and began to dream.
We wanted to create a place that wouldn’t just provide tichels but would enhance the mitzva (Torah commandment) and give women pride and pleasure in covering their hair. We wanted to bring women “tichel kits,” a set of tichels and accessories that go together perfectly, so that they would find it easy, and look amazing.
And here we are! Five months, countless visits, endless conversations, and many meetings later – and Wrapunzel was born. I hope that you feel our friendship extends to you. We planned everything with you, the genuine, beautiful, vibrant woman in mind. This is not just for newlyweds and this is not just for young moms. This is for every woman who wants to try something different or feels a pull in this direction. The photos on our site, received from women around the world, attest to that. We want you to have all the tools, tutorials, and kits, so that you can easily cover your hair in a way that makes you feel great! Thank you for all the enthusiasm! It’s because of you that this mission exists!
May Hashem bless our efforts, and may you women – who choose dignity, who choose to walk in the world with pride, who choose to honor their marriage and its sacredness – be blessed. May your mitzvos bring blessings to your home, and may your light increasingly shine.
Check out Wrapunzel.com to see where the journey has led.
