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Brooklyn, NY – According to JTA, controversial Fashion designer Levi Okunov has unveiled a line of clothing using parchment and velvet Torah covers for women’s dresses. Join our WhatsApp group
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JTA also reports that, Okunov said his latest dresses were inspired by a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, who said that every person is like a Torah scroll.
We are not posting the full photo as it is deemed NON ‘tzniusdig’ and disgraceful.
Editors note.
We felt that it is important for people to know about this, so that we can stop this disgraceful designer for creating such a BIZI Torah, its outrageous, and beyond words of the depth of ‘Chilul Hashem’ this is. we must stand up for ‘koved hatorah’.
VIN news has proven again and again, that together with our readers we can make a difference, lets do something about this, by raising our strong demonstration.
Shame On you Levi. any one who knows his email address should please let us know.
The fashion world is very hard to break into, especially for a kid that comes from a frum, Chabad background. People who have graduated from Parsons and F I T have fallen through the cracks and went un noticed. What levi has accomplished as a new and very YOUNG designer is almost impossible. Be proud he is one of us !
Anonymous said…
“Who the hell cares?
Do we really need to scream out against every stupid kid out there who decides to act silly?”
YES WE DO ! We are supposed to be a united nation, a caring nation, a loving nation, G-D’s chosen nation ! When one of our own acts out we shold invite them in and give them the love and time they need and deserve to become better holier people. I am so shocked at the hate that is shown here and so appaule that this site allowes it.
Does Levi Okenuv need to be the next one of own young sad deaths for us to realize we need to show more human decency ?
People , please, embrace him and accept him instead of rejecting him and hurting him more.
Think about if this post was about one of you, and yu sat and read it, and all the hurtfull comments,How would you feel ?
Do unto others as you would….
What happened to Veahvta Lerayacha Kamocha ? You people are so quick to judge ! Have any of you watched the video of Levi explaining his designs ? They are Yidishkeit inspired but they dont come from actual holy objects. Have any of you ever talked chassidus with Levi ? or maybe just stam azoi talked to him ? he is a brilliant guy who loves Yidishkeit and Chassidus and his roots.
Why so quick to judge ? He is holding on to his upbringing and heritage and making history out of it, you should applaud him ! And if you dont agree with his designs and tactics, is bashing him on the internet for di goyishe velt to see, a proper approach ?
All of you commenters here that are full of negative feedback, discrimination and hate are a huge
CHILUL HASHEM !
Trach Gut !
1. anyone who bashes him is just validating his reasons for being where he is.
2. the best thing would be for him to get married and settle down. one of you must know who his bashert is and should make the suggestion.
3. if one or more people begin the journey of coming closer to yiddishkeit as a result of his jewish themes, he will have the zchus.
anon 10:54 – you are comparing apples and oranges – 1 thing has nothing to do with the other.
פֿאַרװאָס זעט מען אין אונזערע צייטן אַזאַ׳ן חילול ה׳? עס איז װייל מיט׳ן רעדן ביים דאַװענען און לייענען די תורה איז מען מבזה די תורה אויף גאָר אַ שטאַרקן אופֿן ר״ל
יעדער איינער װאָס זעט דאָס שמוץ דאַרף מתבונן זיין און תשובה טוהן
the very reason that we are witness to such a desecration of G-d’s name in our times is that because of our own talking during davening and kriyas ha-torah we ourselves bring about the shame of the torah in an extremely serious way. Every one of us is obligated to examine his/her own conscience in this matter and to do tshuvah.
Anonymous 8:31 PM
>next will be matza patterned skirts.
As long as they’re hand sewn and not machine made that would be OK.
People have unforunately done worse with “Yiddish themes”. I won’t even mention names because I don’t want to be machshil people.
Some of the people here really need to get a life- I am not saying it is a good idea what this guy is doing but please, there are so many more important issues to discuss and be concerned about. At least these dresses cover more than most of the garbage the frum women wear today…..
“If he would not have the jewish themes he would have zero talent he would not be able to come up with any original ideas”
——————————–
You do not make a bit of sense. In fashion, there is no such thing as an “original idea.” Okunov is talented, despite whatever religious infractions (if any) he may be committing in his art. He is not brand new to the scene and had a show in 2007 as well. It is not all about the use of a paroches design. If you look at his designs on a macro-level it’s quite interesting.
Disclaimer:
I am in no way affiliated with Okunov. I actually only heard of him through this blog (ironically) and instead of spewing what is akin to verbal diarrhea, I took the initiative and did a bit of research with my “friend named Google” and came to my own conclusions.
you know every week chabad is on this site why dont you chabad hater s keep you 2 sens to you self ho ho ho
I can’t get over that there are such people in this world i’m in total shock!
next will be matza patterned skirts.
I bought a Shabbos sweater some years back in Boro Park which looked similar to that. People remarked, oooh, you look like a Sefer Torah but nothing else ca me of it.
To 2:08 pm……
You wrote ” How can you not see that this person is not a Jew
you give one look at him and it
screams I am not a yid”
How sad that you wrote this.
What a ridiculous and pathetic
remark that was! Levi has a yiddishe Neshoma just like you.
He may have fallen off the path
of a Torah way of life, but that doesn’t make him less of a Yid
than you. With an attitude like
yours, there will be less of a chance for boys like him to want to
return to a true Torah way of life.
Everyone has a “pekel” to deal with
wether it’s at risk children,
Parnossah, Illness…we as Yidden
have to be there for each other
with True Ahavas Yisroel.
118 Ridge Street
New york, NY 10002
To contact us:
Phone: 646-454-1652
E-mail: [email protected]
first of all i was at the jewish musium thursday night and saw the fashion show. I was expecting a regular fashion show but i was dismayed to see the line of which Levi had taken. He says he gets his inspiration from when he was a child (Yiddishkeit) all his designes have to do with jewish themes.
If he would not have the jewish themes he would have zero talent he would not be able to come up with any original ideas. I dont think he will make it as a fashion desigher because no one would buy the stuff that he makes. Not one buyer from the stores was their, unfortunatly most of the people at this show were quote on quote frum or lost souls off the derech. I was crying for klal Yisroel with some of the things that i saw. I left pretty early most of these people went on to the so called chulent party so you can just imagine who these people are.
We have to be mechasek these lost souls so that they should come back and relize what beauty lies in our lives instead of the emptyness that they live in.
“why dose everyone get so upset over and disgusted by what are lost children do
instead of saying how disgusting and wrong the things that they are doing we should take him in and give love to are fellow jew and when we have a good relationship then one can explain the why his doings are wrong and we can change his coarse
otherwise all we are doing is pushing them further down the slippery slope”
Very well said Levi started out in a frum environment it seems like he slipped and nobody bothered to help him this didn’t happen overnight he and others in similar situations can still be saved. Let’s be busy saving these kids rather then pointing fingers at that and getting them even more turned off…
why dose everyone get so upset over and disgusted by what are lost children do
instead of saying how disgusting and wrong the things that they are doing we should take him in and give love to are fellow jew and when we have a good relationship then one can explain the why his doings are wrong and we can change his coarse
otherwise all we are doing is pushing them further down the slippery slope
rabbosai, i don’t think it is our place to say whether or not this is or isn’t a bizi torah. that is what we have our gedolim for who provide us with their holy daas torah. there are very complex questions of halacha here, and we need to consult with reliable daas torah before saying loshon horo about another yid!!
Reading a bit about Levi and his history, I must say that I’m convinced he is a searching soul trying to seek attention by any means.
I believe we should rather not deal with this with rage, but with warmth and love.
This guy needs a hug. I bet ya. He is torn inside, and this is just his way of reaching out to us and seeking our helping hand.
The only criteria in clothing design is wether it is tsniusdig or not. The fact that it is made of parchment and velvet is in itself not a chilul Hashem or a bizui of the Torah. As someone wrote earlier talking during leining is a lot worse.
In the JTA, the Torah scroll cover is being used as a waist-apron, and not all body parts are covered. So, it is not tznius and it is disrespectful.
I can’t wait to get one of those to wear under my burka 🙂
דאס טייטש תורה תורה חגרי שק ווייל אפילו די לבושי התורה נוצן זיי פאר השחתה
its no worse than the “BIZI” torah that occurs in so many of our shuls every shabbos
you know nothing about fashion and nothing about Okunov.
The Chillul Hashem Levis has have created with his newest fashions, his ancestors are turning over in their graves! is he what they had so much mesiras nefesh for?
did they give up so much in the USSR for him to embarrass them this way?
UGH!
Okunov, who is from Crown Heightes originally wil do ANYTHING to get his name out.
His fashion is DREK..
you know nothing about what a yid is.
How can you not see that this person is not a jew you give one look at him and it screams I am not a yid.
If you are looking for a venue to protest against &/or pressure, direct some of your efforts at the Jewish Museum – the Museum hosted the “fashion show.”
Hey. I have an idea – why don’t you all get together and “rescue” him from the evil place where he has ended up! ldt
What’s the big deal? Is this really the first time anyone has seen people wrap themselves in torah? The mishnah teaches us no to use the torah for your honor, i.e., to make yourself look nice the the rest of the world.
We don’t object when unzerer do this all the time, why should we be shocked that someone else is trying it too?
let Okunov use his creative mind to make nice tznius clothing that we can were then he will make some money
wow what an idea
Unfortunately, most of these reactions sound like they come from rabid Muslims, lehavdil. This fellow obviously knows how to provoke his co-religionists into providing him with the publicity that he could not otherwise afford. I know you mean well, but please don’t fall into his trap.
This should keep people busy while Yerushayalim is chopped into pieces and hashem’s home is being desecrated.
personally i think theses covers are more tziniutiker then the clothing we buy on 13th ave
!
its not a torah cover unless it has been used for kedusha!!
no i am not a fan of levi okunov!
The issue over here is, that Levi had done a fashion show last week in which female models where posing in covers of the torah.
not just Levi saying he is making it it. he actually is going around displaying non modest models in such covers.
Who the hell cares?
Do we really need to scream out against every stupid kid out there who decides to act silly?
Come on, our community has got many problems of its own to deal with.
If it was not us to give this stupid designer the publicity, no one would have cared.
Use your brains, people almost never buy clothing like this. He is only trying to manipulate yidden into giving him free publicity. If you want to stop this bizayon, never talk of it, never write about it, and it will go away. L’havdil, people started doing many more cartoons of Mohammed after the riots about one fashtinkina cartoon in Denmark.
don’t fall for this guy’s trap! he is only doing this to stir up controversy in order to gain publicity. let’s ignore him! nobody will wear these dresses anyway. its better to just let him wallow in his own failure.
Levi is part of the so called Chulent group, its a dysfunctional group of outcastes.
http://nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=809&page=1
check that link to read about him he is no frum person please do not compare him to anyone in the hassidic community or take down his family for his wrong doings
then why is it ok to use costums dress purim into a torah?
The only criteria in clothing design is wether it is tsniusdig or not. The fact that it is made of parchment and velvet is in itself not a chilul Hashem or a bizui of the Torah. As someone wrote earlier talking during leining is a lot worse.
Here is a phone number I found for the ‘Chassidic” Jewish fashion designer:
646-454-1652.
This is from one of the fashion blogs:
His father was born into a Lubavitch family in Russia and managed, despite harsh oppression, to remain devout throughout the war. In the late 1960s, he immigrated to Brooklyn where he married and ran a yeshiva for Russian boys. Okunov was raised primarily speaking Yiddish, studying Torah and Talmud, and regularly seeing the Lubavitcher rebbe, who—though he died in 1994—is still believed by some of his followers to be the messiah.
“My father is an old-school, heavy-duty Hasid,” Okunov told me. “My mother is the most extreme of Lubavitch. She believes the rebbe is still alive.”
What a Chillul Hashem.
is he a jew?
Who in her right mind would want to dress like that anyway?
is this a april fools joke?
can you imagine what would happen if he would do it to the koran?