Artist Spotlight: Moriah Jewelry -

On the side of the main square in the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem’s old city is a stone building housing Moriah jewelry store. This is no ordinary jewelry store with the usual mass manufactured jewelry that you can find in each quarter of the old city. Moriah is different. Their tagline is “Take a piece of Jerusalem with you.” And that’s what we did.

I entered with my mother five years ago. We had just placed a headstone at my father’s grave in a
cemetery outside of Jerusalem. We decided to spend a few days in the country just her, me, and my older brother. We toured and ate, and laughed, and reminisced. My brother had to leave early to get back to his wife and children in New York City, but my mother and I stayed and enjoyed the time with just the two of us.

Walking around the old city, we spotted a big sign with silver lettering, “Moriah.”

We walked up the stone steps to the door of the shop. There was a video in a dark, cool hallway explaining who Moriah was and what they were doing in this place. Moriah is the name of the mountain where the Dome of the Rock currently sits. According to the Bible, Mount Moriah is the site of Adam’s creation and the Binding of Isaac, where Abraham first embraced the belief in one God, sowing the seeds of three great monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

In 1999, an illegal renovation project was conducted on the Temple Mount without any archeological supervision. Severe damage to ancient remains was caused by the heavy machinery. About 400 truckloads of soil littered with archeological artifacts from all periods in Jerusalem’s history are removed and dumped in the Kidron Valley.

While examining the stones, Avi Tavisal, a seventh generation Jerusalemite and an Israeli Jeweler has a vision. He recognized the holiness in each stone strives to connect everyone anywhere in the world, to the inner beauty, peace, and moral values that are “The Heavenly Jerusalem.”

Avi develops his vision and creates the Moriah Jerusalem Stone Jewelry Collection.

Don’t get me wrong, the pieces of jewelry are not just some rocks hanging from a thread. What Avi has created with the help of the Israel Diamond Center are stunning works of art.
Each piece contains diamonds— the hardest and most precious stone in the world, and gold— the noblest of all metals. And Jerusalem Stone, the holiest ground on Earth for more than 3,000 years.

The unique design of Moriah Jerusalem Stone Jewelry is inspired by the spirituality of the Jerusalem stone, which serves as the bedrock for the diamonds and gold that are meticulously inlaid in the stone by hand. The Jerusalem stone is elevated and is given the respect it deserves, creating a unique visual statement, exclusive diamond jewelry collection.

After the video, a lovely young woman by the name of Rivka leads us to the showroom. Everything sparkled! Polished stone, diamonds, rubies, gold. Every way we turned we gasped from the site. I picked out a ring with stone, gold, and rubies. I didn’t buy it that day, but I will never forget the feeling I had when I picked it up and put it on.

My mother, on the other hand, decided to buy a piece. She looked at the necklaces and picked a plain round stone with a diamond in the middle. She lost her husband, but at least she can wear a piece of the land he is buried in, next to her heart.