As a typical male in the throes of male pattern baldness, I never made a connection between the words “hair” and “art.” Like most of my contemporaries, a haircut is a seven- to ten-minute affair, and the only art one might associate with it is assessing the contrast between the rapidly increasing white hairs and the few remaining brown ones.
So it was with some trepidation that on a recent chilly morning in Jerusalem, I ventured into Tifferet Hair Art Studio, a hair salon tucked away in a quiet section of Derech Beit Lehem, to meet Tifferet Weinberg Berkovits, the proprietor and creator of the studio.
The 30-year-old stylist said she first recognized the association between hair and art during her two-year sojourn in Australia with her husband, Avichai, who served as the head of the Torah Mitzion Kollel in Sydney from 2018-2020. Hair salons in Australia, she explained, give off an entirely different vibe.
“The style of hair salons in Australia is very earthy and spa-like,” she said, “and I took inspiration from that. My view of the studio is that it is like a safe space for women to really come and pamper themselves and have a nice, calming experience. It’s more than the hair – it’s the experience. It’s the treatment and everything around it. I think of the studio not as a hair salon but as a studio of art.”
A self-taught hair stylist, Berkovits was raised in Tekoa and began cutting hair when she was 15, gaining additional expertise in the field by watching instructional YouTube videos. “The business took off and expanded on its own,” she said. “When we moved to Australia, I thought I was throwing my career down the drain because you can’t leave for two years and then come back and [expect that] everybody will be waiting for you.”
Despite her fears that the Australian interlude might derail her career, Berkovits further developed her abilities in Sydney, where she learned to use natural hair products, enabling her to color hair without damaging it. She worked in several hair salons but soon began to work independently because the salon owners wanted her to work on Shabbat.
EVER PRACTICAL, Berkovits obtained natural hair products from the local hair distributor and began cutting and coloring hair from her home. The couple returned to Israel from Australia in 2020, and Berkovits resumed her hair styling career in her home. Working from home proved difficult, she said, and, taking a leap of faith, she and her husband rented space on Derech Beit Lehem and opened Tifferet Hair Art Studio two and a half years ago.
Berkovits and her team of seven stylists specialize in creating natural highlights – “that look natural, not streaky, and blended” – with natural and organic products that do not damage the hair. She also cuts women’s tresses, using the technique of cutting on dry hair, again something she learned in Australia.
“It’s a technique that listens to the hair movement and is more natural than wetting the hair and cutting according to the rules. It’s a bit more free and a bit more artistic,” she explained. Berkovits, who studied art and enjoys painting, said that for her, cutting and highlighting hair is a form of art as well. She also enjoys the business aspect of her hair studio, being an entrepreneur, and exploring different strategies. The entrepreneur utilizes a coach who provides advice in running the business.
Tifferet Hair Art Studio is located below street level, which she said provides a feeling of safety for women. “We don’t usually have any men in here, and we’re a bit below the street and hidden.” At the top of the street is a picturesque 15th-century archway, which she said allows clients to connect themselves to a slower, more leisurely pace in line with Jerusalem’s ancient history. “At the same time,” she said, “it’s important to me that the studio offers a spa-like feel that is definitely modern.”
Beyond color and cuts – the art of hair care
Berkovits said that treating women’s hair is much more than applying color, highlights, or trimming. One of the most important qualities necessary in a hairstylist, she said, is the ability to listen to clients, both before the treatment and during the session. “I sit down with each client who comes in before I [even] touch her hair. We have a five-minute conversation to find out where she’s coming from, what she wants, if she wants a change, or if she doesn’t want a change – and then we go to the chair.”
She pointed out that her training in art therapy and social sciences comes in handy when treating her clients. “I studied art therapy, behavioral sciences, psychology, anthropology, and sociology, which I feel helps me a lot in my job because, as a hairdresser, everyone tends to open up and talk. You can come and just be yourself and talk about what’s bothering you, and having those tools helps me.”
Adding highlights to women’s hair involves a certain amount of therapy, she said. “It’s mostly listening, and I also believe there is a major connection between the outside and the inside. Your emotional health can be impacted by your physical well-being. I think it’s therapeutic to come and get your hair done.”
The deep connection between female hairdressers and their clients
“Hair for a woman is something that is very significant,” Berkovits pointed out. “Our hair is impacted by our emotional state. Stress can cause hair loss and dryness. As women, our bodies change all the time, and it’s always impacted in the hair. Getting a good haircut and good hair treatments can really boost someone’s confidence.”
Over the past year, Berkovits said, the stories she has heard from her clients have taken on an added degree of poignancy. “I feel like every woman who comes in has a story,” she said. The tales she has heard range from a woman whose husband has been on reserve duty for 300 days, to another who lost a son. Another client told her about her husband, who was wounded in the war.
“Our society is very full of pain at the moment, and I feel like we’re seeking places – safe havens – to release and calm down, and have these safe zones where you can be taken care of. I feel that a hair studio is one of those places.”
Some women, she reported, speak about their lives and recount their tales of loss. “Last week,” said Berkovits, “a client came in and wasn’t looking well. I asked her, ‘What’s going on?’ and she told me that her daughter had passed away. [Or] When a woman comes in and says that she is getting divorced and will stop wearing a head covering [worn by Orthodox married women], that is a meaningful moment. I want to be there for her. I want to support her and make her feel beautiful.”
Berkovits said that she had initially dreamed of becoming an art therapist and never expected that she would become a professional hair stylist. Becoming a mother – she and her husband have two young children – and encountering postpartum depression made her realize that she wanted to deal with the happy parts of life. “I want to be in a place that helps people be in a good space.”
One might expect that her clientele would come from the fashionable residents of the Baka neighborhood, but in fact, she said, people from throughout the country visit her studio for hair treatments. Berkovits said that clients from far-off locales, such as Pardess Hannah, Givat Shmuel, and Eilat, visit her studio for haircuts, coloring, or highlights. “I think having a good experience at a hairdresser is something people look for and are willing to travel for as well.”
BERKOVITS NOTED that women recovering from cancer whose hair has begun to grow back after chemotherapy come to her clinic for treatments. “When their hair starts growing out,” she explained, “it’s good to get a good haircut to have the hair grow nicely and fully. These women usually look for someone who’s a bit sensitive to what they went through and can listen to what they want.”
She is puzzled by the dearth of women hairstylists in Israel. “At every event I go to with the hair products company,” Berkovits chuckled, “it’s all men in black and me. I’m very unique in the fact that I’m a female hairdresser who has a hairdressing place. I don’t accept people in my home [for hair treatment]. I think it takes guts to start a place and break out.”
In her view, female hair stylists and hairdressers have a unique understanding of their clients. “As women, we have a very important role in understanding our clients because we have hair as well. People who come here say that we brush their hair gently, as opposed to male hairdressers who won’t be as gentle. I can say that it’s definitely a challenge for me as a young mom, also running a business and having my boundaries. It’s always a balance.”
Unlike some hair salons that stay open much of the day and evening, Berkovits opens her studio at 9 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. every weekday.
With four siblings, she is the only one who went into the hair business, and she credits her mother with encouraging her to go into what she loved. “When I was a student, she said, ‘Instead of waitering somewhere, just take something you’re good at and make it into a business.’ I did, and it’s all thanks to her.”
“She also credits her mother-in-law, interior designer Debora Berkovits, and architect cousin Yonina Cohen with their assistance in designing her studio.”
Her two children love what she does. “They get that I’m independent. They get that I have workers and that it’s my responsibility. But they love coming here. There’s always cookies and chocolate, and I’m proud that they see me pursuing my dreams.”
For Berkovits, what matters most is the feeling of satisfaction she derives from her work.
“What I love in my job is that moment when a client leaves the hair studio, and she walks with more confidence, self-assurance, and feeling beautiful,” she said. “I feel that it helps in all different realms of life.”
