As the old adage goes, ‘necessity was the mother of invention’ for this West Hartford mom in need of a kippah her child would wear, and now her work is part of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City.

By Joy Taylor, with excerpts by Cindy Mindell, used with permission from the Jewish Ledger

Six-year-old Noah Ehrlich came home from Solomon Schechter Day School in West Hartford one afternoon in 2006 with a dilemma: He knew he needed to wear a kippah, but didn’t like the feeling of a clip in his hair.

He was in luck. His mom, Elizabeth, who has been sewing since she was 10, had an idea. She pulled apart a hat-like Bukhari-style kippah she’d bought in Israel, and reconstructed a reversible one for Noah, using washable fabrics. The result? “It stays on,” Elizabeth said.

Ehrlich has a website and offers her kippot (visit KidsKippot.com) sized for both kids and adults. Hebrew and Jewish schools have used them as fundraising items.

Ehrlich’s hard work and innovation have been noticed by MOMA in New York City. “I’m so excited to share that a Kids Kippot kippah is included in the new exhibit ‘Is Fashion Modern?’ at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC!” said Ehrlich.

The MOMA exhibit runs through Jan. 28, 2018.

There are endless combinations of fabrics and embellishments, Ehrlich says, and a lot of satisfaction from creating something personal.

Orders can be placed at KidsKippot.com or KidsKippot.Etsy.com or by emailing West Hartford Kids Kippot owner Elizabeth Ehrlich at [email protected].

The ‘Emoji’ saucer-style kippah, made by West Hartford’s Elizabeth Ehrlich, is part of an exhibit at MOMA. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Ehrlich