A New Chapter Begins

Welcome to Safta- a home for ritual

My vision board

Dear friends,

I’m so excited to share that I am finally birthing Safta into the world.

Safta, meaning grandmother in Hebrew, is an online lifestyle shop dedicated to slowness, ritual, and community. A place to return to the art of living well and to remember those who came before us.

Safta means “grandmother” in Hebrew. Inspired by my own Saftas, Rivka (known to all of us as Becky), and Gloria—who taught me the beauty of a well-set table, the patience of a slow-cooked meal, and the joy of gathering—I honor all the matriarchs who have held space for us, nurtured traditions, and shown us how to live with connection and meaning. My hope for Safta is that it becomes a screen door, open to all who pass by, to sit at my table for a relaxed moment in time. A space of sobremesa.

This has been a long time coming—something I’ve been quietly pouring my heart into for over two years. As I officially launch her into the world on April 28th, I want to share more about why I’m building this brand.

As readers of this newsletter, you’ve been along for the journey—a time where I’ve been slowly rediscovering and reclaiming parts of myself. As a third culture kid, I’ve grown up with a double dip of cultures at my fingertips. I spent most of my summers in hot sticky places, between Queens New York with my Trinidadian Grandma Gloria and maternal cousins, Boca Raton, where I grew up, and Israel where I’d spend time exploring with my paternal family.

But even with this richness of heritage, I often felt homeless. Because being a third culture kid carries with it the responsibility of creating a make-believe home— weaving together a tapestry of place that becomes our story. We are born weavers, taking parts of each of our heritages and braiding them together. We do this so that we can feel a sense of identity, and that home—that tapestry exists within our hearts through traditions, passed-down stories, and the things we collect along the way.

Over the years, as I weave my tapestry, home is something that I chase through scents, sounds, and small daily rituals. I’ve collected the pieces of my blended identity to create a practice rich with rituals and traditions. Sometimes I sit for Turkish coffee in the afternoon with cookies, just like my Safta and Saba did in their Kfar Saba kitchen—windows open and a hot breeze billowing in through the curtains. I spritz a little of my Saba Momo’s Turkish aftershave onto my chest to smell the nostalgia of orange blossoms and his joyful laughter. I take meandering walks, just like my grandmother Gloria used to do through the streets of Manhattan. I bake banana bread from the Naparima Girls’ Cookbook (a Trinidadian staple) like my mum did (and continues to do) when my sister and I were girls. I cherish these little acts, lighting the Shabbat candles, and listening to Israeli radio on a Saturday morning, as ways to structure my existence on the planet and to pass down to my children someday.

These rituals—woven between cultures, between time and memory—have become a calling. From this, Safta was born.

Over the next few months, I’ll be slowly releasing handmade products to the shop through this newsletter, and sharing opportunities for us to gather in real life to practice the art of ritual. My hope is that Safta will create more opportunities to share our unique stories with one another and marvel at the ways we each find our ways back home.

With all of my love,

Maya