About Get Sababa

from "The Jerusalem Post"

MALINA SARAH SAVAL, THE JERUSALEM POST
Feb. 17, 2005

Until July 2003, Get-Sababa clothing line co-founder Traci Szymanski had never been to Israel for the same reason many American Jews have not - she was afraid.
"I always wanted to go," recalls the 27-year-old entertainment industry entrepreneur, whose Los Angeles-based company CO-Star Entertainment oversees the production of the new Get-Sababa tees with Hebrew catchphrases. "But I was scared. I would watch the news and think, 'It's such a shame I'll never get to visit that country.'"

Born to a Jewish mother and Catholic father and raised with practically no religious affiliation whatsoever, Szymanski lacked a spiritual connection to her Judaism. "My religion consisted of celebrating all the holidays," explains the spunky San Diego State University graduate, who obtained a permit to work in television and film production when she was just 14 years old. "I very much considered myself half-Jewish and half-Catholic."
That all changed when, in the fall of 2002, Szymanski was plucked by Rabbi (and friend of Madonna) Yehuda Berg of LA's be-and-be-seen Kabbala Center to produce a DVD on the "72 Names of God."
"I had no idea what Kabbala was," says the now red-string bracelet-wearing businesswoman. But she read some books and took some classes and in the process of completing work on the project, underwent a spiritual transformation that would dramatically rock her world. "Kabbala gave me a whole new perspective on life," says Szymanski. "The tools I got from Kabbala made me feel safe and protected. It was at that point that I decided I have to go to Israel."
The following summer, Szymanski made her first pilgrimage to the Promised Land on a birthright israel trip sponsored through Oranim Educational Initiatives, a non-denominational organization that pools philanthropic funds from both private and government sources and provides customized travel experiences free of charge to eligible Jewish youth from all over the world.
"My first trip to Israel was very casual," remembers Szymanski, who at that point was more curious about Israel from a generalized spiritual standpoint than from a specifically Jewish one. "But then I got there and I absolutely fell in love with it."
THE INK stamp on her passport still fresh, Szymanski returned to the States with a mission - to get Jews everywhere excited about Israel. "After my trip to Israel, all I could think about was what I could do to give back," gushes Szymanski, who after finagling a meeting with Oranim president Momo Lifshitz, became the organization's West Coast representative, planning benefit concerts, festival events and periodically jetting off to Israel as Oranim's American liaison.
"In my off time from work [in Israel] I would do a lot of shopping," admits Szymanski, a pair of silver hamsa earrings that she scooped up in Israel dangling proudly from her lobes. But what shocked the shopaholic was that there were no cute clothes with Hebrew writing on them save for the baggy tourist-y tees at spots like Mr. T's on Rehov Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem. Most of the fashionable outfits had English phrases on them.
"I couldn't believe you couldn't find anything with Hebrew writing on it!" exclaims Szymanski. "When you come back from Israel, you want to wear clothes with Hebrew!"
With zero background in fashion design, the ever-resourceful Szymanski brainstormed with Lifshitz, dishing about T-shirt ideas. In the fall of 2004, the word sababa - meaning groovy, excessively cool - was circling the Israeli streets like gossip at a cocktail party, and made for a catchy company name, especially since it had no political connotation that might deter some from wearing the shirts.
"I wanted to make a T-shirt that was fashionable," says Szymanski, "and also showed people that I am proud, I love Israel, and I am not afraid to wear Hebrew."
Szymanski also wanted to contribute financially to Israel.
"I'm not doing this to make money," she says - and vowed to donate a substantial portion of Get-Sababa's profits to the Israel Defense Forces and Israel emergency services. With aiding Israel as her primary focus, Szymanski met with California clothing manufacturers, sketched out designs and picked out the fabrics.
Get-Sababa was born.
The shirts - colorful ribbed tanks, short-sleeved tees and 3 4 length-sleeved tees all with sababa embossed on them - premiered last month at the 2005 birthright mega event held in Jerusalem. The response was overwhelming, with thousands of birthright participants from almost 30 countries (and sabras working the event) storming the Get-Sababa booth for the $20 tees.
"I couldn't move fast enough to get them the shirts," remembers Szymanski, whose creative endeavors have attracted the attention of such powerful Jewish philanthropists and world leaders as Charles Bronfman, Lynn Schusterman and Ariel Sharon, who praised Szymanski for acting as a sorely needed, American voice for Israel. "I was like, 'I have the prime minister's approval!'" exclaims Szymanski.
But Szymanski maintains that she is not trying to make a political statement.
"I'm trying to help Israel in a very mainstream way," she affirms. "People don't see Israel as a cool, hot young person's place because of what they see on the news. I want to open up a whole new world and change people's perception of Israel. I want people to know that Israel is cool."
And word is spreading fast. Wearing her tees around town in LA, Szymanski has people - both Jewish and non - walking up to her left and right begging to buy them. Szymanski plans to sell the tees through her www.getsababa.com Web site and also in trendy stores from Tel Aviv to Teaneck, New Jersey.
While some might dismiss Szymanski as yet another product of corporate Kabbala brainwashing, she balks at the assumption.
"I think I have more credibility as an ambassador for Israel because I do come from a secular background," she explains. "I saw both sides of the world growing up and because of that, I am able to be objective."
It's this objectivity that Szymanski hopes to weave throughout her other pro-Israel projects, namely Israeli-informed feature films, TV shows and benefit concerts. But her biggest goal is to get other young American Jews amped up about Israel.
"If people feel a spark, then they have to act on it," says Szymanski. "Get involved. Be proactive. If you haven't been to Israel, go. Start networking. Start being creative. Stop talking about it and start doing things."

© 2007 Get Sababa, Inc. All rights reserved. "Sababa®" which consists of both English and Hebrew letters and which appears throughout this website is a trademark federally registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and abroad and is the exclusive property of Get Sababa, Inc.