Alternative Display at Manhattan Expo Causes Kiddush Hashem

By Danit Schusterman for the COLlive Magazine

Yossi Sidof is the founder and CEO of Shakuf, a custom lighting company featuring the work of blown glass artists from around the globe. Shakuff’s vibrant custom glass lighting products are highly customizable to each client’s taste, and all of its products are hand-crafted—no two are ever the same.

As a child growing up in the northern part of Israel, Sidof collected all sorts of things – rocks, shells, fruit pits, sticks – and made up games that kept him and his friends entertained for hours. His entrepreneurial spirit, ingenuity, and keen eye for foraging in nature paid off.

Sidof saved money from his ventures and immigrated to the United States at the age of 18 to learn in a yeshiva in Crown Heights. Afterward, he worked with his brother in the costume jewelry industry, which helped develop his eye for color, design, and engaging customer’s tastes and styles. This particular experience was the perfect springboard for Sidof’s next enterprise.

Inspired by the glassblowers in Murano, Italy, Sidof set out to create a collective of artisans dedicated to adding beauty to everyday life through their glass art. He founded Shakúff, a leading custom lighting partner for high-end residential clients and interior design studios. They bring singular artistry, craftsmanship, and imagination to each collaboration, prioritizing their clients’ vision and experience.

“Our glass pendants are handcrafted by artisans and we wanted to reflect that and the concept of transparency and beauty of artisanal craftsmanship in our name – Shakuff, which means “transparent” and “obvious” in Hebrew,” he says.

“I love being involved in the design process from beginning to end. I get to see the entire scope from dealing with the artist who makes the glass to the engineering testing process to the support installation as well as sales. We started with artists from Israel and now we collaborate with artists from all over the world, Hong Kong, Italy, East Europe, and we are constantly involved with different individual artists.”

Due to the Covid pandemic, Sidof had to close his showroom in New York for 4 weeks. Using innovative technology, he now has robots that will go through the showroom, with the client controlling them remotely. They can go up to any product and see it from all angles, zoom in or out and have the experience of being in the showroom without having to actually be there. “It has been quite amazing,” he remarks.

As a Lubavitcher Chossid, Sidof likes to use his business as an opportunity to connect with other Jews.

“Before Covid, we had a bid show once a year in Manhattan where we would showcase our designs alongside other designers,” he says. “These were high-end products where we created a large booth and got very good press. Baruch Hashem, every year our booth gets bigger and bigger. They give us 3 days to set up a 10”x20” booth. The first day of the show is started on Shabbos and continued on to Sunday and Monday only for the designer architects and developers. On Tuesday it is open to the public. We had until 5 PM on Friday to finish setting up our booth in order to get home before Shabbos. There were many other Shomer Shabbos vendors who set up their booths and left Friday afternoon to return on Sunday.

“I knew there would be many Jewish people visiting our booth on Shabbos, so we created a beautiful stand with a pair of gorgeous Shabbos candles, a Kiddush cup. I put a huge glass bowl on the table with a sign next to it that read ‘We observe Shabbos and will not be available today. Please leave your business card and we will be happy to assist you after Shabbos!’”

When Sidof arrived on Sunday to manage the booth, nearby vendors told him that they couldn’t believe how many people came to our booth over Shabbos. “The empty bowl on the Shabbos stand that I had made was filled to the top with business cards from very large companies and buyers,” he says. “I realized that we had made a huge Kiddush Hashem by publicly showing how we do not work on Shabbos, and reminding people of Shabbos. I really enjoy taking the opportunity to do Mivtzoim in my business.”

Sidof says that if he had to look back and give his younger self advice, it would be to be more patient in the process.

“You need to work hard and never give up,” he says. “If you have a passion for something like I had a passion for design, you need to listen to your inner voice, be persistent and try to figure out a way to make it work. You need to hustle, you need to be stubborn in a good way and have complete faith in Hashem. Be open to always learn and grow, get business coaching, be involved and engage with your employees, and if you do all of this, with Hashem’s help, you will see the fruits of your labor.”