46 | NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 

P

eople started noticing 
early last year when 
Professor Deborah 
Lipstadt, the nationally known 
Holocaust scholar and author, 
began wearing a striking Star 
of David necklace. She gladly 
shared on Facebook and else-
where that its creator was local 
jewelry artist Marcy Feldman, 
owner of Heartwear Designs. 
Feldman and Lipstadt, a pro-
fessor of Modern Jewish History 
Studies at Atlanta’s Emory 
University, are longtime friends 
since participating in the Young 
Leadership Cabinet of United 
Jewish Appeal.
Feldman said Lipstadt told her 
“she never felt the need to wear a 
Jewish star, but in this climate of 
antisemitism, she feels compelled 
to wear one.”
Marcy (Tatken) Feldman, a 
native Detroiter who graduated 
from Mumford High School, has 
been creative all her life. Growing 
up, she made and sold potholders 
door to door in her neighbor-
hood. As a teen, she sold her own 
beaded jewelry on street cor-
ners. Later, wanting to do more 
advanced work, Feldman was 

told “you need to learn to cast to 
incorporate metal with beads.” 
Casting was a new skill, but she 
took to it.
The Feldman family observed 
Sukkot this year in a sukkah she 
painted years ago. It has colorful 
Jerusalem scenery and Sukkot 
prayers on the walls. This time, 
the sukkah featured pipe cleaner 
chains and other decorations 
Marcy made with her young 
grandson Finn.
When she was unable to 
use her teaching degree from 
University of Michigan, Feldman 
worked 13 months as a bench 
jeweler at the former Motif 
Manufacturing Company in 
Downtown Detroit’s David 
Whitney Building. “I earned 
$1.85 an hour, sizing rings for 
Hudson and Kmart and other 
stores all over the country,” she 
said. 
At age 22 in 1970, Feldman 
became an activist trying to 
unionize the shop. She had one 
victory.
“We wanted the day off before 
Thanksgiving, but they said we 
couldn’t because of running 
into the Christmas holiday,” she 

GIFT GUIDE

Jeweler Marcy Feldman’s Star of David 
necklace is a must-have symbol of pride.
‘Star’ Power

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Marcy Feldman

Occupation: Jewelry designer/owner of Heartwear 
Designs
Family: Husband, Michael, development director 
for the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan; three 
children and spouses, Ronit and Eric Wagman; Noah 
Feldman and Chloe Whitmus; Joanna “Jo” Feldman 
and Andy Kushnir; and three grandchildren, Finn 
and Jake Wagman and Goldie Kushnir
Affiliation: Adat Shalom Synagogue
Volunteerism: Founding president of Friends of 
Pasteur School Detroit, since 1996 
Business Phone: (248) 540-2839
Social Media: heartweardesigns.com; Marcy 
Feldman and Heartwear Design Facebook pages 

Marcy Feldman, in the Jerusalem-motif sukkah she painted, 
models the Star of David necklace she created (inset).

DAVID SACHS

Marcy’s
Endless 
Love 
Rings

Marcy’s 3-D 
Hoop Earrings

Pendant by an 
Israeli artist that 
incorporates 
Roman glass

Judaica pendants crafted by Marcy Feldman

DAVID SACHS

