{"id":524941,"date":"2026-07-04T13:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/524941\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T13:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:32:14","slug":"the-former-haredi-girl-who-became-a-stylist-the-bais-yaakov-girl-stayed-in-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/524941\/","title":{"rendered":"The former Haredi girl who became a stylist: \u2018The Bais Yaakov girl stayed in me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chumi Polak is a familiar name in Israel\u2019s fashion industry: a busy stylist who works on productions, commercials and with artists. But many people only recently learned her name in a very different context, as the partner of musician and judge Assaf Amdursky, whom she has been dating for the past year and a half. Polak had also dressed Amdursky over the years, and when the timing was right, love followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dressed Assaf about four years ago for a fashion production with Hadar Josephine, who was then his wife”, she says. \u201cWe knew each other because we work in the same industry, but each of us had our own life. He was married, and I was in a five-year relationship that also included an engagement.<\/p>\n

\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Chumi Polak<\/p>\n

(Photo: Or Danon)<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, a year and a half ago, I went out to dinner at a restaurant with my good friend, stylist Tomer Almoznino, and a few other friends came too, including Assaf. We talked a lot that evening, and we had an amazing click and connection. And here we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

You kept it secret for a long time, and it only became public about six months ago.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d she said. \u201cI was coming out of a very serious relationship, and Assaf was also after a separation. From that place, I wanted to make the best and most correct choice for myself, and at first I really didn\u2019t want it to come out. I wanted to examine the relationship before my name became attached to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it came out, we had already been together for almost a year. We went to an event hosted by photographer Shai Franco, who is a mutual friend, and we were already in an amazing place, so I didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amdursky is 55 and you are 36, a 19-year age gap.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s true, but there\u2019s a difference between a 20-year-old woman dating a 40-year-old man and a gap like this at our age,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the age difference becomes much less significant. Assaf is Peter Pan, someone who is constantly in motion. He\u2019s a second-year film student and also plans to pursue a doctorate. He is always doing something, he takes care of himself and he looks wow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also been through a thing or two, and I feel very mature. I don\u2019t think I could be with a man in his 30s. I feel Assaf is a man who knows what he wants, and I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polak\u2019s appearance, an edgy blonde with a cool haircut and hipster style, gives little hint that she came from a completely different world. She was born in Jerusalem to a Haredi family, the eldest of six children. \u201cChumi is short for Nechama,\u201d she said. \u201cMy mother called me that from a young age and it stuck. It\u2019s a name that always raises questions and I always explain it. In recent years, I\u2019ve even started introducing myself again as Nechama. Nechama Miriam Pearl Polak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother was born in London, \u201ca Yiddish-speaking Haredi woman who came to Israel and married my Haredi father. I have a wonderful family and amazing parents, and I am very close to everyone. On the other hand, I was always something a little unusual in that landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt people didn\u2019t understand me. I asked questions in a society where questions were not encouraged. I was stubborn, someone who stood her ground, not the kind of good, obedient girl who tries to please everyone. I was a bit wild and hyperactive. I had character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Polak as a child<\/p>\n

(Photo: Or Danon)<\/p>\n

Polak grew up \u201cin a very Haredi neighborhood\u201d and studied at Bais Yaakov girls’ school until ninth grade, when her family moved to Bnei Brak. \u201cMy father became close to a certain admor (Hasidic rebe), and my parents moved to live in his court,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After the move, she began studying at the Shechernsky seminary in Tel Aviv, \u201cuntil they kicked me out of school in ninth grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

What happened?
\n\u201cOne day we had a free period at the seminary, and my cousin, another friend and I ran away to the beach through a hole in the fence,\u201d she said. \u201cWe rolled up our tights and our skirts and got our feet wet in the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat evening, an older red-haired man came to my parents\u2019 door with a letter saying someone had seen us and that I was suspended from school immediately. They demanded that we apologize and sign a code of conduct bylaw. My mother begged me to do it, but I refused. I didn\u2019t feel I had done anything so terrible that I needed to apologize. My cousin and the other friend apologized, signed and were allowed back. I was expelled.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Haredi community, she said, being expelled from one school makes it difficult to be accepted to another. \u201cThat\u2019s how I found myself without any framework for half a year, and people more or less shut me out,\u201d she said. \u201cBefore that, I had been very popular in class. Suddenly, no one called. Silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring that half year, I had free time, I started going out and discovered the world. A little before I turned 16, I moved to Jerusalem. I had a few friends there who were older than me. I moved in with them and started waitressing. I was still religious and waitressed in long skirts. After half a year, I moved to London.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Chumi Polak<\/p>\n

(Photo: Or Danon)<\/p>\n

It’s a bold step.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said. \u201cI did extreme, dramatic things without fear and without much thought. I\u2019m more measured today, but that\u2019s my nature. I\u2019m impulsive and I\u2019m not afraid. No one in my family left home or left religion, but I just did. I flew to London without thinking it through, with 100 pounds in my pocket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a friend there who worked at mall carts, and I have a British passport because of my mother. I sold hair and beauty products from carts inside stores like Harrods and Selfridges and made a lot of money. The pound was worth eight shekels, and sometimes I would make 1,000 pounds a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you already left religion at that stage?
\n\u201cIt took some time. But I remember that Shabbat in London when I was 17, when I left the house and ordered a hamburger with bacon. Both Shabbat and bacon. I woke up in the morning and said, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s see what happens,\u2019 and nothing happened. It was cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had an issue with Judaism. I just wanted to see everything. But faith always stayed in me, and actually the older I get, the more I return to religion. For the past five years, I\u2019ve been eating kosher again, and I also keep Shabbat once a month. It does me good. When I visit my parents, I always dress modestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did your parents react?
\n\u201cAt the beginning, it was very hard. They were young, my age now, and didn\u2019t know what to do with me. For half a year we weren\u2019t in touch. After the disconnect ended, I came home, and I remember that my father\u2019s entire beard had turned white, all at once. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not a simple period. Everything was very emotional. I felt rejected. From my younger siblings\u2019 point of view, I had suddenly disappeared. I had been like a mother to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Faith always stayed in me<\/p>\n

(Photo: Or Danon)<\/p>\n

From London, Polak continued to Wales and Scotland, then to Australia and New York. \u201cUntil age 22, I traveled like a wild horse. I just wanted to run.\u201d<\/p>\n

When did you enter the fashion world?
\n\u201cAt 25, after I returned to Israel. I was waitressing at Manta Ray, working nights as a selector at the Breakfast Club and studying architecture and interior design at the Holon Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a friend who was a stylist, and when two jobs came in for her at the same time, she asked me to replace her. That\u2019s how it happened. I fell in love with the profession, left my studies and poured everything I had into styling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told myself, \u2018Okay, within six months everyone will know who I am.\u2019 I approached photographers and modeling agencies, and for half a year I worked for free. At night I worked the door at Breakfast, and during the day I did endless fashion productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked hard. I developed concepts, approached stores and designers and convinced them to lend me clothes, then went to agencies and persuaded them to give me models. I scouted locations, built the story, handled the shoots, picked up the clothes and returned them. Slowly, it happened, and my name became known.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you love most about styling?
\n\u201cI\u2019m very good in the commercial field, and I\u2019ve done many campaigns and advertisements. Dressing female talents, I like less. It\u2019s a lot of dealing with things, it takes a lot of time and patience, and I\u2019m a very all-in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in recent months, I\u2019ve been dressing Frida,\u201d she said, referring to the singer and former \u201cBig Brother\u201d contestant. \u201cI made an amazing change for her. I met her at Idan Laros\u2019 show during Fashion Week. I had a vision for her, and since then we\u2019ve been together. She is an iconic figure, and beyond the fact that she is an amazing musician, she has a vibe and a look that no one else has. We tightened the character and built a more uniform line for her style.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05d7\u05d5\u05de\u05d9<\/p>\n

Where do you find unique fashion pieces?
\n\u201cIn vintage stores, online and on trips to Paris. I have a studio where I keep all my collections. These aren\u2019t necessarily pieces I wear myself. I buy them so they\u2019ll be available. Once every three months, I hold fashion events where I collaborate with bloggers and style figures who also want to sell items. I curate the selection for them and release pieces from my studio. There are amazing things there, not junk. Every item passes through my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you dress Amdursky now?
\n\u201cNo. He wanted me to, but I\u2019m not willing. He has Tomer Almoznino dressing him, and he does an amazing job. Assaf recently shot a video for a new song in Greece, and Tomer dressed him while I styled Tehila Rich, who appeared in the clip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer not to mix work and my relationship, and I have enough work as it is. In everyday life, Assaf has amazing taste. He has style and knows what looks good, so he doesn\u2019t need my help. He also thinks everything I wear looks good on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u05e2\u05dd<\/a>\"\u05e2\u05dd<\/p>\n

Polak with Assaf Amdursky. \u201cAn amazing connection\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo: Private album)<\/p>\n

After years behind the scenes, you have suddenly become part of a power couple that attracts gossip column interest. How does that feel?
\n\u201cIt feels strange when I\u2019m introduced as \u2018Assaf Amdursky\u2019s partner,\u2019 because I feel I\u2019ve stood on my own for many years. At first it was a little weird for me, but it\u2019s fine. Everything is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

How would you define your style?
\n\u201cI\u2019m very eclectic, and every day I can be someone else. I love vintage and mixing designer pieces with vintage, but not anything too revealing. Even as a stylist, I don\u2019t dress people very exposed. I don\u2019t like it. The Bais Yaakov girl stayed in me.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll never see me in tank tops or flip-flops. It just doesn\u2019t feel refined to me. I also work a lot with the Haredi sector. I understand the nuances and subtleties, what is allowed and what isn\u2019t, the language, and the trends there.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo this day, I still have amazing pleated skirts from seminary. There\u2019s no style like that. I shortened one into a mini and gave it a Miu Miu feel, and left another as a midi. It\u2019s wow, and it\u2019s chic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chumi Polak is a familiar name in Israel\u2019s fashion industry: a busy stylist who works on productions, commercials…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-524941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}