Yehuda Tassa was born in Jerusalem in 1936 to parents who had emigrated from Yemen in 1920. His parents lived in Tel Aviv until 1929 when they decided to move to Jerusalem, their holy city. Yehuda’s father built a synagogue in Jerusalem and opened up a jewelry store as he had previously made jewelry in Yemen. Yehuda grew up with his three brothers and two sisters. At the age of six Yehuda’s father taught him to work in Yemenite filigree jewelry and he continued working for his family’s jewelry business for the next 16 years.
Yehuda revitalized his ‘lost art’ of jewelry making recently and began prolifically producing both ancient and modern filigree designs. He creates jewelry and teaches at several locations in Northern California, incorporating both ancient and modern tools and techniques into his filigree and granulation workshops.
