To coin a phrase: one woman’s reject is another woman’s gift from above. My friend Helen and I walked into our local WIZO thrift shop in Pardes Hanna-Karkur and, like someone in a dream, Helen headed right for the coats. And there it was: a full-length, green wool number with satin lining, fur cuffs and collar, with the tags still on. Within seconds, she was buttoning it up and heading for the mirror.

Whoever made that coat had Helen’s tall willowy body in mind. It was, in a very spiritual sense, a gift from above, put there just for her by a generous Creator who wanted her to have it. You don’t think the Master of the Universe bothers Himself with such mundanities? I’m about to prove to you otherwise.

Take my friend Tirtza, who lives in Jerusalem. When packing for Florida vacations, she makes extra space in her luggage for the treasures she hopes to unearth in a state known for its fabulous thrifting. Retired women who have the time and money to regularly restock their wardrobes often unload older designer frocks at thrift stores.

It’s not only savvy fashionistas who engage in the sport of thrifting; the environmentally minded prefer pre-loved garments to limit waste and spending. Indeed, a 2023 report from the online secondhand marketplace ThredUp revealed that 85 percent of Americans see thrifting as better for the environment than buying new clothes.

It appears the penchant for secondhand passes down through DNA, since both my daughters are confirmed thrifters. Rebecca and Leah have been outfitting their own children thriftfully since infancy. But one recent find was a true reminder that each one is a blessing put there just for you.

While flipping through the girls’ section at the Savers shop in West Roxbury, Mass., Rebecca, my older daughter, could not believe her eyes: a sweater for $3.99 in the perfect size for her 10-year-old, and with the words Yerushalayim shel zahav (Jerusalem of gold) knitted in Hebrew along the bottom. What else can you do when presented with such an obvious gift except gaze heavenward and issue a sincere “thank you?”

Leah hit pay dirt at the WIZO shop in Pardes Hanna-Karkur after someone her size and with precisely her style dropped off an entire wardrobe: dozens of designer sweaters, skirts, jackets and dresses, one of which Leah wore proudly to her son’s bar mitzvah party. 

The truth is, one lovely perk to purchasing secondhand clothes—or yad sheini, in Hebrew—is that you look far wealthier than you are, and only your closest friends and family ever know the truth. Still, you do need to decide how open you’re going to be about your thrifting, and with whom. 

When a friend admired the frock I wore to my grandson’s bris last spring, I had to decide quickly: Do I muster my self-control and demure with a genteel “thank you,” thereby letting her think I’d picked it off a mall store rack? Or do I throw all pretense to the wind and whisper into her ear, “Thrift shop, m’dear, thrift shop.” Which is exactly what I did.

That look of incredulity on her face? Deeply satisfying. But to realize such a moment, you first have to enter a thrift shop with the faith that there’s a treasure put there just for you, and it is your sacred responsibility to find it.

So I am imagining that when Helen wears her thrifted greet coat, there is something of a Mona Lisa smile playing on her lips. As if she’s remembering the moment she slipped it on for the first time and, in the thrift shop mirror, recognized it for the gift that it was. 

Hadassah Thrift Shops

Several Hadassah chapters across the country used to run thrift stores, from Brighton, Mass., to West Orange, N.J. Today, Scene II in Pikesville, Md., is the only one left.

Did you ever thrift at a Hadassah shop? We’d love to hear about your finds. Please send news and photos of your treasures to letters@hadassah.org.

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Deborah Fineblum is a journalist and author who made aliyah in 2013 and now thrifts internationally.