Mrs. Tali (Taub) Shalem certainly looks the part of a business professional. With her tall, refined bearing, sleek brunette sheitel, modern aviator sunglasses and wide smile, she exudes confidence and business savvy. Tali is the CEO of not one but two companies: Shefa Gems, Israel’s first gem mining company, and Holy Gems, which takes the precious stones discovered by Shefa and incorporates them into luxury jewelry pieces. Tali, 45, is the mother of three sons. We discuss her family business and connection to the jewelry industry as we tour the site in Akko where Shefa Gems processes the tons of earth and gravel that they dig at two main sites. One is the Carmel Mountain Range, where Eliyahu Hanavi famously prophesied, and the other is the area along the Kishon riverbed, an age-old river mentioned in the Song of Devorah in Sefer Shoftim.
