March 2011 – Ben's Tallit Shop

‘I will not stop wearing my yarmulke or my tzitzits’

The following is an excerpt from an inspiring letter by a student at the University of Virginia to Dean Allen Groves: Despite the insistence of many, anti-Semitism is not a relic of the past. Of this I am sure. Yet, to find it expressed so unabashedly at the university founded by Thomas Jefferson, author of...

Gathering Information on Techelet

Mishmar Hamesora has announced it is compilation information in Hebrew to be used by rabbis in providing halachic guidance regarding the use of techelet tzitzits. The organization, which is based in Tifrach, Israel, has issued a call for material, both in favor and against, placing an emphasis on opinions set forth by leading halacha...

Dyeing to Be Holy: Techelet Marine Expedition

by Nathan Jeffay Dor Beach — Bathers on a northern Israel beach witnessed a strange spectacle in late September, when a group of Orthodox Jews arrived, discussed a number of Talmudic passages, and waded into the water, wearing snorkels, to unravel a biblical mystery. As well as demanding that “the Children of Israel make tzitzit on...

Tefillin and 9/11

David Miller, an observant Jew, was at Logan Airport getting ready to board United Flight 175. He was going to LA on an important business trip and had to make this flight. A lot depended on it. He boarded the plane and sat down as the doors closed. Suddenly he remembered that he had left...

The Color Techelet

by Jonah Mandel The Jerusalem Post Not quite azure, more of a midnight blue. That is apparently the actual color of the biblical techelet, according to Prof. Zvi Koren, who spoke this week at the Shenkar College’s International Edelstein Color Symposium. Techelet: Color of a Clear Blue Sky Techelet is the color that was used to dye the...