January 2012 – Ben's Tallit Shop

Tallit Sizing Tips

There are two ways of wearing a tallit: 1) around the neck and hanging in front only and 2) on the shoulders and down the back. If you choose the second way, which is the age-old tradition for wearing a tallit, proper sizing also varies a bit depending on whether you want the tallit to...

Bar Mitzvah Tallit for the Not-So-Tall Bar Mitzvah Boy

In a recent email, I received the following inquiry: Hello and good morning. I am looking for a tallit for my son. Do you have anything that is 18 by 64 inches? That was actually the fourth time in the past few weeks that I received a request for a tallit less than 70 inches long,...

Jewish Wedding Preparation: Tallit & Tefillin

The day before my wedding I kept practicing how to tie my wedding tie. A year later, when my friend Alex got married, I realized there are more lofty preparations to make for a Jewish wedding. He stayed at my apartment the night before the wedding, and at 11:30 p.m. his biggest concern was...

Tefillin Prices: What to Expect

In part because the materials are fairly expensive, but primarily because production is labor intensive and requires a high degree of expertise, tefillin prices are high. I'll start with tefillin gassot, and then discuss options for budget tefillin below. Tefillin Gassot Tefillin are basically comprised of three parts, the boxes, the parchments and the straps. The difference in...

Sephardic Tallit

In Israel, you can buy a Sephardic Tallit down the block at your local Judaica shop, but in many parts of the world, the Sephardic Tallit selection may be scanty. We're here to fix that. Beit Yosef Tallit My personal favorite is the Beit Yosef Tallit, which is made entirely of wool – including the corner reinforcements...

Inexpensive Tallit

Before I get down to nuts and bolts, let me just say that I like to think just about every tallit I sell is an inexpensive tallit. We are a family-run operation and try to keep our prices as low as possible (see our Price Guarantee). Generally speaking, what constitutes an inexpensive tallit depends on...

Are tzitzit mandatory or optional?

Adapted from an article by Rabbi Sasson Yaakov The Gemara states that the seven types of people who are excommunicated in Heaven include he who does not lay tefillin on his arm and head, tie tzitzit on his garment and place a mezuzah on his doorpost (Pesachim 113b). The Tosafot (ibid.) writes that therefore it...