November 2015 – Ben's Tallit Shop

Bar Mitzvah Tallit Size Guide

We often get inquires from parents asking about proper sizing for a bar mitzvah tallit. What size do you recommend for a bar mitzvah boy who is under 5 ft. that will STILL fit him properly when he is an adult?? Thanks, Donna I had to tell Donna the truth: she's asking for the impossible. Imagine...

Tefillin Gassot – Mehudar 1, Mehudar 2

If you are shopping for tefillin gassot online, you may have come across options labeled "Mehudar 1" or "Mehudar 2" or "Mehudar 3" etc. in reference to the parchments. These labels are somewhat arbitrary and are determined by the tefillin seller. There is no universal scale for tefillin parchment writing quality. One tefillin dealer may...

Tefillin – Gassot, Ribua Regel, Miksheh

Recently I receive an interesting question from a prospective tefillin buyer looking for top quality, expensive tefillin: For the ribua regel, does it make a noticeable difference having someone do that in terms of how precise the shaping of them is? I am trying to balance price with quality. At this point I have to...

Tallit Fabrics – Why Wool?

Wool has always been the tallit fabric of choice from a halachic perspective, because, as the Shulchan Aruch notes, only a wool tallit or garment is required to have tzitzit. Since tzitzit is the raison d'etre of the tallit, wool is preferred because by wearing a wool tallit you fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit...

Malchut Non-Slip Wool Tallit

Most traditional wool tallits are 100% wool, but the Malchut Wool Nonslip Tallit takes the meaning of "all wool" to a new level. On many high-end wool tallits, the corner squares are also made of wool (as opposed to synthetic or cotton). On the Malchut Tallit, not only are the corner patches made of...

Jewish Wedding Planning: The Tallit

I'm no expert when it comes to wedding planning, but I can offer a few tips that be useful to Jewish brides and grooms. Not all grooms wear a tallit during the chuppah ceremony. Originally this custom was predominantly found among Sephardic Jews, but in recent years it seems to be gaining traction among Ashkenazi...

Yemenite Tallit for Ashkenazi Wearer

A customer asked me if I felt it would be inappropriate for an Ashkenazi to wear a Yemenite tallit. White stripes, silver corners, Ashkenazi tzitzit If you ask me, it would not be inappropriate assuming there is a range of tallit types in the congregation. In other words, if it's a very frum Orthodox congregation,...

Auschwitz Tallit Room

I just came across this photo of a room at Auschwitz-Birkenau where confiscated tallits were apparently kept. At this point I'm feeling too aghast to write any remarks. From what I can tell the photo was taken after the War.

Shiur tzitzis: Minimum size for a tallis katan

Obviously if you were to put tzitzis on a garment that measures just a few inches, nobody would claim you can fulfill the mitzvah with a garment that small. So what is the minimum size requirement for a tallis katan? The answer is actually quite involved. The Gemara and Shulchan Aruch tell us that a...

The Case for the Plastic Mezuzah Case

Mezuzahs should be checked twice every seven years. In many instances mezuzah checkers find that the mezuzah scroll has been slowly baked to a crisp over a long period of time, following exposure to the elements. The cause can be hard to determine. In one instance a mezuzah in a cheap, not waterproof case survives...