January 2017 – Ben's Tallit Shop

Mezuzah scroll: The bigger the better?

Mezuzah scrolls come in standard sizes. It used to be that the most common size was 10 cm and some people who wanted a bigger mezuzah bought a 12-cm scroll. But in recent years sizes went up a notch: 12 cm is very common and those who want bigger move up to 15 cm. World's...

Which is more important: tallis or tefillin?

Toward the very beginning of the Gemara is a well-known breisa: אמר רבי יוחנן הרוצה לקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים שלימה יפנה ויטול ידיו ויניח תפילין ויתפלל Translation: "R' Yochanan said one who seeks to accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven in a complete manner should empty his bowels, do the...

Cotton Tallit

This week we had a customer who had decided to go with a hand-woven Gabrieli tallit, but kept debating between cotton and wool. At first she ordered it in wool, but then had second thoughts: I have a question about wool vs. cotton. I saw a tallit today in our synagogue gift shop and it was...

Can blue tzitzit strings be used as a charm?

Sometimes you run across odd uses for tzitzit strings. This week we received an inquiry from a young woman from Germany, suffering from an ailment and hoping that blue tzitzit strings (techelet) have curative powers. Shalom. One quick question: I am girl. Can I put tzitzit blue to my neck pendant with Hebrew letter chai?...