Lubavitch Tallis & Tzitzis Customs

Sometimes our customers assume that if they select the Chabad tzitzis tying option, the tallis katan or tallis gadol they order will have other Lubavitch features.

Recently we had a customer who chose a standard traditional wool tallis, and then was very surprised when it came with an atara, as shown clearly in the product photos.

I ordered and received a new tallit. I ordered a Chabad talllit, but received a tallit with a silk piece at the top on the outside, a chabad tallit does not have anything above the head.

Chabad tallis
Distinctive Chabad tallis striping

The “silk piece” he refers to is a plain diamond and leaf pattern atara that comes standard on most traditional wool tallits. The tallit he ordered was definitely not a Chabad tallit and there was nothing in the product description to indicate that it was a Chabad tallit. In fact, you don’t even have to read the product description; a quick glance at the photo shows striping that is very unlike the striping on a Chabad tallis.

Our Chabad talleisim are under our Chassidic Tallis category.

The difference between a Chabad tallis and a typical traditional wool tallis is not just the atara he mentioned.
  •  a Chabad tallis has a silk lining (or sometimes cotton)
  •  a Chabad tallis has silk corner reinforcements; most tallits have cotton, wool or synthetic
  •  a Chabad tallis has a unique striping pattern
  •  a Chabad tallis has a second tzitzis hole on each corner; all other tallits have just one
Apparently he was under the impression that if he chose the Chabad tzitzis tying option, the tallis would have other Chabad features. That is not the case at all. Just about every single one of the hundreds of tallits we sell have various tzitzit tying options (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Yemenite, Chabad, etc.) to choose from.
As most people know, there are many different levels of adherence to Lubavitch customs among those who belong to a Lubavitch congregation. Some stick to all Lubavitch customs down to the smallest detail, others keep hardly any Lubavitch customs and still others are somewhere in between.
Chabad tallis corner
Silk reinforcement and double tzitzis holes

This is expressed in the way our customers choose tallis and tzitzis products. For example, one who adheres closely to Chabad customs will only wear a wool tallis katan, but cotton Chabad tallis katans with special Chabad double holes, are made by the manufacturers, because there is a demand for them among those who do not keep all Chabad customs. Once or twice we even had customers who ordered cotton undershirt tzitzis garments, and assumed that if they chose the Chabad tzitzis option, that would include diagonally aligned holes, whereas the truth is that no manufacturer produces a tzitzis undershirt with Chabad holes (or side-by-side Chassidic holes).

When it comes to talleisim, again, there are many people in between. On our Chabad tallis page there is an option to add on a plain white atara, like the one on the tallis you ordered. But as you note, Lubavitch doesn’t have an atara on their tallis at all. So isn’t this a bit of an anomaly? Perhaps, but a whole lot of our customers do want a Chabad tallis with an atara.
Even the lining varies. According to the Lubavitch minhag, a tallis has a silk lining. But a silk lining makes the tallis slippery and it doesn’t last long, so a lot of Lubavitchers who do not adhere to all Lubavitch minhagim choose a cotton lining instead. The tallis manufacturers offer both, because of the varying demand.