Some of our customers looking for just the right tallit want to hearken back to their family roots several generations ago. This week we received the following such inquiry:
Could you tell me what kind of Tallit would have been worn in Russia and Eastern Europe in the 1800s? Also, they would not have had Techelet, would they? They would have just had all white Tzitzit, right? I read that in 1887, Grand Rabbi Gershon Henoch Leiner was testing cuttlefish and he started wearing it. What would have been common back then in Russia, but also Eastern Europe. What do you have that would match it? If you don’t know, that’s alright.
Thanks, Guy
I sent Guy a link to this tallit from Poland from the 1800s. The atara is a geflochtene, like this one. (Note that this type of atara is quite stiff and some people find it less comfortable.) Nowadays many Chassidim wear a tallit with this type of atara. My assumption is that the owner of the vintage tallit in Poland was chassidic.
If they are indicative, tallits from the 1940s look, as far as I can tell, (also here) look fairly similar to today’s black-striped tallits.
I’m almost certain they never had the Tzitzit Blessing on the atara (neck band).
And I’m certain they had hand-spun all-white tzitzit, Ashkenazi tying.
