One of the distributors we’ve worked with for years has repeatedly encouraged us to start selling a line of top-quality leather tallit bags made by a very skilled leather workshop in Mexico. But we’ve hesitated to leap into this market for two reasons:
- For some reason the vast majority of our customers are looking for tallit bags under $30. Obviously that means genuine leather and fur are not on the table as viable options.
- I have concerns about supply, especially if a customer wants custom name embossing.
On the other hand, if the Judaica market is now flooded with these high-end tallit/tefillin bag sets, there must be people buying them.
My guess is that buyers are often people looking for a very nice gift for their husband or co-worker or a bar mitzvah boy or a chosson, and are willing to pull out all the stops. (If you have insights on this, or are looking to buy a very nice set, let us know via our contact page or WhatsApp.)
Personally I like the idea of leather for reasons related both to aesthetics and practicality. I’ve never been a fan of clear nylon zipper protectors designed for velvet tallit bags. Plastic is just not my thing, and they never last very long. Leather does a good job of protecting your tallit and tefillin, without having to resort to nylon. And it “cuts down on packaging,” so to speak: instead of bag + bag in protector, you’re fine with just two pieces, namely tefillin bag snuggled alongside your tallit in a tallit bag, that essential doubles as a travel bag for your tallit, tefillin, siddur, etc.
The fur bag designs have quickly evolved; they are often no longer fur throughout, but a hybrid of fur and velvet or fur and leather. For example, take a look at this leather/fur combo below. (I chose this photo because me and Shmuel – take a look at the Hebrew – go way back.)
Even all-leather tallit/tefillin bags are often a hybrid of different textures, such as smooth leather and grain leather or a snake-skin type pattern.
