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.
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.
- 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
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).