Ben – Page 17 – Ben's Tallit Shop

Found: Israel’s Worst English

This is way off topic for this blog, but I couldn't help snapping a shot of this food stand I saw on the way to work. Israel is not China: Most Israelis speak some English, many speak good English and some speak great English. But when making bilingual signs, it seems many sign makers figure...

Buy a tallit from the experts

I know it's not easy to buy a tallit. For of all, most people buy a tallit only a few times during their lifetime, so their tallit shopping experience is highly limited. And even if you do have a general idea of how to go about buying a tallit, there are so many options...

Tallit Katan Buying Tips

I recently decided it's time for me to put together a new tallit katan. I have several - cotton and wool, Shabbos and weekday - but the tzitzit strings on most of them are starting to look dingy to me. Considering I operate a tallit and tzitzit webstore, have connections with various suppliers and...

Beit Yosef Hamefoar Tallit

Once I received an inquiry from a savvy eBay shopper who claims to have come across a Beit Yosef Hamefoar Tallit in a size 50, and wanted to know our price for it. But the truth is the Beit Yosef Hamefoar Tallit is not made in smaller sizes (45, 50, 55) and never has...

Tallit with Blue Stripes

The traditional wool blue-striped tallit is a perennial favorite. Blue seems to be a popular color for tallit striping among bar mitzvah boys and adult men alike. And blue stripes are apropo in just about any congregation, from very traditional to very modern. If you intend to stick close to the traditional wool tallit and...

Dry Cleaning Your Tallit

I'm often asked about dry cleaning a tallit, but the truth is I'm not really the right person to turn to for information. I've sold thousands of tallits, but I've only sent a tallit to the dry cleaners a few times. This year my Shabbos tallis got lucky: one of the few "extra credit"...

Purchasing a New Tallit During Sefirat Ha’omer

A customer by the name of Nir was getting ready to buy a Beit Yosef Talit from our webstore before Pesach, but, like many noble plans during that time of year, he wasn't able to make the purchase as planned. After Pesach, when he had more time on his hands, he was ready to...

Tzitzit for Christians?

Occasionally we get inquiries from Christians who would like to buy a tallit or even wear tzitzit. In fact, I know from one of the tallit distributors I work with that Judaica stores in downtown Jerusalem sell a lot of tallits to Christian tourists. Usually they sell inexpensive synthetic (acrylan) tallits which presumably are...

T-shirt with Tzitzit

Our tzitzit t-shirt has been gaining popularity. Although some companies market it as a revolutionary new concept, it has been sold in Israel and France for close to a decade. The design is fairly similar to the very popular and now widespread Neatzit, except that the Neatzit (also known by various other names, including...

Ashkenazi Tzitzit: Do the windings have to come out exactly 7-8-11-13?

According to Torah law, there is no requirement for tzitzit to have 7-8-11-13 windings. The Torah says you must have one knot and one chulyah. There is a dispute in the poskim as the whether the knot comes before the chulyah or after, so we do both. The Mishnah Brurah explains that if you...

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