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Entries by Ben

Custom Embroidery on Atara

Our classic wool tallits are not handmade, but we can make various modifications. For instance, last week a customer ordered a tallit that comes with a plain atara (neckband) and he asked us to put on an atara with the Tzitzit Brachah embroidered on it. And this week another customer wanted his name embroidered...

Radzyn Techelet

For those of you who would like detailed information on Radzin techelet tzitzit from a Chassidic – primarily Breslov – angle, I recommend the link at the bottom of this page, including the comments, which also offer a wealth of information. I also recently came across a question to a Modern Orthodox rabbi posed by...

The Original Yemenite Black Tallit

A black tallit was often worn by Yemenite Jews, particularly in central Yemen. According to Tamir Ratzon, a black tallit was commonly worn in Talmudic times. He cites Shabbat 147a, which discusses shaking a new black tallit on Shabbos. However, if I'm not mistaken, the word tallit in the Gemara is often a generic word...

Tzitzit Tying Customs

When I told a recent customer we offer a variety of different tzitzit tying customs, he was taken by surprise. "I was not aware that Tzitzit could be tied using different standards," he wrote in an email. "I thought they were all the same – so now I've learned something new.  What are the differences? ...

Olive Green Tzitzit in the IDF

Yeshiva World News ran a short article on an IDF decision to stop issuing olive green tzitzit garments at no charge to religious soldiers. Readers submitted a number of interesting remarks, which I'd like to comment on here. Forgive me if I indulge in a bit of editorializing. Buy Olive Green Tallit Katan>> "A talis koton...

Tefillin and the Power of Ritual

Tefillin can be an extremely powerful tool used to connect to Our Father in Heaven and bind ourselves to Him, body, mind and soul. But unfortunately, many of us find it difficult to gather inspiration when we lay our tefillin every day, and really think about what we're doing. When I lay my tefillin each...

Cotton Tzitzit

A customer recently asked me if the tzitzit strings I sold her are made of wool or cotton. The answer, of course, is wool. Today tzitzit strings are always made of wool. According to halacha, wool tzitzit strings can be tied on any type of garment, whereas tzitzit strings made from other types of...

Mishkan Hatchelet versus Talitania

Let me start off by saying that most dealers are partial to either Talitania or Mishkan Hatchelet because they work with either one manufacturer or the other, whereas we sell tallitot made by both companies. Mishkan Hatchelet and Talitania: Competing tooth and nail Here in Israel the top two traditional tallit makers are Talitania and Mishkan Hatchelet. When...