Tallit – Page 9 – Ben's Tallit Shop

Wool tallit with blue stripes

If you want a traditional tallit, unless you're on a shoestring budget, make sure it's wool. A wool tallit looks nicer, lasts longer, feels better and is considered superior from a halachic standpoint. Many Sephardim have a custom of wearing a white-striped tallit, Ashkenazi traditionalists will stick with black stripes, but the blue-striped wool tallit...

Buying Tefillin for the Bar Mitzvah Boy

Tefillin is among the most potent mitzvahs in the Torah. We are commmanded to bind them on the head and arm: “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes” (Deut. 6:8). We bind the tefillin close to the heart, as a reminder to...

Tallit lining, sidebands and middle band

Some dealers offer certain additions to customize your tallit. The most common are a tallit lining, sidebands and middle band. Tallit Lining Made of cotton, a tallit lining adds a bit of weight and bulk to the tallit, for those who want a more substantial, weighty feel on their shoulders. Some people find it also helps...

Using a Tallit as a Chuppah

This week we received at least three inquiries from grooms interested in using a tallit as their chuppah. Here's one example: Hi. I am looking for a Tallis to use for a chuppah. I will need to rent the poles. While I have been using my bar mitzvah Tallis since 1973... (It is too small...

How a tallit reflects the wearer’s soul

The Gemara (Pesachim 111b) relates that demons taunted a mistaken Sage by singing, "He dresses like a chacham, but does not even know how to bless…!" We see from this anecdote, one among many in the Gemara, that the Sages could be identified by the distinctive garments they wore. Rav Tzaddok HaKohen zt"l explains...

What makes a tallit kosher

Every once in a while a prospective customer contacts me for reassurance that the tallits we sell are kosher. The truth is that if you're buying a traditional wool tallit, you have very little to worry about. But in any case, for those who want to know what makes a tallit kosher, the issues...

Tallit Stripe Customs

For those in search of just the right tallit, the striping is definitely a major factor. This week we received the following inquiry from a prospective customer: Could you please address the customs concerning the stripes on the tallit. More pointedly the silver or gold stripes. Thanks, Tom S. I explained to Tom that originally the tallit...

Lightweight Tallit Options

Usually I get requests for a lightweight tallit from customers who live in a hot climate. I myself got a lightweight tallit for day-to-day summer use because I davin early, and the gabbaim seem to think that it can't be warm in shul at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. But they're wrong. When the air...

Tallit corners and tzitzit tying

It's fairly rare that a customer asks me not to tie the first knot on the tzitzit too tight. That's why I was surprised to see this note a customer added to an order for a white-on-white Beit Yosef talit. Please see that the tsitsit be tied on both tallitot to have flat corners. That...

The Mysterious Three-Layer Tallit Corner

Do you ever get distracted looking around shul on Shabbos? On Shabbos we're supposed to leave our weekday endeavors behind, avoid talking about money matters, etc., but as a tallit seller, I'm at a distinct disadvantage: How am I supposed to forget about talleisim while surrounded by dozens, sometime hundreds, of Shabbos talleisim hanging...