Talitnia Traditional Tallit - 70 Frum Size

Posted by Ben G. on 28th Feb 2014

As a fulltime online tallit seller, I do a lot of Google searches on topics related to tallits for sale online. And somehow this tallit, sold on Amazon by a number of Amazon sellers, keeps coming up:

Talitnia Traditional Tallit 100% Wool Tallis Talit or Talis R-70 FRUM SIZE

And at around $77, it's quite a deal. When comparing tallit prices, you always have to pay attention to size, and since a size 70 tallit is fairly large, that price is quite low. Some of the same Amazon sellers sell the same tallit for $30 more on their online sites. Recently I came across an online tallit buyer who went and ordered one of these R-70 frum size tallits. He sent me the following email message:

Now I am completely confused. I thought I did buy a tallit by way of Amazon through something called Gefen Judaica. I checked and they do acknowledge the order. If you are not Gefen Judaica, then in my senility I must have pushed the wrong button and confused you. I sincerely apologize and hope you will forgive me.

What I ordered from them was a size 70 Tallit, Talitnia Traditional Tallit 100% Wool Tallis Talit or Talis R-70 FRUM SIZE [Apparel]. By the way, I am 5' 11.5" in height and about 225 lbs. Do you think that size 70 would be right or too big? Is it a matter of personal taste or rather of what community I am with? While I do not consider myself personally to be black hat, I daven as a happy member of the [deleted to protect the writer's privacy] which is considered to be such a yeshivish institution.

I replied to this would-be customer who had already bought elsewhere, "All is fine. The tallit you bought will fit just fine on you. It will drape down in back to about mid-thigh. People who like to look super frum sometimes want it a tad longer, down to the back of the knees, with the tzitzit half an inch off the floor. Personally I don't like that and it seems slightly ostentatious."

Talitania (or Talitnia) is considered a good tallit maker here in Israel, and I don't see how they can sell it at that price and still earn more than a few dollars profit. One of the companies selling the same tallit there on Amazon for $74 sells it on their regular website for $99, with higher shipping fees -- and that's a decent price too.

Of course when a customer comes to our webstore, we can offer them a range of traditional wool tallit, not just in "frum sizes" but every other size as well, and we offer various tzitzit and tzitzit tying options. So if the R-70 Talitania tallit is just right for you, go for it, but if you want to shop around for just the right tallit, make sure our Classic Tallit page is on your list.

The term "frum size" is quite misleading, because obviously a size 70 is not right for everyone. What they apparently meant is that if you are around 5'9" to 5'11" this tallit will drape down long and elegant, as is common practice in thoroughly Orthodox congregations.

The tallit advertised is similar to the Prima A.A., but the Prima A.A. has a nicer weave and better finishing work.