Author: BenG

I was just searching our orders file for a customer from LA and got a long list of tallit and tzitzit orders from Los Angeles over the past year.

Since I grew up in LA (the West San Fernando Valley) I took a quick look around to see what part of the city they hail from and what types of talleisim and tzitzis they’re buying.

A lot of our buyers live in West Hollywood, Pico-Robertson and Beverly Hills, as I would expect, but some come from “over the hill,” from Valley Village, Encino, Tarzana and even way out in Woodland Hills, Calabasas and Agoura. (Back when I was growing up, I don’t think you could find any Jews in Calabasas who wore tzitzit.)

Several of our tallit customers have Persian-Jewish names, which does not come as a surprise. On a few occasions I have exchanged emails with Rabbi Yosef Zargary regarding Persian-Jewish tzitzit customs.

What are Los Angelenos buying? A lot of cotton undershirt tzitzit, a fair number of wool tallit katan and traditional wool tallits. Mostly lightweight tallits, but two super heavy Echt Turkish Tallits as well. At first this might not make sense, but in my experience, in very hot places there’s no problem wearing a heavy tallit since the air conditioner in shul is always on full blast. I also noticed a remarkably large number of Bareket Tallit orders. I haven’t been able to come up with any conjecture to explain the trend.   

Recently we received an inquiry from a rabbi in Florida interested in buying a white-striped tallit with nonslip fabric, but wanted help comparing the options.

I live
in Florida and I am looking for a white on white lightweight tallit that
won’t slip off my shoulders. I see that you have a few. It would be
helpful to me if I could speak with someone about the ones I’ve
seen on your website. Thanks, Rabbi [R.S.]

What is the difference between a Sephardic Tallit and a Yemenite, Ashkenazi or Chassidic? The foremost distinction is a different custom for tying the tzitzit, with a spiral ridge, followed by most Sephardim. Also, in many traditional Orthodox Sephardic congregations, a white tallit with white stripes, rather than black stripes is customary.

One specific example, the Beit Yosef Talit, is made entirely of wool, including the atara (neckband) and the corner patches. This tallit was so popular, that slight variations were also introduced, including the Beit Yosef Prestige and the Beit Yosef Tashbetz. The base color of the Beit Yosef Sephardic Tallit is an off-white matte color that lends it subtle refinement and sets it apart from other classic white-striped tallits.

While the Beit Yosef, including its variations, is made by Mishkan Hatchelet, rival companies have similar offerings: Talitania makes the Malchut and the David Tashbetz, and Pe’er HaKodesh makes the Ben Porat Yosef.

The White Striped Prima A.A. Wool Tallit is the standard white-on-white wool tallit, with a smooth weave and top-notch finishing work. It features satiny white stripes. Hamefoar is similar, but with a slightly textured weave, to help keep the tallit on your shoulders. The white-on-white Tashbetz has a more discernibly textured box weave, designed to optimize the nonslip properties.

Some white-on-white tallits also feature silver pinstripes.

Note that you will see Sephardic tzitzit options on every tallit we sell.

This week we received an inquiry from someone getting ready to buy a tzitzit who is unsure about the various tzitzit options, and wants to get it right.

Would you please explain to me the different types of TzitTzit available on a tallis. How are they tied and what if any are they dyed with?

Thank you, Doug H.

Thank you for your inquiry. In the third paragraph of Kriyat Shema the Torah tells us to place a string of techelet (blue) on our tzitzit. The techelet dye was made from a certain type of snail found off the coast of the Mediterranean in the area of what is now northern Israel and Lebanon.

About 1300 years ago, the source of the techelet dye and the dying process was lost. Ever since then, Jews have used only white tzitzit. According to most opinions, the white is one mitzvah and the blue is another mitzvah, and of course the two mitzvahs are integrated. So for many centuries Jews have been unable to keep the mitzvah of techelet.

In recent decades efforts to recover the lost dye and dying process intensified, and today many hold that the Murex trunculus dye is the authentic techelet dye referred to in the Torah and the Talmud. It is produced by the Ptil Tekhelet Association, which also works to promote the renewal of the mitzvah.

On our website, anywhere you come across a Ptil Tekhelet tzitzit option, it is referring to Murex trunculus.

There was also another line of inquiry among some who felt cuttlefish may be the source of the techelet dye. This is referred to as Radzyn Techelet.

You can find more information on our tzitzit options by referring to our Tzitzit Wizard.

I think fairly often our customers have a hard time deciding whether to order thin Ptil Tekhelet or thick. Obviously it’s a harder decision when you can’t see the strings up close.

Today we received the following question from a customer who was unsure which Ptil Tekhelet strings to buy.

I have
two question on the techelet tzitzit sizes:
1. Which size is more popular, the thick or the thin?
2. Can you email me or post on the website photos of both sizes of
tzitzit next to a person’s hand or similar object, so I can see the
size difference?

Somehow I never thought of such an obvious solution as a photo with a recognizable object alongside.

As
a general rule, people put thick Ptil Tekhelet on a tallit gadol (i.e. a tallis
worn to shul) and thin Ptil Tekhelet on a tallit katan (a garment worn under the
shirt to observe the mitzvah of tzitzit all day. But there are certainly
plenty of exceptions to the rule. It’s really a matter of aesthetics and personal preference.