Usually people want a lightweight tallit because they live in a warm climate and want less fabric on their shoulders. But this week we received an inquiry from someone who needs a lightweight tallit because he wants it to be more compact.
Hello,
I travel a lot and am looking for a tallit that is as lightweight as
possible, for putting on my tefillin in airports etc. I’m
5’11” and slim build. Can you recommend a good
“travel” tallit? And what is the smallest size you would
recommend for me?
Thank you!
Damon
The
last tallit I bought (i.e. I bought it from myself, since I don’t know a
better tallit dealer) was a Kalil Tallit. I chose it because during the
summer the gabbai of the shul where I daven seems to be under the misimpression that
it’s not hot during the early morning minyan, so the air conditioner is
unnecessary.
Also, a fellow tallit dealer I work with has the same
tallit, and he says it stays put on his shoulders better than the
nonslip tallits.
It
also happens that at the time I was taking my tallit and tefillin to
shul in a soft leather briefcase and it was hard to fit my puffy tallit
in with the tefillin. Then when I got the new tallit, as a side benefit I
found that it took up much less space in the bag, so suddenly there was
plenty of room.
So I would suggest to Damon that he take a look at the Kalil as well as our other lightweight tallit options.
As for sizing, according to my estimate a size 60 would come down to the top of his thighs. I told him he
might be able to get away with a size 55, which would hang four inches
higher in back.
Traditionalist Orthodox Ashkenazim usually wear a black-striped tallit. But if they start tying techelet on their tallit, some start to wonder whether the black striping makes sense. This week we received the following inquiry from a return customer:
You’ve made three beautiful tallitot with techelet for me, and
now I may be interested in ordering a fourth. I was a little embarrassed
to learn in a recent shiur that the meaning of the stripes in a
tallit are a kind of mourning/reminder of techelet. So my beautiful
new black-striped tallit with techelet is redundant at best, and just
plain ignorant at worst. I’m wondering if I could make use of my
existing techelet and retie them onto a new white tallit. Or maybe
best to just start fresh? I’d be interested in a slip-free white-on-white tallit with thick Ptil Tekhelet tied according to the Rambam.
I
would hesitate to go so far as to say “redundant.” I have heard this
explanation regarding the origins of the black stripes a few times. It
sounds plausible to me, but on the other hand, once a custom sets in we
have to show due respect for it. As my friend Shraga Simmons of Aish
HaTorah writes, “the current custom of black stripes is keeping within
the synagogue decorum, which has value in and of itself.”
I
once came across another explanation for the black stripe that I liked
even more, but I think it was based on conjecture, not evidence. You may
be familiar with the Mishnah that discusses the earliest time we can don tzitzit with a brachah.
According to this explanation, once techelet was lost we no longer had a
way to figure out whether it was time to put on the tallit, so blue
striping was introduced, then somewhere along the way tallit
stripes morphed from blue to black.
I
know a lot of people who hold very strongly by techelet (e.g. the
Zilberman community, where even boys wear techelet from a young age),
yet they wear a black-striped tallit.
All
of the above is just my own thoughts, I’m not trying to say anything
conclusive. I realize I’m not doing a very good job of promoting sales. I
guess I’m lucky I don’t have a sales manager over me.
If
you do decide to make a change, keep in mind that untying Rambam knots
is very difficult. It could take you an hour of hard work. Also, you
might have a problem of tzitzit that are very crinkled at the points
where the knots were.
We regularly get inquiries from customers who want to start putting techelet tzitzit on their tallit or tallit katan, and are uncertain which tying custom to adopt. For example, this week we received the following question sent from South Africa:
I am
little bit confused about the tzitzit tying methods. I usually have Ashkenazi tying on my tallit, but I want to include the blue colour thread. I’m wondering what you would recommend as a tying option for Ashkenazi with techelet tzitzit.
According to
Rabbi Mois Navon of the Ptil Tekhelet Association, Ashkenazim are advised to choose
Vilna Gaon, Sefer HaChinuch, Raavad or Arizal.
Vilna Gaon – The most common choice among Ashkenazim
Sefer HaChinuch – Very similar to Vilna Gaon; recommended by Rabbi Eliyahu Tavgar of the Ptil Tekhelet Association
Raavad – Has exactly the same windings as standard white Ashkenazi, except that it alternates white-blue-white-blue etc.
Arizal
– Often preferred by those who lean toward Chassidus and Kabbalah;
looks just like standard white Ashkenazi from some angles, but has a
ridge running along the side
You can see photos of all of them here. Rabbi Navon suggests Vilna Gaon as the preferred option, or Arizal for those prefer the look of their tzitzit is similar to the familiar Ashkenazi method.
Why do we not recommend standard Ashkenazi tying with techelet? As Rabbi Navon writes, “The way one ties tekhelet has really nothing to do with the way one ties
white. There are many different ways to tie white only strings, and
they are all essentially based on the fact that tekhelet was lost.
“The
Gemara provides a number of instructions on how to tie with tekhelet,
and from these few remarks, the poskim throughout the generations have
derived various methods (see B. Sterman’s guide to tying). They all fulfill the words of the Gemara and they all fulfill the mitzvah as required by the Torah.”
There’s also an interesting string on the topic here, featuring a comment by one of our customers (listed there as Gershom Menachem).
Usually when a customer wants to buy tallit and tefillin, it’s for a almost 12-year-old heading for his bar mitzvah, but this week we got a tallit and tefillin inquiry from a groom whose life is shifting: now only is he headed toward married life, but he also seems to be becoming observant — at his own pace. He contact me with a lot of questions on how to choose the right tallit and which tefillin to buy.
Hello,
Since I’m getting married on the 6th of
Elul and as being of Ashkenazi descendant I am looking for a tallit for
myself and my fiancée asked me to gather some information. Since I currently have no tallit, I have no experience in choosing
one. I would really appreciate your advice.
My goal is to find a high quality, traditional, black-striped tallit that
I can use for decades. I’ve looked at the tallitot at your
website and I think I will focus my interest on the following products:
Hamefoar Prestige
Echt Turkish
Chatanim
Unfortunately I’m not completely sure of the differences. Echt Turkish
is not a non-slip tallit, right? What is the exact difference between
Chatanim and Hamefoar Tallit?
Despite the fact that I’m not fully a baal tshuva I still try to keep
the mitzvot to a high degree. Since I’m starting a family, I want to
start it right. That’s why I want to begin with the mitzva of
tefillin. In that field I would also appreciate your advice.
As with the tallit, I would prefer a set of tefillin that I can use for years to come
and that is halachically on an acceptable level. I am debating between Tefillin Dakkot Ohr Echad or Tefillin Gassot. As far as I understand
there is no halachic difference, the main point is the durability? What
is the difference between Elyon and Avodat Yad, black/tan and
black/black? Do you have any pictures of Avodat Yad, black/tan and
black/black straps? Do the tefillin come with cases?
Thank you in advance for your help and advice.
Kind regards,
Igor
I of course congratuled Igor on his engagement and blessed him with a happy marriage and great success in building an upstanding Jewish
home on the strong foundations of Torah. Then I tried to tackle his tallit and tefillin questions one-by-one. First, I tried to lay forth the main differences between the tallitot he mentioned.
Echt Turkish – very thick and heavy, smooth fabric and thick, dark striping, interlaced fringes
Chatanim – a high quality tallit with a standard weave
Hamefoar – very slightly lighter than Hamefoar Prestige and without the lining and sidebands
When
you buy tefillin there are really two issue: the boxes and the
parchments. The writing by the scribe on the parchments comes in many
different levels of quality, from $100 or $150 to $400 or $600 or more
(i.e. the value of the parchments, not what you pay for the end
product). On the lower levels, to rule the writing is completely kosher,
one has to rely on various halachic leniences. If you go up a bit in
price, there are no longer halachic uncertainties about the writing, but
aesthetically it may be mediocre. If you want kosher writing that is
also very beautiful (even though you may never see the writing) you have
to pay a lot of money.
The
other issue is the tefillin boxes. Today not many people buy Tefillin Dakkot
because if they ever need refurbishing or repair, there is very little
the tefillin worker can do. By investing an extra $100 or $200 the boxes
can easily last for 20 years or more. After 15 years of daily use my
Tefillin Gassot (which I, too, bought just before my wedding) were in
very good condition. I had some touch-up work done, but it wasn’t really
necessary.
Keep
in mind that the tefillin maker will insert higher quality parchments
in higher quality boxes, i.e. the parchments in a set of Gassot are
going to be slightly better than the parchments in a set of Dakkot.
Regarding
the tefillin straps, the halacha states that the tefillin straps must be black
on the side that shows. Until a few years ago, the bottom side of the
tefillin straps were left the natural unfinished brown color. In recent
years all-black straps are becoming more popular. I’ve attached photos
of both. Note that the black/black option is only available with Avodat
Yad straps.
Elyon straps are middle-grade (low grade tefillin straps are called shpalt). Avodat Yad are made by hand from start to finish, to eliminate halachic concerns. Various mitzvah objects (e.g. tefillin, tzitzit strings, matzah) must be made with mitzvah intention from an early stage in the production process. Machine matzah, machine-spun tzitzit and elyon tefillin straps require applying halachic leniencies.
Periodically we get questions regarding the type of material one should use for tzitzit strings: wool, linen, cotton, silk, etc. This week we got a question about silk tzitzit strings.
My
son’s Bar Mitzvah is in a month. My mother has made his talit using
raw silk. Do the tzitzit also have to be made from silk? I need to
purchase the strings for the tzitzit and don’t know which to
purchase. Thanks, Jessica
According to the Shulchan Aruch, you can use tzitzit made of the same material as the garment (e.g. cotton tzitzit for cotton, silk tzitzit for silk, etc.), and for all types of fabric you can use wool or linen. However, the Shulchan Aruch goes on to explain that today linen should not be use.
“You can use either silk or wool tzitzit
strings,” I told Jessica. “Nobody makes silk tzitzit, so you don’t have much of an
option.” Today 99% of all tzitzit strings are made of wool. Occasionally you may come across linen tzitzit, but that is somewhat problematic, from a halachic standpoint.
Chabad has a tendency to do things their own way, and the Chabad tallis is no exception. The Chabad tallis features extra striping and each corner has a second tzitzit hole. Chabad tzitzis tying method uses an innovation of placing the shamash through the second, lower hole, acting as an anchor to keep the tzitzis from roaming around the corner to the wrong side fo the tallis. And the Chabad tallis features another distinctive trait: it’s just about the only tallit (along with the Turkish tallis) that lacks an atara.
The following table compares a bona fide Chabad tallis to a standard wool tallis.
Standard Wool Tallis zitzis
Chabad Tallis
Striping
Typically has a set of five stripes and a thicker band
Distinctive striping based on Chabad custom
Atara
Atara, pattern may vary
No atara
Lining
Cotton lining is an add-on feature
Silk lining comes standard, cotton by request
Corners
Square on corners made of wool, cotton or synthetic
Square on corners made of silk
Tzitzit Holes
One tzitzit hole per corner
Each corner has a second tzitzit hole
Tzitzit
Usually Ashkenazi or Sephardic tying
Distinctive Chabad tying custom
Recently both Mishkan Hatchelet and Talitania introduced a Chabad tallis with “nonslip” fabric. The Mishkan Hatchelet version is marketed as Chabad Pe’er Kal or Nonslip Chabad, while the Talitania version is known as Chabad David.
Originally the custom of sewing on an atarah was to ensure the tallit
was worn the same way every day; not simply to ensure it is not worn
upside-down, but to keep the same two tzitzis in front and the same two
tzitzis in back each time the tallis is worn. The Shlah writes that this
is in keeping with the teaching that in the Mishkan (Tabernacle),
the northern boards had the honor of occupying the north side,
the eastern boards the east side, etc.
Some halachic
authorities, however, were concerned the atarah might come to dominate the tallit,
stealing some of the limelight from the main mitzvah: the tzitzis.
The
Lubavitcher custom is to add a silk lining to the bottom side of the
tallis where the head goes, which means the Chabad tallis is always worn in the same manner, yet there is no atarah to draw attention away from the tzitzis.
