Gabrieli Tallit Info

We often get inquiries from prospective customers interesting in purchasing a Gabrieli tallit. The following is a list of frequent questions and answers.


How long does it take to receive a Gabrieli tallit set, including shipping time?
Gabrieli tallit sets are woven by hand. The production process typically takes 3-6 weeks, depending on the availability of the looms. For details on shipping, please refer to our Shipping Info page.

We have a bar mitzvah (or wedding) coming up in just a few weeks. Is there any way to expedite the process?
Yes, in some cases. Contact us with specifics (target date, name of tallit, size) and we'll see what we can do.

I appreciate having a range of tzitzit options to choose from, but many of the options shown are unfamiliar to me.
The Vilna Gaon, Sefer HaChinuch and Raavad options are only for tzitzit with techelet (blue string). For a comprehensive guide for both white and techelet tzitzit, refer to our Tzitzit Wizard.

What is the difference between the wool and cotton options?
The wool uses a thicker yarn, which of course results in a thicker tallit with an earthy look. The cotton Gabrieli tallit has a a tighter weave, which produces a smoother fabric with finer detail.

I'm looking at one of the silk tallits. What is the material like?
Gabrieli uses a thick silk yarn that differs distinctly from thin silks. The silk tallit comes out slightly thinner than the wool and cotton, with finer detail and more sheen.

We'd like to personalize the tallit. What options are available?
The simplest option is to add letter embroidery to the bag, which is just $1 per letter, in Hebrew or English. If you order the 20" x 80" size note that the bag only has enough room for 6-8 letters.
Another option is to add a name to the atara, but this is generally not recommended. The cost is $1.75 per letter.

I would like to a custom Gabrieli tallit. Can this be arranged?
Yes, of course. See if any of the Gabrieli tallits shown have a pattern close to what you have in mind and then describe to us how you would like the colors modified. If possible, create a mock-up using a graphics program. We charge a $25 fee for customization.

If the Gabrielli tallit is hand woven, can the size be customized?
Certainly. Standard Gabrieli tallit sizes are 20" x 80", 30" x 80", 40" x 80, 50" x 80" and 60" x 80". We show options for only the most common size options, 20" x 80", 50" x 80" and 60" x 80", but the 30" and 40" sizes are also available. We can create in-between sizes, but we cannot provide in-between prices! The price for a 48" x 75", for example, would be the same price as the standard 50" x 80".

Go to Gabrieli Tallit page>>

Tallit Lining

A tallit lining is a nice addition if you want your tallit to have a bit more body and weight or if your skin is very sensitive to wool. Recently we received the following inquiry with an innovative idea for a removable tallit lining.

I am looking to purchase my first tallis and would like to know if it's possible to make the lining removable. I think it would be really great if the lining that's often used under the head could be removed (maybe it snaps on) and thrown in the washing machine. Perhaps replacement linings could be sold as well.

Friends of mine heard the idea as well and would purchase something like that if it were available. Would you be able to arrange for something like that?

Thank you!

Aaron

I found Aaron's idea intriguing, but I don't know if it's really feasible. If you attached snaps, they would be visible on the top of the tallit, and buttons would not be visible, but it would take a lot of buttons to hold it in place and I think they would be obtrusive.

On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to remove the lining. I just noticed that my own Shabbos tallis is starting to look grimy on the part where the lining would go if I had a tallit lining. It would be great to pop the lining into the washing machine without having to wash the whole tallit.

A dry cleaner once told me washing a tallit with a lining is more complicated, because he has one protocol for wool and another protocol for cotton, so when you put the two together it becomes more problematic from his perspective.

If you are considering a tallit lining (and/or sidebands), keep in mind that the tallit will take up more space folded, so if your tallit bag is not very roomy, you'll really have to scrunch it in.

Tekhelet Research Conference in Jerusalem

Some 350 participants and 20 speakers are expected to take part in an international conference on techelet research on December 30 at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

The conference was initiated to mark the centennial of the late Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Halevi Herzog's ground-breaking doctoral dissertation, "The Dyeing of Purple in Ancient Israel."

Throughout the day, poster sessions and video clips will be available for viewing and a Tekhelet dyeing station will be set up to provide hands-on demonstrations. 

The conference will be streamed live on Dec. 30, starting at 9:30 am (Israel time) on: www.yutorah.org/live. 

Scheduled speakers include MK Isaac Herzog, grandson of techelet research pioneer Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi Herzog, Professor Rabbi Avraham Steinberg, Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, Supreme Court Justice Neal Hendel, Rabbi Menachem Burshtein, and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik and Dr. Naama Sukenik of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The keynote speaker will be Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hirsch Weinreb, executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union.

Chabad Tallis: Unique from top to bottom

We get a lot of customers looking for a genuine Chabad tallit, but we also have customers shopping for what I guess you could call a pseudo-Chabad tallit. For instance, today we received the following inquiry:

Is there a difference between your Chabad Style Tallit and your Prima A.A. Tallit with Ari/Chabad tzitzis?

Any advice for me?

Thank you for your time. It is wonderful to be able to purchase from an expert.

The question is a bit involved, so let's first clarify the tallis, and then move on to the tzitzis.

There is only one small difference between the Prima A.A. and the Chabad Style: the Chabad style has a second hole beneath the main tzitzit hole on each corner.

The traditional Chabad tallis has a number of other differences:
1) No atara - This is exclusive to Chabad. They hold that the atara sort of deflects attention from the essence of the mitzvah of wearing a tallis. They don't really have to worry about the issuing of making sure the tallis is worn the same way every day because the lining takes care of that.
2) Lining - Purists insist on silk, which tends to make the tallis slippery. Others choose a cotton lining.
3) Corner squares - Made of silk. Usually they are synthetic, or wool on high-end talleisim.
4) Striping - A Chabad tallis has a lot more black striping than a standard tallis. Some non-Lubavitchers wear a Chabad tallis simply because they like the striping.

Now to move on to tzitzis. Chabad tzitzis tying, which is based on the Arizal, entails linking the windings into groups of three, which is called a chulyah. This takes a bit of expertise. A lot of tallis dealers, both online and real brick-and-mortar stores, don't have the know-how to tie Chabad. In fact, a well-known handwoven tallis maker I work with just outsourced me to tie Chabad tzitzis on a tallis they made for a customer of theirs.

The other element of Chabad tzitzis tying is the halachic innovation of the second hole beneath the primary tzitzis hole. The issue behind this is the problem of keeping the tzitzis on the side of the tallis with the fringes, so that they hang down properly -- without having to scrunch up the fabric, which introduces a new problem of bringing the tzitzis hole too close to the edge of the tallis. Most poskim choose one attribute or the other, but Chabad invented a way to have your cake and eat it too: they don't scrunch up the fabric, but they anchor the tzitzis in place by looping the shamash string once through that second hole. In theory you could do this with a difference tying custom. In fact, we once had a customer who wanted Ptil Tekhelet tzitzit tied according to the Raavad on a Chabad tallis, and using that second hole was important to him for this reason.

I see I'm being long-winded. Apparently I was avoiding this customer's main question: "Do you have any advice for me?" Because the truth is, no I don't.

Techelet Tzitzit Tying Options

We get a lot of inquiries regarding techelet tzitzit. Yesterday we received the following question from a prospective customer at Tulane University:

I am interested in getting tekhelet on a tallis. Under tzit tzit tying customs I see Ashkenazic and Raavad among others. I was under the impression there is no general Ashkenazic tying custom for tekhelet. Is that only for non tekhelet tzit tzit? Thank you. 

He's right. There is no consensus on how Ashkenazim should tie techelet. But the standard Ashkenazi option as you know it is not recommended, because it was formulated in the absence of techelet, and does not meet the Gemara's stipulations for tying tzitzit with techelet. We only offer it as an option for those who insist.

Rambam - Many Sephardim choose this, because the Rambam is a major halachic authority, especially for Sephardim, and just about all of the other tying methods were proposed by Ashkenazi poskim. Sometimes Ashkenazim go with the Rambam as well.

Arizal - The default option for Chassidim. This is essentially the same as how Chabad ties their all-white tzitzit. It probably looks the most similar to the standard Ashkenazi tying custom

Sefer HaChinuch - Rabbi Eliyahu Tavgar, the rav of the Ptil Tekhelet Association, recommends this as a default option for Ashkenazim.

Vilna Gaon - This is probably the most common choice among Ashkenazim, presumably because the Gra is considered such a significant halachic authority.

Raavad - Sorry, I don't know much about this custom. Some would say it's the closest to standard Ashkenazi because it has 7-8-11-13. So it's like Arizal, but without linking the wrappings into chulyot.

These various techelet tying customs can be seen in action on this page.

How to prevent frayed tzitzit tips

We often get inquiries from people who want to tie their tzitzit themselves, and need a bit of guidance. We have a general tzitzit tying post and a Rambam tzitzit tying how-to video.

The best tip (forgive the pun) is to dab some clear nail polish on the ends to prevent fraying. Just be careful not to get any nail polish on the tallit and let it dry overnight, so the smell doesn't get absorbed into the tallit.

If obtaining clean nail polish is an inconvenience, you can also use clear glue, but it may come out when you wash the tzitzit.

Tefillin Straps: The Basics

When you buy tefillin online from a decent tefillin seller, normally you have several options to select: Ashkenazi or Sephardic or Chabad, right-handed or left-handed, sometimes the level of hiddur of the writing on the parchments and various qualities of tefillin straps.

The tefillin strap selection is typically shpalt or elyon for basic tefillin and elyon or avodat yad for tefillin gassot.

We recently received the following inquiry regarding tefillin gassot:

I am looking at the Tefillin Gassot, and I really do not know what Mehudar 1, Mehudar 2 and Mehudar 3 stand for. And why is Avodat Yad more prized than Elyon for the straps?

The words "avodat yad" mean handmade, but really all tefillin straps are handmade because the halacha requires that they be made with the holiness of tefillin (לשם קדושת תפילין) in mind. The question is whether the tefillin maker can has to actually use his hands, or whether operating a machine with intention is sufficient.

Less expensive tefillin straps (shpalt and elyon) are made with the aid of machines, while more expensive straps are made without machine power.

The process of making the avodat yad tefillin straps is entirely human-powered from start to finish, whereas certain parts of of the production process for shpalt and elyon straps is powered by machines, such as the turning of the tanning tank or spraying the paint on the tefillin straps with a compressor.

Tallit with Heavy Fabric

I receive about a dozen tallit inquiries per week. Yesterday I got an email from someone by the name of Daniel who had a very reasonable request: He wanted a heavyweight tallit with a nice black striping pattern, but he wanted regular fringes, not the fancy double-knotted fringes that come standard on the Echt Turkish and Kmo Turkish tallits.

I didn't have a good solution for him. I even consulted with a seasoned tallit seller with 20 years' experience under his belt, but he wasn't able to come up with anything. 

Kmo Turkish tallit. Note the thicker black bands.

I even looked into the Turkish tallits made by Talitania, which we occasionally sell, but their Kmo Turkish has long fringes too.



After giving the matter some thought, I told Daniel he might want to buy a regular high-end tallit, like the Chatanim Tallit, and then have a lining and sidebands added. (Some people have a cotton lining sewn onto the underside of the tallit and sidebands. This serves various functions, including adding weight to the tallit.) I explained to Daniel that the Chatanim is a bit heavier than a standard wool tallit.

I myself once added an atara from a Beit Yosef tallit to my own Shabbat tallit. I like it because it's wool instead of synthetic, but I noticed that one of the side benefits was that it adds weight on the back of the neck, which keeps the tallit in place. Of course a fancy atara does the same, if you want to add that.

Also, I told Daniel that if he likes the new type of nonslip fabric, I could procure a Chatanim with a nonslip fabric, sidebands and a lining. This is quite a rarity, and is only available in sizes 60 and 70.