Talitnia Traditional Tallit 100% Wool

On Amazon I came across a product headed "Talitnia Traditional Tallit 100% Wool." The price was good, but it's not such a great find for several reasons:

• If you have the patience to wait a week or two for shipping from Israel, it's advertised on Ben's Tallit Shop for about the same price.
• If you order it there, the product page includes an option for a matching bag for just $12.50.
• Ben's Tallit Shop offers various other tzitzit options, such as hand-spun, thick and techelet (blue). 
• If you don't want just black striping, you can find the exact same Talitania Traditional Wool Tallit with black-silver striping or black-gold striping.

Go to Talitnia Traditional Wool Tallit>>

Note that the black-striped version has an atara (neckband) with a subtle diamond and leaf pattern, whereas the black-silver and black-gold have the Tzitzit Blessing embroidered on the atara.

Sephardic Tzitzit: Should I tie 10-5-6-5 or 7-8-11-13?

Almost always, Sephardim will tie the tzitzit on their tallit gadol with 7-8-9-11 windings (sometimes known as "Tal"). On a tallit katan, about half tie 7-8-11-13 and half 10-5-6-5. Here's a question from a tallit buyer in Los Angeles.

I have one last question (maybe). I'm an Iranian Jew and I was wondering how do we tie tzitzit, on tallit katan and gadol. I'm pretty sure that on a tallit katan we tie 10-5-6-5 with the spine/ridge/etc..

I have been talking with a few of the people I know recently and they sparked a new thought in my mind. Before this I was almost sure that both tallit katan and gadol were tied using 10-5-6-5 with the ridge. Then one of the guys who I was talking with said I should do 7-8-11-13 with the ridge. I felt kind of ashamed because I had 10-5-6-5 with the ridge on my tallit. Afterwards I realized that the two people I was talking with were from not from were my parents/grand-parents. 

So pretty much my question is do Iranian Jews tie 10-5-6-5 with the ridge on both tallit katan an gadol?

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with different Sephardic customs. The most common custom is 10-5-6-5 on a tallit katan and 7-8-11-13 on a tallit gadol. Some do 7-8-11-13 on their tallit katan as well. Doing 10-5-6-5 on a tallit gadol is quite rare, but not unheard of. I have heard that this is the custom among Persian Jews, but I have never seen it in writing.

And even if there isn't, if you ask me, it's not such a terrible crime. The main halachot  pertaining to tzitzit are where the hole is placed, how long the tzitzit are, etc. Tying customs are much less critical.

Sephardic Tallit >>

Selecting tefillin parchments: A guide for online tefillin buyers

When buying a set of tefillin online, you may see several different levels of parchments to choose from. What's the difference between the various quality levels of tefillin parchments? Here's a question we received today from France on that topic.

Dear Sirs,
what are the differences among the parchments you can choose to order tefilins on your website?
Best regards,
Yossef

As we explained to Yossef, there are hundreds of complicated halachic issues related to writing parchments for tefillin, mezuzahs or a Sefer Torah (a field known as STaM). To be considered kosher, the writing must meet certain standards. For example, letters must not touch or be written out of order (i.e. you cannot go back and add a forgotten letter).

To become a sofer (one who writes the parchments) you must invest at least a year or two in study and training. But among those who become a qualified sofer, the caliber of their writing may vary considerably. Some write very quickly to provide mezuzahs or tefillin that are very affordable, while meeting the minimum requirements. Others write very slowly and carefully, so that their writing is beautiful (not unlike calligraphy).

And even among those who try to create beautiful writing, there are different levels of talent. Of course experience helps improve the level of writing, but in addition, it depends to some extent on one's G-d given talent. One sofer with five years experience may be able to write a more beautiful mezuzah than another sofer with 15 years experience.

Thus a sofer's work is graded by expert STaM buyers who know how to set the right value for their work.

The Torah tells us, Zeh Keli v'anveihu, which Chazal explain means we should strive to fulfill mitzvahs in a aesthetically beautiful way. When you do the mitzvah of tzitzit, tie the tzitzit on a beautiful tallit or tallit katan. And when you do the mitzvah of mezuzah, write a beautiful parchment and use a beautiful mezuzah case. And when you do the mitzvah of tefillin, make the finishing work on the boxes beautiful and the writing on the parchments inside beautiful, etc.

As you can imagine, the quality of the writing of tefillin parchments has a significant impact on the final price of a given set of tefillin.

Length of Tzitzit Strings

The standard lengths for tzitzit strings, whether regular handspun tzitzit or niputz lishmah, is as follows:

• thin - 50 cm
• medium - 55 cm
• thick - 60 cm

That means when tied, from the first knot down to the tips will typically come out to 50 cm, etc.

Recently Mishkan Hatchelet started making a lot of different lengths. Normally various lengths are available for niputz lishmah tzitzit, as well, namely

• thin - 50 cm, 70 cm
• thick - 60 cm, 70 cm, 80 cm

All of the above can be found here.

Nowadays it seems many people are under the impression that longer strings are more kosher, but that's not the case! In fact, according to the Rishonim, your tzitzit should be one-third tied, two-thirds loose. With most all-white tzitzit tying customs (e.g. Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Chabad) as well as most techelet tzitzit tying customs (with the notable exception of HaRav Schachter's approach) that means the total length of the tzitzit is relatively short.

A note on heavyweight and lightweight tallit fabrics

People often ask about how thin or thick a tallit is, to make sure it's suitable for their local climate. Yesterday we received the following inquiry from a woman who wanted to buy a tallit for her husband.

​I would like to order the Prima A.A. black-striped tallit as a gift for my husband's birthday. Could you explain the different thicknesses for us to make a choice? He seems to feel that the thin would be too lightweight. We live in the US, in a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC.
Gayle W.​

Usually we get the opposite request, e.g., "I live in Florida. It's hot and steamy here. I need a lightweight tallit." So I point him to the Tashbetz, Bareket or Kalil.

But when it's cold, the truth is that a heavy tallit is not going to keep you warmer than a standard weight tallit. However, some people just like to feel the weight of the tallit on their shoulders. I'm one of them, so my Shabbos tallit is a bit thick and heavy. It takes up more space when folded, but I can live with that.

In Gayle's case, I recommended she go with one of the following options:

• Prima A.A. with a lining and maybe sidebands.
• Kmo Turkish, which comes with lining and sidebands standard. The tallit fabric is a bit heavier that the Prima A.A.
• Hamefoar Prestige, which is the same as the Kmo Turkish, but with a slightly textured fabric that helps the tallit stay in place on the shoulders and has a nice, supple feel.

The Echt Turkish is super heavy tallit, but it's definitely not for everyone. The fabric is fairly stiff and the fringes (not the tzitzit, the fringes) are interlaced.

You might also want to refer to this tallit weight comparison table.

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Thinking of buying a shofar?

Sport Strings vs. Sport Tzitzit

If you're a big Tamir Goodman fan and you need tzitzit that perform well on the court, on the playing field, while running or cycling, then you'll probably want to order Sport Strings.

But if you don't need the name Tamir Goodman on the Sport Strings label, you might want to consider Sport Tzitzit. Even after you pay the $5-$10 for shipping from Israel, you'll be saving a whole lot of money. Also, Sport Tzitzit come with a number of different tzitzit options.

The fabric has been used extensively by IDF soldiers. Thousands of the same tzitzit, in army green instead of white, have been supplied to the IDF, and received rave reviews for their wicking properties and durability under tough field conditions.

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 is also very common. In fact, according to some opinions, originally the tallit had blue stripes, which later morphed to black.

A blue-striped tallit with silver pinstripes is definitely very popular, although some people prefer gold pinstripes and others want blue striping with nothing else.

The standard blue-striped tallit often comes with a simple white atara (neckband), whereas blue-gold and blue-silver tallits, which are considered slightly more modern, come with the Tzitzit Blessing on the atara.

Go to Black-Striped Tallits>>

Go to White-Striped Tallits>>

Go to Blue-Striped Tallits>>