Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tallit: To be Covered by a Unique Spirit

Tallit (talit, tallis), the Jewish prayer shawl, is a significant part in the lives of all Jewish men, and some Jewish women as well. During prayer a tallit bestows a sense of spirituality and elation on the person praying. The Tallit is a classic Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah gift. The Tallit is traditionally woven of wool — especially amongst Ashkenazim. Some Spanish and Portuguese Jews, however, have the tradition to use silk talletot, and cotton or linen are also traditional choices. In our days, other materials are also used — including synthetic materials like rayon, polyester and acrylic. Talletot may be of any colour, but are typically white, and usually with black, blue or white stripes along the lateral sides (see Historical Origins above for stripe explanation). Sizes of talletot vary greatly. The silk and synthetic ones vary in size. The woolen tallit is proportionately larger (sometimes reaching to the ankle), conforming to the Halakha that the tallit should be large enough to be full-body apparel and not just scarf-like. A ribbon, or a band artistically woven with silver or gold threads (called "spania") may be sewn on the side of the tallit that is nearest to the head, and is called the atarah, or ‘crown’. From the four corners of the tallit hang fringes called tzitzit, in compliance with the laws in the Torah (Book of Numbers 15:38).

All our tallitot come in a choice of pure wool and p
olyester . The Atara can be printed or embroidered. Each tallit comes with matching bag and kippa.

Spring Time is here!


Today we "enjoy" the chamsien, the hot dry desert wind from the South East. It brings flocks of storks and other migrating birds on their way from Africa to northern countries.

Flowers are blooming and this is a wonderful season, allthough we could do with some more rain.

In Galilee Silks studio we create inspired by the elements, the delicate wildflowers and lush foliage of spring time in Galilee.