To Talit? Revisited.
Last December, on the one year anniversary of our engagement to be precise, I wrote a post entitled “To Talit… or Not to Talit…That is the Question”. At that time I was examining my feelings around the subject of myself and talit wearing. This was not really a post about whether or not women should wear talit or not. As I reread that post, I realize I was truly at odds and feeling the waters if you will.
It’s now the end of July and my feelings are solid. At our shul, I am often asked to do aliyot on Saturdays. I’m guessing that part of the reason is that we get there more or less on time, I don’t usually say no unless I’m feeling under the weather, and well, perhaps being a familiar face has something to do with it.
Each time I’m called to the Torah for an aliyah, I grab one of the synagogue provided talit. I no longer wear the one my great grandmother gave me. It’s pink and gold afterall! Pink and gold just doesn’t suit me which is why I have been in the market to find a talit that suits me perfectly. Now, if you haven’t attempted to find “just the right talit” for yourself, you’re in for frustration, especially if you’re a woman. I’m sort of a traditionalist in that I don’t want or care for the talit that are advertised as “for women”. I don’t want a shawl style talit, or a sheer talit, or an organza talit. I don’t want a knitted or tye dyed talit. I really don’t want a blue or black striped talit. I don’t want a pink or lavendar talit either! Geez, does this have to be so difficult.
I have looked and looked and looked. Finally, while at shul, I saw a woman my age wearing the most lovely traditional yet unique talit. “That’s the one!” I thought to myself as I stared at her’s all service long. Luckily, the woman is on facebook and told me wear to order one. The site is called Mi-Silk and the artist is friends with the woman at my shul. 
The talit I’m hopefully getting next month is a larger, traditional, white with white stripes talit. It’’s unique because the talit is handpainted with silk applique. The artist will customize a talit or you can look at her
website and let her know which patterns or symbols you’d like on your’s. I love the idea that I get to say the general colors and symbols, but it will be unique. The artist is in Israel but her prices are reasonable. The shipping is what costs!
I thanked the woman who shared the artist with me and she quickly responded that she thought it was "good for me, good for the artist, and good for Israel". That works for me!
I am now (experiencing an earthquake in the middle of this post, is this a sign from G-d?)….
Ok, where was I? I am now feeling quite good about wearing a talit in shul. I’m actually looking forward to it. Do any of you (especially the women, but men too) share any of my same thoughts and ideas either in this post or in that post I did in December? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Good for you! I recently made a transition from my Bar Mitzvah talit to a new traditional, tent-size, white with black stripes one. Having the right talit can feel so good during services.
Wow! Is THAT ever a beautiful tallit. Titchadshi (not easily translatable, but along the lines of “wear it in good health”). Definitely worth a Shehechiyanu when you put it on for the first time.
Hi Tamera,
I have two tallisim. I don’t like the shawl types either, nor the one’s specifically designed for women, so both of mine are traditional. The one I wear for minyan is blue striped. I dress very casually for minyan so this tallis feels just right with blue jeans. On Shabbat I dress up and don’t feel at all comfortable wearing this blue striped tallis, so instead I wear my other tallis which is white with shiny white stripes and silver thread with my Hebrew name embroidered on it. It looks sort of like yours without the applique. I’d never seen anything like the one in your picture, BTW. Perhaps someday I will go with something like that for Shabbat. It looks quite beautiful and I can see why you enjoy wearing it.
I don’t really have much to say other than it’s been really great watching your Judaism unfold since that first exchange (some would call it a debate actually) we had on your old blog a few years back. In fact it’s nice watching our individual approaches to Judaism melt into one. But I digress.
Now what I’m still curious about (as maybe others are as well) is other than practical reasons like wanting to help out at shul, what (if anything) has changed. For example are there any spiritual reasons for your shift on this subject?
Just curious.
Yay for comments, and yay for my anti spam word: ikea…yes, I kid you not
Hi David, Yes, I agree and I’m looking forward to actually placing the order and even more to receiving it.
Shimshonit: Shechekeyanu is a terrific idea. Thanks! It’s such an easy prayer that I’ve known since childhood and I forget to say it in new or unique situations, thanks for the reminder!
Yael: Thanks so much. I’m not wearing it yet but I agree, it’s really beautiful. I like that it’s traditional but different at the same time. Kind of like me.
Avi: That is one of my favorite comments of your’s. I agree, watching each other grow and struggle and find where is best has been interesting. And our first exchange was most assuredly a debate; 20 comments back and forth and an hour long phone call = debate.
Now to try to address your questions: The main reason for getting a tallit is definitely not to help out at shul as I could use the shul talit for that. I think it’s more to do with my own newfound connections to davening, my connections to a community and adopting customs and ways of that community. I also feel it has to do with a shift in my thinking that I, personally, CAN feel comfortable with a talit. It won’t feel forced or out of place whereas in the past I had those feelings.