Note: This is another installment in the "Titchadesh!" series. For more background on its name, read the previous post here.
My New Tallit
My friend tells a joke about guitar players. "How many guitars does a guitarist need? Just one...more." I've found that when it comes to clergy, the joke is easily adapted: "How many tallitot does a rabbi/cantor need? Just one...more."
Sarah and I discovered a tallit shop in the Old City that makes beautiful, hand-woven tallitot. When Sarah bought a tallit from there, it was so beautiful that I knew it would just be a matter of time before I got one from there as well. Sure enough, every time one of Sarah's family members visited, they each got a tallit from this shop. The problem for me, though, was that I already had a big, white tallit, similar to their trademark design (for those wondering, it's a white and blue Gabrielli that I purchased when I came on Birthright in 2005).
All of my other tallitot have a white base, and they're beautiful, but I also wanted something that was not as white...maybe something with a darker base color, or...something else. Since I loved the feel and the quality of their pieces so much, it was worth asking if they had something that maybe didn't have such a white base. We went over, asked if it was possible, and he said that he didn't have anything in stock, but he'd create something just for me. Awesome!
I got a call about a month later. "Hi, Mendel (my Hebrew name I had given him to embroider on the tallit bag)?" "I'm sorry?" "Mendel?" "I'm sorry, who is this?" "This is Yosef from the tallit shop." "Oh hi!" "Sorry, I didn't know your other name...I only know you as, 'Mendel'!" "No problem. What's up?" "Well, your tallit will be ready tomorrow. I made one, but I didn't like it, so I made another, and you can choose which one you like better."
Yosef's an artist. And an incredibly brilliant one at that.
Yesterday, Sarah and I went to the shop and picked up my tallit. It's beautiful, full of color, a little greener (which is one color I didn't have), and when I fold it up on my shoulder, it does not look like a normal, white tallit. Exactly what I wanted. And as for the other tallit he made, he liked it so much, he's keeping it for himself.
My New Tallit
My friend tells a joke about guitar players. "How many guitars does a guitarist need? Just one...more." I've found that when it comes to clergy, the joke is easily adapted: "How many tallitot does a rabbi/cantor need? Just one...more."
Sarah and I discovered a tallit shop in the Old City that makes beautiful, hand-woven tallitot. When Sarah bought a tallit from there, it was so beautiful that I knew it would just be a matter of time before I got one from there as well. Sure enough, every time one of Sarah's family members visited, they each got a tallit from this shop. The problem for me, though, was that I already had a big, white tallit, similar to their trademark design (for those wondering, it's a white and blue Gabrielli that I purchased when I came on Birthright in 2005).
All of my other tallitot have a white base, and they're beautiful, but I also wanted something that was not as white...maybe something with a darker base color, or...something else. Since I loved the feel and the quality of their pieces so much, it was worth asking if they had something that maybe didn't have such a white base. We went over, asked if it was possible, and he said that he didn't have anything in stock, but he'd create something just for me. Awesome!
I got a call about a month later. "Hi, Mendel (my Hebrew name I had given him to embroider on the tallit bag)?" "I'm sorry?" "Mendel?" "I'm sorry, who is this?" "This is Yosef from the tallit shop." "Oh hi!" "Sorry, I didn't know your other name...I only know you as, 'Mendel'!" "No problem. What's up?" "Well, your tallit will be ready tomorrow. I made one, but I didn't like it, so I made another, and you can choose which one you like better."
Yosef's an artist. And an incredibly brilliant one at that.
Yesterday, Sarah and I went to the shop and picked up my tallit. It's beautiful, full of color, a little greener (which is one color I didn't have), and when I fold it up on my shoulder, it does not look like a normal, white tallit. Exactly what I wanted. And as for the other tallit he made, he liked it so much, he's keeping it for himself.
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| Me with my new tallit. |
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| Back of tallit. |
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| Colors of tallit. |
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| Yosef and me. He's wearing the one he kept! |
For those interested in more of his work, here's his website: http://www.weavingcreation.com/.
Also, like him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weaving-Creation-Tallit-Center-Judaica-art-gallery/102274933182980
Beautiful work of art! Wear it in the best of health.xo
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ReplyDeleteOri does lovely work. I've had one of his Tallit for about one year now. My only word of advice is to be very careful on how you handle it while davening. Because the weaving is loose (compared to commercial or machine looms) the threads can tend to snag and pull, especially of you are constantly standing up and sitting down.
ReplyDeleteWeavers where I live say the work is first class and it's not a fault of the maker, it's simply the nature.
I now wear mine for special occasions and use my older Tallit for daily prayers.