A tallit (prayer shawl) is worn by adult Jews (bar/bat mitzvah age or older) at the morning services (Shachrit and Musaf) on Shabbat and holidays.  Wrapping oneself in a tallit is a way to physically immerse oneself in prayer.

A tallit is a four-cornered garment with tzitzit (fringes) on all corners. The tzitzit are four strings wrapped and knotted in such a way as to represent all 613 mitzvot (commandments).

Tallitot are traditionally made of wool, though silk is now a very common fabric in tallitot. According to the biblical concept of "shatnes," the prohibition against mixing material of distinct species, it is forbidden to wear a tallit (or any garment) which contains both linen and wool. Silk, on the other hand, is permitted to be mixed with any other fabric. White tallitot with blue stripes (the colors of the Israeli flag) are traditional, though tallitot with unique color combinations are becoming popular.

Ben-Or tallitot are made from silk noil with wool tzitzit and are decorated with an artful combination of cotton prints and sometimes lamé or gold and silver ribbons. A matching tallit bag can be ordered with each tallit. Tallit bags are also sold separately.

A note about language: The word "tallit" is the Sephardic form of the word for prayer shawl. Sephardic pronunciation is now the standard pronunciation of the Hebrew language in Israel. The plural of tallit is "tallitot." Ashkenazic pronunciation of a single prayer shawl is "talles." The plural form is "tallesim."

  Click on an image to see a more detailed view.

This is an example of how your memorable fabric leftovers can be made into a Judaic treasure.  This white silk tallit and kippah feature peach fabric from wedding dress scraps.  It is set off by a peach lamé and two different floral prints. [Tallit2]	A rose/purple/blue batik, a silver-highlighted paisley print, and a periwinkle fabric with a crinkly look are quilted into a double magen david on this tallit bag. Strips of the same fabrics plus a silver lamé are placed on the bag's edges. On the owner's request, we put a  pocket inside the bag to hold hair pins and tallit clips. [TBag1]	This is the reverse side of the double quilted magen david tallit bag. [TBag1]
A close up of the wedding dress tallit, kippah, and bag. [TBag2]	This white silk noil tallit and matching kippah feature royal blue and slate blue batik as well as a fine leaf print in dark, royal and light blue with silver-highlights. [Tallit1]	A close up of the blue batik and leaf print tallit and kippah. [Tallit1]