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Tallit Making
Blessing before wearing Tallit: ... l'hitatef b'tzitzit, to wrap ourselves in fringes as we are protected with Eagle's wings, or wrapped in the arms of the Shechina, the Indwelling Presence of G*d.
Ma Yikar Chastecha, Hashem. How precious is Your faithful care, oh G*d. Giving us shelter in the shadow of your wings.
"G*d spoke to Moshe, saying: 'Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make tassels on the corners of their garments forever. Let them attach a cord of blue to the tassel in each corner. That shall be called Tzitzit. Look at it, and recal all G*d's commandments and perform them, so that you will not lustfully follow your heart and eyes and go astray."
My very first tallit I made from a sarong garment I had purchased in beautiful Bali, Indonesia.
Ma Yikar Chastecha, Hashem. How precious is Your faithful care, oh G*d. Giving us shelter in the shadow of your wings.
"G*d spoke to Moshe, saying: 'Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make tassels on the corners of their garments forever. Let them attach a cord of blue to the tassel in each corner. That shall be called Tzitzit. Look at it, and recal all G*d's commandments and perform them, so that you will not lustfully follow your heart and eyes and go astray."
My very first tallit I made from a sarong garment I had purchased in beautiful Bali, Indonesia.
I transformed sarong into a tallit when I carefully added and knotted threads into blue tsitsit. I had decided that if one blue tehelet thread was good, then all the tsitsit could be blue. I was careful in finding a tehelet blue, and voila-- my first tallit over a couple decades ago.
Reb Shlomo Carlebach, z"l, had told me in 1994 when he named me during Parshat Pekudei, that I should have blue in my tsitsit. A few years ago to my Bali tallit, I added radiant golden paint to Tree of Life Sephirot template design, with the help of template sacred space artist Sally Pond at Ruach HaAretz, Oregon. (I added Sephirot also to an additional hand-painted silk tallit that I purchased from an artist at Elat Chayyim in 1994.) It feels good to wear in prayer my Bali Tallit, and all of them.
Joy Krauthammer and Bali Tallit
with golden Tree of Life Sephirot.
Bali Tallit with Sephirot, Tree of Life
detail
by Joy Krauthammer ©
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Two Talleism
Worn by Joy and Aviva Krauthammer
created by Joy Krauthammer © and Ruth Zitch
Joy's woven ribbon Tallit
created by Joy Krauthammer © and Ruth Zitch
Joy painted 4 corners that hold Tzitzit
Tallit detail
created by Joy Krauthammer © and Ruth Zitch
I designed these 2 woven wool tallits for myself and my daughter, to be filled, woven with ribbons.
Small tallit was a Bat Mitzvah gift to Aviva.
The color of the ribbons are based on the colors of the Tree of Life Sephirot, based on the teachings of the Days of Creation from Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. I took artistic liberty in the width and texture of the ribbons and how I designed their positions.
Dear elderly friend, Ruth Zitch, z'l, with her thick short fingers, deleted many rows of teeny thin fine wool weft yarns in order to weave colored ribbons of various textures into the weft. We added subtle knotted embroidery between rows of ribbons.
Rabbi Stan Levy has a large ribboned tallit which is filled with friends' blesSings, created by members of congregation, B'nai Horin. Rabbi Stan's tallit was designed based on my tallit, and my ribboned timbrel which is filled with friends' blesSings.
With the help of B'nai Horin friends, on the last of the 4th tsitsit, at the House of the Book, that tallit was finished in time for Rosh Hashana, a couple decades ago. I love this ribboned tallit which is filled with love.
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Joy Krauthammer and Hand-Painted Silk Tallit
based on 12 lanes of Yahm Suf at Exodus
when Miriyahm HaNeviah danced with the women and their timbrels.
I happily painted the silk at a LimmudLA tallit workshop.
by Joy Krauthammer ©
Hand-Painted Silk Tallit
12 lanes of Yahm Suf at Exodus
by Joy Krauthammer ©
Hand-Painted Silk Tallit
in creation process with Joy
12 lanes of Yahm Suf at Exodus
by Joy Krauthammer ©
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Shimmering Purple Tallit
A Gabrieli tallit from Israel
I chose pretty purple wide ribbons to embellish my new tallit that I purchased for my 60th birthday,
my Simchat Chochmah.
I hired someone to sew on the iridescent ribbons; ribbon over ribbon, on the tallit and on the atara,
and also bead "Joy" name on the tallit bag.
At first I decided to cut away the black fringe because I don't wear black; I don't like black.
I then decided to keep the black fringe because LIGHT infuses the darkness.
Clearly what I did to my new purple tallit.
My ribbons hid woven threads of red and green which I needed to veil; colors I didn't want so closely together.
I enjoy wearing my purple tallit.
by Joy Krauthammer ©
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See more ART in the other posts, before and after.
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I found your sarong tallit intriguing, and this remark interesting: "I had decided that if one blue tehelet thread was good, then all the tsitsit could be blue."
ReplyDeleteI think it's important to note that although all blue is kosher, it's not lechatchila (i.e. the ideal in general). The Mishnah states explicitly (Menachos 38a), "Hatcheles aina me'akeves es halavan v'halavan aino me'akev es hatcheles..." Here the Mishnah is revealing that if you don't have any techelet strings, you can still do the mitzvah with just white, and if you don't have any white strings, you can still do the mitzvah with just techelet.
Although my understanding of the inyan behind the mitzvah is very shaky, I think the general idea is that we need to see the Divine (blue) within the mundane (white).
Shalom Ben,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your sharing a Comment, and your tallit website.
In response to your last "see the Divine" thought:
I think this refers to Divine connection and being able to see the Divine spark in all, including ourselves and everyone.
Regarding our actions and mitzvot, My LA Rabbi Stan Levy tells us the above and that Moshiach could be the stranger sitting next to us.
Chabad shares words from The Rebbe in today's Daily Dose:
"Every person you meet has a wellspring deep inside.
If you can’t find it, your own wellspring needs clearing.
Remove the rust from your shovel, sharpen its blade, and dig harder and deeper."
May my tzitzit, whether blue or white, remind me of my joyous connection to the Holy One.
BlesSings on your holy work,
Joy
"The Divine One is The Source of Joy. To be joyous is to be connected with the Source.
One who is connected to the Source IS joyous!" - Reb Sholom Brodt
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post on hand woven tallits.
ReplyDeleteIsrael is the one of the places in the world for buying hand woven tallit at affordable prices.
These are made by Israeli craft artists.
David Gabrieli