Blessings and When and Where for a Tallit

Details - Old and New Traditions for the Tallit

When praying or reading Torah, the custom is to wear a prayer shawl with tzitzit (fringes). There are different customs as to when this is done.

It is the tiny details and reasons that make so many of our traditions unique and interesting.

Here are just a few:

Most will not wear a tallit before the age of bar or bat mitzvah.  It is part of the ritual when one first reads Torah to start wearing a tallit when praying and reading Torah. 

Tallit-Tzitzit Tying Ceremony: We make our own tallit, by first selecting a favorite fabric. We have the Atara embroidered or specially decorated. The night before the mitzva event, we have a gathering where all the close friends and relatives help tie the Tzitzit on the four corners.

We do not bless a Tallit at night when we "cannot see the fringes". This is especially interesting for the Kol Nidre service where you do wear a tallit traditionally. However, note that the Tallit is put on prior to sundown and the Kol Nidre prayer is the first in the service prior to the official sundown begining of observance of Yom Kippur.

Noting this we asked: How can you use a Tallit at a night wedding if you cannot say the blessing for the wearing of a Tallit after sundown?

Answer: At a wedding you can use the Tallit but not say the blessing. In fact often the tallit is a new one for the occasion and the prayer would be the Sheheyanu to bless the wearing of a new garment.

You will bless the tallit once in the day and put it on.  If there is a need to take it off (to go to the restroom perhaps) you can take it off but you do not need to bless again when you return and put it on again.

We say this prayer when putting on a Tallit

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha'olam asher kid'shanu b'mitvotav v'tzivanu l'hitatef batzitzit.

A tallit should be made of natural fiber materials.  A new tradition is to make a tallit from fabric that is meaningful.  Here is an example of my tallit that was made from the silk of my wedding dress and trimmed with lace that belonged to my grandmother.