Prayer Shawl Accessories

The Tallit Clips ensure that the Tallit rests firmly on your shoulders, enabling you to concentrate on prayers without hitching it up constantly. Decorative and useful!

In Orthodox Jewish communities, when a boy turns thirteen he receives his first pair of phylacteries (tefillin). Tefillin are special black boxes, encasing parchment with excerpts from the Bible. These boxes are attached to special leather straps which are used to tie the tefillin onto one’s arms and head. Because the tefllin are very fragile and expensive many boys buy special boxes to protect them. One of the most popular type of boxes is a canteen-like case that has a mirror on top. This case is most popular in the Israel because it is highly protective for religious soldiers who want to take their tefillin with them while serving in the Israeli Defense Force. While many Orthodox boys do not get a tallit on their thirteenth birthday, this special case has clips attached on the outside for an optional add on for a tallit bag.

While the “canteen” option is very popular among young boys, or soldiers, the more classic tallit bag is a square bag with a zipper on top. Many individuals have a personalized tallit bag with their names embroidered into the front. Another common accessory is a hard plastic protective case for the tallit bag. This plastic case keeps the bag looking nice and new and also protects it from rain. Another very common accessory for a tallit are special tallit clips. These clips, often made of silver, are used to keep the shawl from falling off the bearer’s shoulders. These clips are especially useful because during prayer the individual wearing the tallit is also holding a prayer book, and therefore does not have a free hand to hold the prayer shawl in place. While these clips’ main purpose is functional they are often beautiful and decorative as well. While the bag and the clips are both functional accessories, some individuals choose non-functional accessories to adorn their tallit. The atara is usually a thick strip of embodied fabric or silver which is placed on to the neck area of the shawl. An atara can be very expensive and is often a given to a boy at his bar mitzvah or a man at his wedding.