Tallit Trending Hanukkah 2019 Gift Idea

Tallit – an interesting trend for Hanukkah 2019 for the Jewish man on the go? 

Giving the gift of the tallit for Hanukkah is a big yes. What is a tallit? A tallit is a prayer shawl with fringes on its four corners. The most traditional material is white wool with black stripes. Each corner fringe is made up of four strands doubled over to equal eight strands. The talit katan is a “tzizit” that goes under the wearer’s shirt while the talit gadol is the larger talit that we see men wearing during morning prayers. 

Men choose to wear a tallit on different occasions based on what other men in his community are doing, what his Rabbi suggests, and his personal preferences within his beliefs.

Nevermind religion, let’s talk fashion. Who said men who wear tallit aren’t into style? I loved how JewintheCity looked at this issue with her blog “Do Orthodox Men Wear Suits 24/7?” With all the talk of modest fashion for women, men’s relationship with fashion and accessories is often pushed to the side. But men like to look good too.

And the huge variation of talit for sale online tell the real story. This winter men and those buying gifts for the men in their lives are looking for a Jewish Hanukkah gift – and a tallit is just the warm and meaningful gift an observant man can use on a daily basis or whenever he prays.

Traditional with black stripes, blue, rainbow, Yemenite Netted, Beit Yosef, Chabad men are choosing variety. And there’s even a special tallit for the man who wants something special for his wedding day – a Gvanim tallit with tekhelet is just the thing. Make him feel special on his special day.

This year, three trends stand out as consumers purchase tallit for Hanukkah gifts:

1. Unique and different designs – Consumers are demanding new and exciting designs
2. Traditionally designed tallit – Consumers still purchasing traditional designs
3. Christian people to the marketplace

As the holiday season approaches, Jewish gift-givers looking to give a Jewish gift are looking at tallit. Unique prayer shawls are popping up in online stores selling just Judaica. So for all these men looking for something special to put on for morning prayers, the marketplace is only expanding. Colors, styles, vegan, made in Israel – men and those buying for them have more choices than ever.

At the same time, the traditional tallit design remains strong. Tallit wearers, while choosing colorful tallit while shopping online, still may prefer morning prayers in a more modest tallit. The most traditional tallit is one made from 100% wool with black stripes and online retailers continue to show this model as the “bestseller.” Many consumers prefer to purchase tallit made in Israel and online retailers continue to market kosher tallit.

And the wearing of Jewish prayer shawls by Christians continues to grow as a trend. Christians might not care about the kosher status of the prayer shawls, but they do like to buy tallit made in Israel. The Jewish people that regularly wear tallit are a mix of those who grew up with tallit wearing traditions and those that did not. Christians who grew up in Christianity were not used to any kind of tallit. The prayer shawls that Christians choose vary from traditional black & white wool to colorful or unique prayer shawls. The relationship between Christians and traditional Jewish Judaica or clothing (kippa, tallit) has been growing and thus far not much negative feedback from the Jewish community. This is unlike a situation where fashion designers made scarves like tallit for everyday use. In this case, the Christians use them for religious purposes or in a way similar to their original purpose.

Happy Hanukkah to everyone!