Ha Tallit Sheli

For those of you non-Hebrew speakers, the title of this post means "My Tallis" -- or at least, I think it does. My Hebrew grammar is, as they say in German, nichts so gut. Thanks to my vocal training, I already speak little pieces of so many different languages -- namely Italian, German, and Spanish, which makes it very difficult for me to wrap my finger around Hebrew. Most of the time when I try to speak in Hebrew, my brain defaults to Italian. But then I think about how I spoke very little Italian before I went to spend a summer in Italy, and I came out with a functional use of the language. The only time it failed me was whenever it came time to argue (namely in bakeries and on trains, as Jodi and Amy may recall...)

Anyway, I digress. This morning I bought my very first tallis, or prayer shawl! 

Alright, alright, I lied. I actually bought an inexpensive tallis a few days ago from a Yemenite weaver. I wasn't totally in love with his selection, although my classmate and I really liked this one woven turquoise tallis. I liked the fact that it was non-traditional and not overly girly, but I was concerned that wearing such a bright color would make too much of a statement from the Bima. So I opted not to buy it, despite the fact that it was actually quite affordable. 

I spent the next few days perusing all the Judaica stores on Ben Yehuda, where I found many tallitot that were either way too girly, too generic, or too expensive.  I couldn't find anything that was just right. The Yemenite tallis stood out as my best option, especially since my classmate agreed, and, as I've learned from watching way too much Bravo, you should never ignore fashion advice from a gay man! :) Since I've been feeling pretty self-conscious as the only woman in the Conservative minyanim I've been attending who does not wear a tallis, I went back to the store and bought the turquoise tallis and bag that you see below. I even got to watch the weaver make the fringes himself, which was especially cool. 

But then I found out about a place called Yad L'kashish, or Lifeline for the Aged, which aims to keep senior citizens busy by teaching them how to make various handmade goods. I had actually heard of the organization before, but it turns out that they specialize in designing tallitot for women. My friend Rebecca and I took a walk over there this morning, and poured through their incredible selection of handmade tallitot, each one more beautiful than the next. She bought a pink tallis with hand-painted images of the four matriarchs, while I bought one that is fairly traditional in terms of style, but it also has a beautiful design of flowers and pomegranates. Take a look:

You can ignore the flowers on my bedspread, of course. One of these days I'll actually post pictures of my room, but I haven't had a chance to really decorate yet. I do have a king-size bed, which is awesome, but it unfortunately leaves little space for anything else in the room but a nightstand.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my new tallis and can't wait to wear it for the first time at Shabbat services tomorrow. The first time I ever wore a tallis was last Yom Kippur, and it was actually quite by accident: Temple Israel gets such a huge crowd for the High Holidays that they host an overflow service in the tent, which is where my family sits. It's lovely except for the fact that it got so cold at night during Kol Nidre, and I had forgotten to bring a little sweater. I improvised by putting on a tallis, and I was quite surprised that it actually felt different to daven with a tallis on. It served as a symbolic way of separating the secular and the sacred, which is something that I'm going to continuously have to explore as a future hazzanit. 

After visiting Yad L'kashish, Rebecca and I braved the hustle of the shuk that is Friday morning, as evidenced below:

   

I discovered today that Marzipan, the most popular bakery in the shuk, sells the cheapest iced coffee I've found in Jerusalem -- just 5 shekels. But you have to be careful with iced coffee here. If you order iced coffee, you'll end up with a frappucino. For real American iced coffee, you have to order "cold coffee," which is "cafe karr" in Hebrew. And they automatically add whole milk, so you have to be sure to request skim -- the proper way to say that is "im skim." See, I'm learning! :) 

Tonight I'm off to services with a congregation called Yakar, followed by dinner with some of the JTS Rabbinical students. 

Shabbat Shalom, everyone! :)