sarah in nyc

Adam and his wife, Barbara came by this afternoon to tie the tzitzit for his tallit. I don’t know if you can see in the photo, but Adam is a pretty short guy.  Barbara is perfectly proportioned to Adam. The two of them are crazy in love. It was just so sweet to see the two of them together. Best of all, aside from their sweet relationship, they loved the tallit. Adam insisted that he would have trouble tying the tzitzit.  He did fine. Each of them tied two of the corners. As they worked, we told stories and laughed.         I used prayer books to weigh down the tallit to make it easier to tie the tzitzit.   I loved working with Adam. I hope that he continues to enjoy his tallit for many, many years.

While it’s always lovely to make a tallit with a bar-mitzvah child, making a tallit with an adult often reflects the adult’s more complicated life. This was certainly true with Adam and his tallit. Adam is a really straightforward kind of a man. It’s always nice to work with such a client. Adam was very clear about a few things. First of all,he is an atheist. He wanted me to be very clear about that. Despite being an atheist, he goes to morning services daily. He began going out of a sense of love and obligation to his mother who had died, and then out of a sense of obligation to his community who had supported him during his year of mourning. Adam is also severely color blind. In case you haven’t noticed, I am a color girl. I love color. When Adam met with me he brought the grey shantung shawl that his wife wore at their wedding. We both felt strongly that being wrapped up in this symbol of their love was perfect. Next we had to choose colors for the tallit. When Adam met with...