Minhag Finds and Questions
1. Does anyone know which community has/had the custom to wear a tallit gadol before bar mtizvah? I think it's a custom of one or several of the Sephardi communities but I'm not sure. It came to mind as I saw a boy who was maybe 9 years old, tops, wearing a tallit gadol at shul this week. (I also saw a little girl with a tallit katan with her tzitzit hanging out running around. It's the first time I've seen that, and made me rather hopeful.)
2. Apparently it is a tradition in the Old City of Jerusalem to light Channukah candles during the day without a bracha (blessing) as well as at night (with a blessing, of course). No idea how that tradition came to be or why. But it's an interesting one.
3. No one knows of a reason a tallit katan would have to be perfectly rectangular, do they? I'm presuming they don't, as long as they are 2/3 open at the sides and have 4 corners. (I.e. it wouldn't be a problem for the shoulders to be narrower than the rest of the garment, would it?)
2. Apparently it is a tradition in the Old City of Jerusalem to light Channukah candles during the day without a bracha (blessing) as well as at night (with a blessing, of course). No idea how that tradition came to be or why. But it's an interesting one.
3. No one knows of a reason a tallit katan would have to be perfectly rectangular, do they? I'm presuming they don't, as long as they are 2/3 open at the sides and have 4 corners. (I.e. it wouldn't be a problem for the shoulders to be narrower than the rest of the garment, would it?)