Plastic Tallit and Tefillin Bag Covers
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| Material: | |
|---|---|
| Plastic | |
| Style/Look: | |
| Protective Cover for pouches | |
| Description: | |
| a protection against the elements for tallit and tefilin pouches. |
Plastic protective bag covers are a popular solution for tallit and tefillin pouches, protecting them against the elements and enabling them to be carried separately or together as required.
Contents |
Plastic Protective Covers
Today religious Jewish men carry their tallit and tefilin with them wherever they go instead of just leaving them in the synagogue as was often the custom when Jews lived in small shtetls in Poland and Russia. With this increased mobility tallit and tefilin bags are no longer simple home-made affairs, but with Jewish society’s increased wealth can sometimes be quite valuable in their own right. They are often made of luxurious or delicate fabric like silk which can be easily damaged or torn. It is therefore important to have a plastic cover to protect these valuable tefilin and tallit bags not only from wear and tear but also the weather. Even strong pouches made of leather can still get sun or rain damage and a specially designed plastic bag cover makes it easy to protect both the pouches and of course the tallit and tefilin within.
Advantages
Having a plastic cover for both the tallit and the tefilin bags not only protects the pouches from weather and other damage, but enables both to be easily carried together, in one bag. Plastic covers come in several sizes so it is possible to get covers to fit both the tallit and the tefilin bags, enabling the tefilin bag to go inside the tallit bag. Using a see-through plastic cover also means it is easy to see the tefilin and remove them prior to days when tefilin are not worn like the Sabbath. Identification information like name, address and phone number can also be put on or inside the cover, without marking the tefilin or tallit pouch itself.
Disadvantages
The main disadvantage of using plastic protective covers is that they tend to wear out after a few years and need to be replaced. The plastic may degrade in sunlight especially if the bag is left on the back shelf of a parked car. The corners also tend to fall apart, which is when most people chose to replace the plastic covers. Plastic covers are also not very elegant or smart and nowadays many people prefer to use tote bags instead. These tote bags come with shoulder straps making them much easier to carry than plastic covers which are usually just carried under the arm.
Popular Solution
Nevertheless plastic protective covers are still a popular solution to the problem of wear, tear, and weather damage to tefilin and tallit pouch bags. They can be bought at the same time as the tallit and tefillin bags themselves and are inexpensive to replace.