Erev Yom Kippur is the only time when congregants traditionally don tallitot in the evening. This year I was davenning with a new community--- someplace where I didn't know a lot of people. I noticed a young woman sitting behind me who was wearing a lovely tallit --- one that I recognized as being from Israel. The recent bat mitzvah commented to me about my tallit which she thought was beautiful. We exchanged compliments. My neighbor's mother chimed in. "Is that a Nancy Katz tallis?" she asked. "Yes, it is," I said, "and I'm Nancy Katz."

For over a dozen years now I have been making painted silk tallitot which I can honestly say are worn by women and men, young and old, around the globe. They are worn in St. Petersburg and Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and from Vancouver to Miami. I hear reports of citings of, and bondings over, "Nancy Katz tallises" on a regular basis. It is both an honor and a thrill.

"To be enfolded by a tallit is regarded as being enveloped by Holiness"
--- I don't remember where I first read that, or who is credited with saying it, but I know that it is true.

"It is a blessing to pray in a work of art."
--- Rabbi Beth Davidson of Port Washington, New York wrote that to me after she received a tallit I'd made for her. I have it posted on my bulletin board in case I forget!

The world has evolved since the time when I first began making tallitot in 1991. Synagogue classes now teach about tallitot and tzizzit tying as part of their curricula men and women are in active exploration and dialogue about the role of the tallit in their lives--- the lives of their parents and the lives of their children. There are now numerous choices for one in search of a personal tallit. I believe that it is indeed "good for the Jews" that this is the case.

Over the past few years my own work has shifted from making tallitot for others to encouraging those others to make their own tallitot. People of all ages--- sometimes alone, sometimes partnered with a friend and/or classmate, sometimes with Mom or Dad serving as "consultant," sometimes as a surprise gift for a fiance or a to mark a special birthday or as part of a "field trip" to Northern California--- people come to my Berkeley studio to make their own tallit under my guidance. The variety of people I have met and tallitot we have made is vast.

I invite you to join me in this process.

Let's talk tachlis--- the logistics...