Boca Raton, FL – It lists the tallest living person, the heaviest tumor and the shortest river in the world, and as of just a few weeks ago, the Guinness Book of World Records also features an entry for the world’s largest tallis, a custom made wool tallis belonging to the Boca Raton Synagogue.
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Measuring 40 by 40 feet, the tallis is used exclusively for Kol Ha’naarim on Simchas Torah and was made to accommodate the many youngsters who daven in the shul.
“We have a little under 1,000 kids in our shul,” Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, rov of the Boca Raton Synagogue, told VIN News. “We have about 2000 people davening here on any given week at any one of seven minyanim.”
The idea for the massive tallis came about on Simchas Torah in 2012 when it became apparent that even five oversized talleisim, measuring at 126 inches by 160 inches each, were too small to accommodate the large number of children in shul.
Turning to a local Judaica store, the shul ordered the one of a kind tallis, which was made by Keter Judaica in Brooklyn out of 49 extra-large, 100 percent wool talleisim. Rabbi Goldberg declined to share the actual cost of the tallis but acknowledged that it was over $10,000. Sponsorships for each of the four corners of the tallis were offered at $2,500 each and sewn on black patches, which could be embroidered with the name of a loved one, were available at the cost of three dollars per letter. Currently the tallis features over 270 names with more still being added.
“The idea was to be able to have a child under the tallis look up and see his or her name,” said Matthew Hocherman, executive director of the Boca Raton Synagogue.
Rabbi Goldberg noted a particular halachic conundrum that arose in the use of the gigantic tallis, which is held up by an entire team of men.
“You can’t just hold the corners with a tallis this size or the middle will sag,” explained Rabbi Goldberg. “We have men who hold up the tallis with poles but there are halachic issues of creating an ohel which cannot be done on yom tov. We have it in my office on a few poles before Simchas Torah and add more as we open it up, so that we are expanding, not creating, an ohel.”
It was during this past Simchas Torah that Hocherman realized that the gargantuan tallis could potentially be a record breaker and the shul reached out to Guinness in an attempt to get the tallis certified as the world’s largest. The tallis was measured by Guinness representatives on February 12th and the Boca Raton Synagogue was notified on March 5th that the tallis did indeed set a world record.
Rabbi Goldberg noted that despite its enormous size, the tallis would likely have to be expanded in the future.
“Our wish is that im yirtzeh Hashem we should have the bracha of having even more children in our shul,” said Rabbi Goldberg.
Pretty cool, but is it a talis? It’s clearly not a beged (garment) that would or could even be worn by anyone.
Won’t be long before every chosson expects one of these along with a shelf Shas and the other standard “gifts”.
This is a fringed rug.
May their shul continue to grow to even more impressive numbers and make even this giant tallis insufficient to go over all the kids at Kol HaNe’arim!
Beautiful canopy, but it not a Tallis since its not feasible go wear and (Afaik) has no chiyuv tzitzis. My understanding is that chosson Torah / Bereshis & chosson kol haneorim stand under a canopy like a Chuppa – since they are a chosson. A Tallis is just an easy item to hand that can double as a Chuppa. To make a Tallis that big is just decorative.
Hmmm…. what about the SILVER attarah ???
Well, if Og became Jewish, he could wear it as a talis just fine. So, why is it not a beged?