I was recently commissioned to re-create a tallit for an Army Chaplain. These are pictures that were sent to me of two original tallitot (part of the WWII collection at the National Jewish History Museum):
To my knowledge, no-one has been able to locate the original fabric that was used. It was an acetate-type fabric with a subtle grosgrain design. In 1945 DuPont bought the rights to manufacture polyester but it didn’t go into production until several years after the war. I selected something I thought would be roughly equivalent. The design for the tablet and star was done by my professional digitizer. Here’s what was created – the measurements are approximately 12″ wide at the bottom and tapering to 8″ at the neck x 84″ long plus the fringe, but they can certainly be modified:
This is the atarah that was done for the Air Force Chaplain (rather than the traditional bracha.)
But the traditional blessing can be embroidered as in this sample:
Military tallitot can be made for any branch of service: US Navy Officer, Navy Seal, Army, Air Force, etc.
Two new atarot: Psalm 107:23 for a Navy officer: “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 for a Navy seal: “Be strong and of good courage; fear not, nor be afraid of them.” Traditionally, an atarah does not have the vowels, but they were requested for this one!
Translation is embroidered on a label stitched to the inside of the neckband:
This is the latest one. A slightly different fabric with a textured pattern was used. The atarah blessing is Isaiah 2:3 and a familiar closing blessing sung at the end of the Torah service.