World’s First Official Jewish/Scottish Tartan
Scottish Jews (and all of the rest of us Scotland fans) got a first look at the newest tartan to be officially registered with the Scotland tartan Authority:
In case you missed it: The world’s first official “Jewish tartan” is really a thing. Yes, it’s kosher and yes, you can buy it online in many forms, including as a prayer shawl, a skull cap and — of course — a kilt.
Created by Mendel Jacobs and officially registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority, the tartan boasts a distinctive pattern of blue, white, red and gold.
“I chose blue and white as the colors of both the Israeli and Scottish flags,” Jacobs, who is said to be Scotland’s only local-born rabbi, told the Scotsman. “The central gold line represents the gold from the Ark in the Biblical Tabernacle and the many ceremonial vessels. The silver is to represent the silver that adorns the Scroll of the Law and the color red is for the traditional red Kiddush wine.”
According to the International Business Times, the tartan is creating buzz on social media this week. It’s made from a kosher cloth that abides by shatnez, the Jewish law that forbids the mixture of wool and linen in clothing.
“For over 300 years, Scots Jews have waited for their own tartan and now here it is,” Jacobs said, according to IBT. “The Jewish people have been an integral part of Scottish culture for more than 300 years, with the first Jew recorded in Edinburgh in 1691. In Scotland, the Jews were never persecuted and there were no pogroms, no Holocaust, no national or state sponsored anti-Semitic laws. When England was burning and exiling its Jews in the Middle Ages, Scotland provided a safe haven from English and European anti-Semitism.”
Catalogue and price list here:
jewishtartan.com
The pattern is gorgeous, and it seems to be very popular on twitter and social media. Of course, I am totally going to have to buy the mug, and look at the gift possibilities for the worsted scarf etc.
Never too early to start thinking about Chanukkah gifts!