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06/18/2008
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Kosher Kilt

A tartan of one’s own: Rabbi Mendel Jacobs wears a tallit with a pattern sanctioned by the Scottish Tartan Authority.

by Randi Sherman

Rabbi Mendel Jacobs, the only Scottish-born rabbi currently living in Scotland, wanted to display with pride his Scottish-Jewish identity, much like other Scotsmen do, with tartan. The leader of Glasgow’s Shul in the Park, a Lubavitch congregation, Rabbi Jacobs felt the estimated 7,000 Scottish Jews deserved a tartan of their own, and set out to make that a reality.

“I travel around visiting Jews in the Highlands, in Northern Scotland,” Rabbi Jacobs said, and many have been asking for it.

The history of tartan, what we in America call plaid, dates back more than 3,000 years to the Celts who inhabited Britain and France before the Roman Empire. Adorning kilts and other time-honored Scottish accoutrements, the tartan reflected at first the district the wearer inhabited

By the time King Charles III banned tartan and traditional Highland clothes in 1747, Jews had been a fixture in cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow for more than 50 years, the first group having arrived from Poland in 1691. The ban was lifted in 1787, but the Jews of Scotland remained in the country without their own claim to the Scottish tradition — until now.

Rabbi Jacobs contacted the Scottish Tartans Authority, an organization that has archived more than 3,500 known tartans, and enlisted its help in creating  a tartan especially for the country’s Jews, in time to honor Israel at 60.

After consulting with the authority about significant numbers and colors, eight possible designs were narrowed down to the final tartan pattern. The main colors are blue and white, for both the Israeli and Scottish flags. Stripes of gold represent the Ark of the Covenant, while silver stripes reflect decorations for the Torah scroll and deep red stripes recall kiddush wine. The striping sequence runs in threes and sevens, three for the three fathers of Judaism and the three rabbis of a bet din, and seven for the idea of wholeness, Rabbi Jacobs said.

Interest in the Jewish tartan has been tremendous, said Rabbi Jacobs. “Not just expats, but people in Peru, South Africa, Australia,” and even Jews without Scottish heritage. He sells Jewish tartan garb at — where else — jewishtartan.com, everything from yarmulkes and custom-made kilts to curtains, mugs and mouse pads.

And to answer any halachic inquiries, yes, the kilts are kosher; they don’t violate the prohibition of men wearing clothing made for women, and unlike traditional tartans which are made of a linen-wool blend, this one is all wool to avoid violating the law of shatnez.

“It’s a great opportunity to express Judaism through Scottish heritage,” he said, and a great way to help support Scotland’s Jewish community. A portion of the proceeds goes to Chabad and other Jewish social service organizations.

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