Tichel Party for Malika: November 26

A few days after our move-to-Wendy's date, I had an event to attend! I was to go to a Tichel Party for Malika after Shabbat On November 26. For those who do not know, "tichel" is a Yiddish term that described a head-scarf, specifically one worn to cover the hair of married Jewish women. Malika, a friend from Seattle, lives in Jerusalem. You may recall a previous blog post we did about her engagement party. Anyway, now I was invited to her Tichel Party, which was basically a bridal shower where we shower her in tichels. I had two for her: a teal long scarf-type, and a striped blues large square. They actually look nice together if she wants to use them both at the same time (here in Jerusalem, the married women really take it upon themselves to wear their headscarves as fashionable as possible - sometimes layering scarf upon scarf to acheive a turban wrap look).

The party was held at her friend's apartment, very near Wendy's. I looked up the directions and walked there myself as this was a women-only event. There were many foods and treats laid out during the party that were snacked on by the other women friends. We all sat in a circle during the gift-giving. Malika would pick up a package from the middle and open it to reveal the colorful and lovely scarves held inside. Whoever gave the scarf in question would then go to Malika and try her hand at tying it around her hair in an appealing manner. During these parties, it is customary (and helpful) for the married women in attendance to teach the kallah (bride) how to tie her tichel so that she can learn a variety of techniques and be ready when the time comes to wear one every day after the wedding. These scarves can be tricky to tie and keep on the head after tying, so having an experienced teacher is really important. Unfortunately (and with great humor), there was not a single married woman at the party. All of us unmarried girls had very little or no experience tying tichels so it was quite a laugh-fest watching our attempts. I do want to add that some were very good attempts. I was the first up to tie a scarf on Malika's blonde hair. It's a good thing that I have watched a few Youtube videos of how Orthodox women tie their scarves (What? You didn't know that Youtube even has videos of Jewish women tying their scarves? Youtube has it all!). I tied the square one very well in a simple design.

After many laughs and watching Malika unveil all the colorful pieces of fabric, I decided it was time to go and I left the party (now nearing 11:00pm) to Rafi back at the apartment.