Question:
Dear Rabbi,
I am quite to make a change in my attire in davening. I am unmarried and with an unfortunate limited sexual history from wrong mention by reform. The safe has been to yet to day use a prayer shawl and a gartel with my tefillin. I have had odd unusual unlikely chance to have a discretion where making the bracha over the tallis has been hard set out and with a word harder to utter. I surmise this is because I am yet married and Israel does not wish me yet a tallis to wear.
I am planning to remove the tallis and daven proper. Do I still have right to use a gartel? It seems it would help me with proper feeling from the placement of humane thought during prayer.
This would help.
Thanks.
Answer:
You may use a gartel. Using a tallis is differant that a gartel, because we wear tzitzis anyways, and the tallis is meant to be used specifically by prayers, and according to the prevelant Ashkanazi custom by married men. The gartel however is meant for all prayers as a way of preparing oneself to separate his mind from mundane things and mundane thoughts, and as a way of preparing ourselves to talk to H-shem.
Best Wishes
