08/26/2026
I’m sharing this because it’s the most concise statement I can find that mitzvot done with stolen items are invalid. You can’t perform a mitzvah done through an aveirah.
“The Torah refuses to assign holiness to objects that have come into our hands through forbidden means.” This applies to the Jewish businesses that re-sell counterfeit designer tichels obtained through illegal distribution channels. I have not successfully been able to locate the wholesale sources of counterfeit designer tichels, and I’m pretty good at using Google. They are manufactured cheaply, somewhere.
I was discussing the issue of counterfeit designer logos on tichels with my husband toning at dinner. It’s a topic that I’m deeply passionate about, and I will die on this hill defending the Jewish women who own tichel businesses and do the right thing by selling their own tichel prints and Israeli-made designer brands.
I understand that the mitzvah of hair covering for married Orthodox Jewish women, can be extremely challenging, and probably especially for very young women. I was not born or raised frum, so I knew absolutely nothing about hair covering going into my first Jewish marriage in my 20’s. And I probably would have been unwilling to do it if it came up, because I had beautiful long and thick curly hair, and why would I want to cover it? Hair covering isn’t part of Reconstructionist or Conservative Judaism (the Rabbi for my first marriage was the same Rabbi who married my parents, and is Conservative), and it never came up (along with most other Torah laws that don’t come up in Jewish marriage outside of the Orthodox world).
I understand that women are looking for every possible hiddur mitzvah to help with challenging Torah laws, especially tznius laws where hair covering is a part of that. From expensive and kosher human hair sheitels, to infinite tichel designs, plus other Chassidic hair covering items that I’m less familiar with, there is a lot to learn and buy in the world of hair covering. Counterfeit designer tichels are not an appropriate or legal product in the range of hair coverings for fulfilling the mitzvah of tzniot. Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermes, etc. all have email addresses to report counterfeit products, and these design houses do investigate copyright infringement reports. Just because some women are selling counterfeit tichels, doesn’t make it right; it’s illegal, and they know this.
Think about it. Would you want someone to steal your logo that you took time and intellectual and financial resources to design and develop? I’m not a fan of luxury designer prices, but the design houses can get away with those prices for a reason. Counterfeiting will not end in my lifetime, but let’s not ruin our mitzvot with aveirah.
And yes, I own some counterfeit designer tichels. I bought them when I legitimately didn’t know they were a problem. I learned about the problems through research, and consulting with a lawyer friend who knows this area of law. I stopped wearing them as soon as I learned that they are illegal. My husband and I plan to burn them when we burn chametz before Pesach next year (his idea, while discussing how to properly dispose of them).
From the blog of Kenneth Brander at The Times of Israel
