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Early on in Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” Ben Gottlieb, a 40-ish widower played by Jason Schwartzman, walks into a bar in his tallit and skullcap with the intention of getting plastered.

KYIV, Ukraine — It was a striking image: a bearded rabbi with a flak jacket over his tallit, hitting the ground to take cover as shells boomed around him.

Grandma stares at the prayer shawl—Rabbi Gold told me it’s called a tallit—draped over the back of the swivel chair.

I wrap my tallit around my shoulders and put on my favorite kippah—the one with the logo of the Denver Broncos.

But some shoppers are fed up: “There’s a Santa on Wayfair wearing a tallit,” Ms. Herman said, referring to a Jewish prayer shawl.