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The tallit (also pronounced tallis) is a prayer shawl, the most authentic Jewish garment. It is a rectangular-shaped piece of linen, cotton, wool, or silk (and sometimes, now, polyester and other synthetics) with special fringes called Tzitzit on each of the four corners. The purpose of the garment is to hold the Tzitzit.
Most tallitot (alternative plural: talleisim) have a neckband, called an Atarah, which is optional and most often has a blessing one recites when donning the tallit, embroidered across it. There is also a garment called a tallit Katan that resembles a Mexican poncho that is actually a tallit with a hole to pull over the head and wear as a garment.
Why should we wear a Tallit? "And Yahweh spoke to Moshe, saying, Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and you shall say to them to make tzitziyot on the four corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners. And it shall be to you for a tzitzit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the commands of Yahweh and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring, so that you remember, and shall do all My commands, and be set-apart unto your Elohim “I am Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim. I am Yahweh your Elohim.” Numbers 15:37-41
The purpose of the tallit, then, is to hold the Tzitzit, and the purpose of the Tzitzit (according to the Torah) is to remind us of God's commandments. The tallit is worn for prayer, as well as on Shabbat (Sabbath - Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) and other biblical holy days. Who wears a Tallit? Anyone who wishes to observe (obey) the commands of Yahweh should wear a Tallit with tzitzits.
What benefits come with observing the commands of God (Yahweh) in the Torah (first 5 Books of the Bible)? Yahweh commanded us to do all these laws, to fear Yahweh our Elohim, for our good always, to keep us alive, as it is today. ‘And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before Yahweh our Elohim, as He has commanded us.’ Deut. 6:24-25.
Other benefits: “And it shall be, if you diligently obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that YHWH your Elohim shall set you high above all nations of the earth. “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim: “Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field. “Blessed is the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock – the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. “Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl. “Blessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out. “YHWH causes your enemies who rise against you to be smitten before your face – they come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. “YHWH commands the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and shall bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim is giving you. “YHWH does establish you as a set-apart people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you guard the commands of YHWH your Elohim and walk in His ways. “All peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of YHWH is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of you. “YHWH shall make you to have plenty of what is good, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land of which YHWH swore to your fathers to give you. “YHWH opens to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you do not borrow. “YHWH shall make you the head and not the tail. And you shall be only on top, and not be beneath, if you obey the commands of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you today, to guard and do. Deut 28:1-13 How are the Tzitzit tied? There is no commanded requirement of how to tie a tassel in the scriptures. However certain sects of Orthodox Jews tie their tzitzits in a particular way to Identify themselves as a sect or group of people from a certain area of the globe or certain belief in traditions. Tying Tzitzit is a Jewish art, a form of macramé. A hole is carefully made and reinforced in each corner of the tallit. Through each hole strands of cords including a blue cord are inserted. The wrapping or main cord is called the shammash and this is the one which is used for winding around the others in a wrapping styled Tzitzit. Some Tzitzit styles have numerical values that represent certain words or meanings. A sephardic Tzitzit has the numerical value of YAHWEH 10-5-6-5 Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey :This is a traditional tying pattern. Others include the Ashkenazi style and also the Karaite braded pattern. What does the 7-8-11-13 windings of the Ashkenazi tying pattern mean? There are a number of wonderful interpretations for this pattern of windings. One interpretation is that each set of windings corresponds to one of the four letters in God's name. Another interpretation employs Gematria, Jewish numerology, which assigns to each Hebrew letter a numeric value: aleph is 1, bet is 2, gimmel is 3, and so on. In this second interpretation of the windings of the Tzitzit, the numbers 7-8-11-13 have special meaning: 7+8=15, which in Hebrew is written yod-hay, the first two letters of God's name (the Tetragrammaton); 11=vav+hay, the third and fourth letters of God's name. Hence the first three windings "spell" God's holy name. Thirteen, the last set of windings, is equivalent in value to the word "echad" which means "one." Hence, all four windings can be interpreted to say, "God is one." Yet another interpretation holds that when we consider the windings between the knots, 7, 8, 11, and 13, the first three numbers equal 26, which is numerically equivalent to the Tetragrammaton and the remaining number, 13, is equivalent to "echad" ("one). Hence the windings tell us that God is One. If we take the sum of the first three numbers (7+8+11) and equate that with God's Name, then the 13 which remain can also be interpreted to reflect the 13 attributes of God, as articulated by Moses Maimonides and set to verse in the Yigdal. By still another interpretation, the Gematria value of the word "Tzitzit" (tzadi-yod-tzitzit-yod-taf) is 600. To this we add the eight strands plus the five knots, totaling 613 in all. According to tradition, God gave us 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. Just looking at the tallit with its Tzitzit, therefore, reminds us of the commandments, as the Torah says, "You should see them and remember all God's commandments and do them." Customary way to put on a Tallit
1. Open tallit and hold in both hands so you can see atarah (the collar band on which the blessing is often embroidered.
2. Recite the berachah (Transliteration: BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM A-SHER KI-D'SHA-NU B'MITZ-VO-TAV V-TZI-VA-NU L'HI-TA-TAYF BA-TZI-TZIT.)
1. Kiss the end of atarah where the last word of the blessing is embroidered, and then and beginning where the first word is.
2. Wrap the tallit around your shoulders, holding it over your head for a moment of private meditation.
3. Adjust the tallit on your shoulders comfortably.
Customs of wearing a tallit 1. If you borrow the tallit for the service, say the berakhah (blessing) before putting it on.
2. If you use it just for an aliyah, no need to say the berakhah.
3. Don't take it into the bathroom. Many synagogues provide hooks outside the door.
4. If you take the tallit off for a short time (eg. to go to the bathroom) you don't need to repeat the berakhah when putting it on again. Kissing the tzitzit
There are several times during the service when people kiss the tzitzit symbolically. First is during the recitation of the third paragraph of the Shema (Numbers 15:37-41) which mentions the tzitzit three times. As the worshiper reads the word "tzitzit," it is customary to kiss the tzitzit, which were gathered together in one hand prior to reciting the Shema. When the Torah is removed from the Ark and carried around the synagogue in a Hakafah (procession), those within reach touch the Torah mantle with tzitzit (if they are wearing a tallit) or a siddur (prayerbook) if they are not. They then kiss the tzitzit or siddur which touched the Torah scroll. This is an expression of love and affection for the great gift which Torah is to our people.
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