Prayer Shawl

Black Stripe Wool Tallis with Sterling Silver Atarah

2010-11-18T22:07:00.000-08:00

Black Stripe Wool Tallis with Sterling Silver Atarah

Tallism, Kittels, Silver Atarah, Gatels, Blacks Hats and Jewish Ritual Wear

2010-09-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

Tallism, Kittels, Silver Atarah, Gatels, Blacks Hats and Jewish Ritual Wear

Prayer Shawl / Tallit

2009-09-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

The is a prayer shawl "cloak" that is worn during the morning Jewish services (the Shacharit prayers) in Judaism, during the Torah service, and on Yom Kippur. It has special twined and knotted "fringes" known as tzitzit attached to its four corners. The tallit is sometimes also referred to as the arba kanfot, meaning the ‘four wings’ (in the connotation of four corners).

While some other Jewish garments or objects might be treated more casually, the tallit is a special personal effect, generally used for many years or a lifetime and never discarded. Most Jewish men own very few tallitot in their lifetimes. A threadbare tallit is treated with great respect, as if it had a mantle of holiness, acquired from years of use. Although there is no mandatory tradition, a tallit is likely to be given as a special gift, from father to son, from father-in-law to son-in-law, from teacher to student. It may also be purchased to mark a special occasion, such as a wedding, a b'nai mitzvah, or a trip to Israel. When a man dies, it is traditional that he be buried dressed only in his kittel, with his tallit is draped over him.

Since wearing a tallit at certain times is considered an obligation for men, a synagogue will usually have a rack available with extras, for visitors and guests, or for those who forgot to bring their own with them. The extras that a synagogue has available to lend are usually plain and simple, but sufficient to fulfill the obligation. Although non-Jewish male visitors are expected to wear a kippah (headcovering) when visiting a synagogue, it would be frowned upon for a non-Jew to put on a tallit, unless he is studying or preparing for conversion to Judaism.According to Rabbinic Judaism, men are required to wear it at various points of their lives as Jews, and most sages regarded the tzitzis as compulsory. In Reform Judaism, the use of a tallit was declining during much of the 20th century, but in recent years, it has returned to favor. Various authorities have differed as to whether women are permitted to wear a tallit. In Orthodox Judaism, many authorities discourage women from wearing a tallit while some Modern Orthodox authorities permit it. In other branches of Judaism it is more commonly practiced.
tallit (Modern Hebrew: טַלִּית)tallet(h) (Sephardi Hebrew: טַלֵּית), Yiddish also called talles

Historical origin

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There is much confusion among the masses as to the origins of the tallit. The actual four-cornered garment began with no relevance whatsoever to Jewish practice, but gradually became linked to the wearing of Tzitzit. The Torah explicitly commands that Tzitzit be added to the four corners of garments (Maimonides considered it one of the most important of the 613 Mitzvot); traditionally the wearing of Tzitzit began with this commandment, though biblical scholars consider it to be much older, and argue that the commandment reflected an already existing practice.

In early Judaism, Tzitzit were used for the corners of ordinary everyday clothing; most Jewish people at the time wore clothing which consisted of a sheet-like item wrapped around the body, comparable to the abayah (blanket) worn by the Bedouins for protection from sun and rain, and to the stola/toga of ancient Greece and Rome. As recorded in the Talmud, these were sometimes worn partly doubled, and sometimes with the ends thrown over the shoulders.

After the 13th century AD, Tzitzit began to be worn on new inner garments, known as Arba Kanfos, rather than the outer garments. This inner garment was a 3ft by 1ft rectangle, with a hole in the centre for the head to pass through; the modern Tallit evolved from this mediaeval item. By modern times, the four-cornered sheet-like cloth fell out of fashion, and became regarded as impractical compared with alternatives; since most modern western clothing does not have four clear corners, the rule essentially became obsolete in daily life.

However, traditional Jews began to voluntarily wear a small tallit in ordinary life, in order to explicitely fulfill the commandment to wear Tzitzit; some Jewish commentators argue that it is a transgression to miss a commandment that one is able to fulfill. Tallit are also often worn during prayer for this reason, and this is practiced by a wider group of Jews. Tallit is often used as a Chupa in Jewish wedding ceremonies.

Kinds of tallit

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There are two kinds of tallit — tallit gadol and tallit katan.

Tallit gadol

The tallit gadol (traditionally known as tallét gedolah amongst Sephardim), or "large" tallit, is worn over ones clothing resting on the shoulders. This is the prayer shawl that is worn during the morning services in synagogue and by the leader of the prayers during some other services.

Tallit katan

The tallit katan (traditionally known as tallét ketannah amongst Sephardim), or "small" tallit, is worn for the duration of the day by Orthodox Jewish men. While it should not be worn directly on the skin, it is often worn beneath one's shirt (yet above an undershirt) so as to conform to societal dress codes. However, chasidim tend to wear them on top of their shirts. They do, however, wear a suit vest over their tallit katan.

The tallit katan is also known as arba kanfot (Yid. arba kanfos) or tzitzit (Yid. tzitzis).

Description of Tallit gadol

The Tallit gadol, which can be spread out like a sheet, is traditionally usually woven of wool — especially amongst Ashkenazim. Some Spanish and Portuguese Jews, however, have the tradition to use silk talletot, and cotton or linen are also traditional choices. In our days, other materials are also used — including synthetic materials like rayon, polyester and acrylic. Talletot may be of any colour, but are typically white, and usually with black, blue or white stripes along the lateral sides (see Historical Origins above for stripe explanation).

Sizes of talletot vary greatly. The silk and synthetic ones vary in size, for men, from about 36 × 54 inches (91 × 137 cm) to 72 × 96 inches (183 × 244 cm). The woolen tallit is proportionately larger (sometimes reaching to the ankle), conforming to the Halakha that the tallit should be large enough to be full-body apparel and not just scarf-like. A ribbon, or a band artistically woven with silver or gold threads (called "spania"), and about 24 inches (61 cm) long by 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) wide, may be sewn on the side of the tallit that is nearest to the head, and is called the atarah, or ‘crown’.

From the four corners of the tallit hang fringes called tzitzit, in compliance with the laws in the Torah (Book of Numbers 15:38).

Order of putting on tallit and tefillin

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In the Talmudic and post-Talmudic periods the tefillin were worn by rabbis and scholars all day, and a special tallit was worn at prayer; hence they put on the tefillin before the tallit, as appears in the order given in "Seder Rabbi Amram Gaon" (p. 2a) and in the Zohar. In modern practice, however, the opposite order is considered more "correct". Based on the Talmudic principle of tadir v'she'ayno tadir, tadir qodem, (תדיר ושאינו תדיר, תדיר קודם: lit., frequent and infrequent, frequent first), when one performs more than one mitzva at a time, those that are performed more frequently should be performed first. While the tallit is worn daily, tefillin are not worn on the Sabbath and holidays.

The Kabbalists considered the tallit as a special garment for the service of God, intended, in connection with the tefillin, to inspire awe and reverence for God at prayer (Zohar, Exodus Toledot, p. 141a). The tallit is worn by all male worshipers at the morning prayer on week-days, Shabbat, and holy days; by the hazzan (cantor) at every prayer while before the ark; and by the reader of Torah, as well as by all other functionaries during the Torah service.

Weddings

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In many Sephardic communities, the groom traditionally wears a tallit under the chuppah (wedding canopy). In Ashkenazi communities, a more widespread custom is that the groom wears a kittel, although some Ashkenazim have in recent years started to wear a tallit according to the mentioned Sephardic custom.

A tallit is sometimes spread out as a canopy at the wedding ceremony. This may be done either instead of or in addition to the regular

Burial

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After death, Jews are buried with varying customs, depending on where they are to be buried. In the Diaspora, burial takes place within a plain, wooden casket. The corpse is collected from the place of death (home, hospital, etc.) by the chevra kadisha (burial committee). After a ritual washing of the body , the body is dressed in a kittel (shroud) and then a tallit. One of the tzitzit is then cut off. In the Land of Israel, burial is without a casket, and the kittel and tallith are the only coverings for the corpse.