Tallit

//By Libby McKown and Masha Podokshik//
 * //The Tallit//**


 * Physical Description**

The Tallit is a very important symbol in Judaism. What a Tallit is, it is basically a shawl that is worn by followers of Judaism during Shabbat, during morning, afternoon and evening prayers and inside the Synagogue. It is very carefully crafted. It can be made out of any material except for wool, as commanded in the Torah. A Tallit can also be given as a gift amongst men in a family. A Tallit can also be worn by women. Most young boys and girls receive a Tallit as a gift for their Bat/ Bar Mitzvah. The Tallit usually has 613 “tzitzit” or fringes. The reason there are 613 of them is there are 613 commandments making up the code of law. This is a way to remind believers to follow their religion, believe in their god and follow the commandments.




 * Importance To Faith**

The importance on faith in the Jewish religion on the Tallit is large. The Tallit is an important part in a thirteen-year-old's rite of passage at their Bar/Bat Mitzvah; it is given to the person along with a set of tefillin, or black boxes containing strips of paper with the Torah written on it. The Tallit is so important to the Jewish religion and culture, that they used traditional Tallit colors, blue and white, to decorate the Israeli flag. It is blue and white because they represent the sea and the sky, respectively. The fringes on it remind the wearer to keep the laws of his or her faith. This is also a symbol of stature. On the Eve of the Sabbath, a Tallit is worn only by leader of the congregation. More traditional Jews wear a small Tallit underneath their every-day clothes. The Tallit may also be worn by both men and women, signifying the equality of the faith. It is believed that by wearing the Tallit, one’s prayers will be enhanced. The Tallit is an important part in Judaism.




 * How We Found Our Sources**

When we were searching for our sources, we had to use broad searches like: Jewish symbols, or Tallit, to find information about our picture. At first, we started researching Tallit using the MICDS databases. Next, we tried typing in symbols of "Judaism" and "Prayer shawl" we had to dig through a decent amount of information but in the end we found very useful and trustworthy information on our topic. We used Wikipedia first to find key words.



1. Oxford Art Online. Oxford. November 5, 2009. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T044729pg6?q=jewish+tallit&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit. 2. Unknown. "Judaism." Toucan Valley Religions of the World Nov. 1 2004: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 November 2009. 3. Vince Beiser. "For the Love of Jesus." Jerusalem Report Jan. 26 1995: 26-31. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 November 2009. 4. "Judaism." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 8 Nov. 2009 http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0225620-00. 5. "The Tallit." Temple Emanu-El. November 8, 2009. http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/faq/tallit.htm 6. "Tallit." Wikipedia. November 8, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallit.
 * Bibliography**

=**T****allit**= Presley Culp and Beth Ignatova

Even though the only purposed of the tallit is to hold the tzitzit, each part has a meaning. The piece near collar of the tallit is called the Atarah. It hold a special prayer that is said every time the tallit is placed on oneself. The long fringes on the four corners are called the tzitzit. They are placed on the four corners of the tallit to remind people to follow God's commandments and that God is everywhere. Additional decoration can be added to the tallit. For example some have smaller fringes on bottom or there are dyed patterns on the garment.
 * Description:**

The tallit serves one purpose fro Jews: to hold the tzitzit. Jews believe that God gave them orders of how they were to wear and make the tallit: //"The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Lord and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God. I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Lord your God." [Numbers 15:37-41]// Tzitzit are the fringes at each of the four ends of the tallit. Tzitzit are meant to remind Jews of God's commandments and that they need to follow them. There are three different types of tallitot. There is one that drapes around the shoulders and falls to the elbow, one that drapes around the shoulders and falls to the calves or thighs, and a tallit katan. In Hebrew, "katan" means "small." This is a tallit that fits very snug to the body. It fits life a sleeveless shirt without sides, and has Tzitzit hanging from the four corners. This is worn by Orthodox male Jews. They were the Tallit katan all the time, so their God's commandments are always with them. The tzitzit are important to Jews. Even the way the strings are knotted and tied to make the tzitzit has a meaning. There is even a prayer to say before a person puts on a tallit. The blue fringe that their God commanded them to wear is not as used today. Sometimes, the tallit will have one tzitzit with one blue string in it, to fulfill their God's orders. Today, women also wear tallitot, which once would have been unheard of. Tallit helps people of the Jewish faith remember what their God said when God gave them the 613 commandments.
 * Purpose:**

==
 * Pictures:**

Rabbi Scheinerman's Home Page: Encyclopedia Americana:
 * Notes from our websites:**
 * Purpose of tallit is to hold tzitzit
 * Most tallit have neckband which has prayer (Atarah) for tzitzit
 * Not used in evening prayer
 * God said people need to see tzitzit; can't see in dark
 * Tzitzit
 * Four strings put in each four holes
 * 3 short, one long(Shamash, other strings wind around that one)
 * Make double knot with each half
 * Wrap Shamash around other strings 7 times
 * Repeat, wrapping the Shamash around the other strings after each knot in this order: 8,11,13
 * Prayer to put on tzitzit
 * 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
 * Kiss first word of Atarah, then the last
 * Put on tallit
 * The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Lord and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God. I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Lord your God. [Numbers 15:37-41]
 * Tallit
 * Worn by males
 * In some reform temples women do too
 * Worn on high holy days and morning services
 * four fringes on each corner of shawl remind Jews to hold tight to God's law
 * Called tzitzit
 * Many have one blue thread in each of the fringes

All from the Rabbi Louis Jacob's page: Tallit
 * A four cornered garment worn during some prayers
 * Tallit gadol means large tallit
 * Tallit katan means small tallit
 * Tsit tsit are the fringes on the tallit
 * They are only on the 4 corners of the garment


 * Worn for morning services and any additional services
 * Exception is for the day of atonement (worn for all additional services)
 * Tishah Be-Av

PARTS OF THE TALLIT
 * The very top around the neck is called the atarah and is sometimes sewn with silver thread
 * Tsit tsit the fringes on the corners of the garment
 * they serve as a reminder of God's law

It was harder then we expected to find information on the tallit. The websites were simple, just by typing in "tallit" into Google got us the information we needed. As for the database, we just looked in the wrong places. After looking through all the history databases and coming up empty-handed, it occurred to us that we should try the general resource databases. After a couple of tries, we finally got enough in formation tucked in a very long page to suffice.
 * How we found our sites:**

1. Jacobs, Rabbi Louis. "My Jewish Learning: Tallit (The Prayer Shawl)." My Jewish Learning - Exploring Judaism & Jewish Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. . 2. "Tallit." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. . 3. Unknown. Tallit. N.d. Lech Lecha Tallit, website. Israel Craft. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. "tallit: Information from Answers.com." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A combined with free online dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedias. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2009. . 4."Judaism." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 9 Nov. 2009 <[]>. 5. "Tallit Talk." Rabbi Scheinerman's Home Page. 10 November 2009. <[|http://scheinerman.net/judaism/tallit/>.] 6. "Tallit." Online Image. Fabrichai. 10 November 2009. [| .] 7. "Talit katan." Online Image. Sukkatdavid. 10 November 2009. [|. 8. "Blue tallit." Online Image. Woven Gems. 10 November 2009. < []>. 9. "Tzitzit." Online Image. Wikipedia. 10 November 2009. < []>.
 * Bibliography:**