12/07/2016
Prayer shawls available for sale
What is a prayer shawl and the importance of it:
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’” (Matthew 9:20–21)
For those Jews who wish to stay as close to the performance of God’s commandments as possible, you might say that Judaism is a “fringe” religion, with four tassels (tzitzit) hanging from the fringes of our clothes.
In Biblical times, in obedience to Numbers 15:38–41, men would actually attach the tassels to the four-cornered tallit (cloak or gown) that was customarily worn.
Originally, the tallit may have appeared as an outer garment bearing the fringes commanded by God. It probably resembled the abayah, the blanket worn by Bedouin to protect them from the elements, which has black stripes at the ends.
It was finer, however, and similar also to the pallium (rectangular cloak worn by Greek and Roman men).
