Originally a cloak to protect from the cold, the prayer shawl or tallit has become one of the key symbols of Jewish worship. Numbers 15:38 instructed the sons of Israel to “make…tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and they shall put on the tassel of each a corner a cord of blue”.
If you have witnessed Jewish men in worship you will notice, especially in Israel, that the tallit is draped over the head, thereby enveloping the worshiper with the sense of God’s presence and God’s commandments. In fact, on most tallit there is an inscribed prayer recounting the importance of God’s commands. Further, the tassels are tied and wrapped in such a way that in Jewish numerology they total to the number 613, the number of commands given by God in the covenant.
