Resource: Tallit Making
Media Type:
QuickTime Video
Length: 3m 11s
Size: 9.5 MB
This video from Religious & Ethics NewsWeekly shows a class of boys and girls preparing for their bar and bat mitzvahs (Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies) by making their own tallits. The tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl composed of a rectangular piece of cloth with fringes along its four corners representing God’s 613 commandments. The tradition of wearing the tallit dates back to the time of the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, when Jews were given the commandment to wear these fringes, known as tzitzit, on their garments.
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Loading reviews...Teachers' Domain, Tallit Making, published July 2, 2009, retrieved on ,
http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/awr09.socst.world.glob.tallit/
- Background Essay
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Print Background EssayThe tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, has no particular religious significance, but the tzitzit, or fringes, on each of its four corners is symbolic. The tradition of wearing tzitzit is rooted in the Torah: "And you shall see [the fringes at the corner of the garment] and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and observe them" (Numbers15:39). Like a piece of string wrapped around your finger, tzitzit serve to remind Jews of God's commandments.
Tzitzit are tied in an intricate pattern with religious and numerological significance. One interpretation is that each pattern set corresponds to one of the four Hebrew letters in God's name. Another explanation draws upon Jewish numerology to conjecture that the pattern means "God is one." The interpretation described in the video revolves around the number 613. That is the numerological value of the word tzitzit, plus the total of the strands and knots of the fringes. It is also the number of commandments in the Torah.
Jews ordinarily begin wearing a tallit at their bar or bat mitzvah, usually at the age of 13. While the students in the video are making their own by hand, it is more common for Jews to purchase their tallit. In Orthodox congregations, only married men wear tallits. But in the more modern Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, both men and women may wear a tallit (although men are more likely than women to do so.) Typically, Jews wear a tallit for morning prayer, but not for afternoon or evening prayer. This is based on an interpretation of the Torah that the tzitzit must be seen by the light of day.
Strictly observant Orthodox Jewish men wear a special four-cornered garment under their clothing which lets them fulfill the commandment of wearing tzitzit all day long. Though sometimes referred to as a "small tallit" or "four corners," most Orthodox Jews simply refer to this garment as tzitzit. It is placed over the head like a small poncho and worn under a shirt. Since the Torah specifies that the fringes be seen, some Orthodox Jews let the fringes hang out of their shirts.
We assign reference terms to each statement within a standards document and to each media resource, and correlations are based upon matches of these terms for a given grade band. If a particular standards document of interest to you is not displayed yet, it most likely has not yet been processed by ASN or by Teachers' Domain. We will be adding social studies and arts correlations over the coming year, and also will be increasing the specificity of alignment.Source: Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly: "Tallit Making"
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