Teachings

JEWISH PRAYER SHAWL AND CUSTOMS

Jewish Prayer Shawl and Bible Manners and Customs

(THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSLATION OF THE WRITING ON THE PRAYER SHAWL)
 SOME TIME AGO, WE HAD OUR PRAYER SHAWL ON DISPLAY IN THE HEALING ROOM 'WAR AND INTERCESSION  ROOM'.  A LADY, WHO NEEDED PRAYER, SAW IT AND SHE ASKED IF SHE COULD TAKE IT TO A DEVOUT JEWISH MAN WHO WROTE AND SPOKE HEBREW. THIS IS WHAT SHE BROUGHT US, "THE FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSLATION THAT DR. M------ GAVE ME FOR THE PRAYER SHAWL:--"

IN EACH CORNER IT SAYS---'SHALOM JERUSALEM' WHICH MEANS 'ASK FOR (PRAY FOR)  PEACE IN JERUSALEM'.  ALONG THE TOP IT SAYS, "(HEBREW READS RIGHT TO LEFT) "BLESS YOU GOD,  KING OF THE UNIVERSE, WHO MAKES US HOLY WITH HIS COMMANDMENTS.  HE COMMANDS US TO WEAR THE PRAYER SHAWL".  THE TRANSLATER ALSO SAID THAT,   'THE PRAYER SHAWL IS A VERY HOLY GARMENT AND NEEDS TO BE HANDLED WITH REVERENCE. IT IS NEVER TO BE THROWN AWAY,  IT IS TO BE USED IN A SPECIAL PLACE THAT IS USED FOR PRAYER.'  HE WAS VERY CAREFUL TO WASH HIS HANDS BEFORE HE HANDLED IT,  AND HE SAT DOWN AT HIS DESK BEFORE HE OPENED IT TO READ THE WRITING.   WE HAVE MANY SIGNIFICANT TESTIMONIES TO GIVE REGARDING THE PRAYER SHAWL.  (see links on home page)                       PR. MICHAEL DEVITA, MD,  DIR. HEALING ROOMS OF MAINE.

Anyone attending an orthodox synagogue today will see that the men are all wearing prayer shawls. The wearing of the "talit" (pronounced tal-eet), also called the "talis" or "prayer shawl," was commanded by God in Deuteronomy 11:12 Num. 15:37-40;

Deut 11:12    It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

HERE, IN THIS CHAPTER, GOD WARNS THE NATION OF ISRAEL TO OBEY ALL HIS COMMANDS AND KEEP THEM ALWAYS BEFORE THEM SO THEY WON’T FORGE

Deut 11:18-21

18      Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them

19      Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

20      Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,  21  so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth

Num 1 5:37-41

37        The LORD said to Mose

38        "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel 

39  You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your of your own hearts and eyes.

40        Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.

41        I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD your God.'"

In biblical times the Jewish men wore the prayer shawl all the time -- not just at prayer. If it should be thought that this practice was obscure and short-lived, it will be enlightening to look at other Scriptures that clearly have a bearing on this subject.

Prayer Closet

Matt 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room      ( CLOSET [KJV] ;    INNER ROOM [NAS])  close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Even today the Jewish people say that the Talis (Prayer Shawl) is a religious symbol, a garment, shroud, canopy, cloak which envelopsthe Jew both physically and spiritually, in prayer and celebration, in joy and sorrow. It is used at all major Jewish occasions: circumcisions, barmitsvahs, weddings and burials. It protects the scrolls of the Torah when they are moved. It inspired the Jewish flag. Three separate people had the same idea. They just unfurled the prayer shawl and added the Shield of David and created the flag of Israel. The dead are wrapped in it when they are buried. The bride and bridegroom are covered with the canopy of the prayer shawl. Some wrap them in it, while others have the whole wedding party stand under it.

TALITH contains two Hebrew words; TAL meaning tent and ITH meaning little. Thus, you have LITTLE TENT. Each man had his own little tent. Six million Jews could not fit into the tent of meeting that was set up in the Old Testament. Therefore, what was given to them was their own private sanctuary where they could meet with God. Each man had one! His Prayer Shawl or Talith. They would pull it up over their head, forming a tent, where they would begin to chant and sing their Hebrew songs, and call upon God. It was intimate, private, and set apart from anyone else -- enabling them to totally focus upon God. This was their prayer closet!

Ruth And Boaz

Jewish weddings are sometimes performed under a prayer shawl held up during the ceremony by four poles called a chupa or huppah. In Mid East culture they cast a garment over one being claimed for marriage. The corners with the fringe are also called the "wings" of the talit. In Numbers 15:38  (SEE VERSE ABOVE) the word translated border or corner is a Hebrew word which can also be translated wings as it is some seventy-six times in the biblical text. For this reason, the corners of the prayer shawl are often called wings. In Ezekiel 16:8, the Lord speaks to Jerusalem and likewise says, "and I spread my wing over thee, and covered thy nakedness,"

Ezek 16:4-8          On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth 5          No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. 6          "'Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" 7          I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.8          "'Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment  (MY WING; [KJV] ; MY SKIRT, [NAS] ) over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

And in Psalm 91 we are able to "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" and "under His wi

PSALM  91: 1-4.  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.2          I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."3          Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.4          He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

In Ruth 3:9, Ruth found herself at the feet of Boaz, and as he awakened, he was moved with her vulnerability.

Ruth 3:8-9          In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.9          "Who are you?" he asked. "I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."(NIV)

Women were not to do things of this nature in those days, but in complete honesty and openness she said to him, "spread thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman" Ruth was saying, "Take me under your WING." Cover me, is a term of intimacy. Boaz was an honorable man and did the honorable thing. They were married, and she became his bride. Here she was, a Moabite woman from a foreign country, grafted into the nation of Israel. She had the right to be covered by her Jewish spouse's Talis. This is a symbolic expression of marriage.
It is interesting to note that a similar custom still prevails at an orthodox Jewish wedding, when the bridegroom covers his bride with his tallit, his prayer shawl, with its tassels at each corner, signifying that he is taking her into his care. The skirt of Boaz would doubtless be edged with the fringe and tassels that indicated his status. This request by Ruth was for his protection and his care as symbolized by his personal fringe - his status symbol.

A Status Symbol

The hem of a Jew's garment was not, as in modern clothes, a simple fold of the cloth, sewn down to prevent the edge from fraying. It was a decorative feature that made a statement about the status and importance of the wearer. The people of other nearby nations also had this custom. In texts found in Mesopotamia, references indicate that the removal of the fringe of a man's garment was the equivalent of removing part of his personality. To cut off the hem of a wife's garment was regarded as divorcing her. Tablets have been found with the impression of a fringe as the mark of the individual, a personal seal or signature.

In New Testament times, ordinary people only wore a tallit on special occasions, if at all. It was the Pharisees who seem to have worn it regularly and, apparently in some cases, often for show. Jesus expresses no disapproval of the custom itself but he does condemn the extra long fringes that they affected to display their piety [Matthew 23:5].

Matt 23:5

5          "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;

Thus the hem or fringe of a garment indicated the rank or personality of the wearer. When David spared Saul's life, he took away evidence that he had him in his power: "Then David arose, and cut off the skirt (hem) of Saul's robe privily," 1 Samuel 24:4.

1 Sam 24:4          The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

Why did David do this, and why did his conscience smite him for having done it? Was there some special significance in what he had done? In fact the act of cutting off the skirt (fringe) of Saul's robe was of very great significance, which Saul was not slow to recognize. When the shouting began next day Saul said: "And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand" (1 Sam. 24:20). David had robbed Saul of his status symbol, the fringe of his robe that identified him as king. The fringes on the garment were a status symbol.
The Prophet Elijah passed his mantle on to Elisha in II Kings 2. Many believe that this mantle was actually his Talis and was symbolic of the power of prayer that Elijah had saturated that mantle with. This mantle that Elijah left behind as he was taken up by a whirlwind into heaven, was what Elisha struck and parted the waters with. Elijah's mantle was a status symbol.
It will be remembered that Jesus castigated the Pharisees for enlarging their fringes (Matt. 23:5), the inference being that they were thereby trying to magnify their importance. Despite this, he must sometimes have worn one himself as the story of the woman who touched the hem of his garment suggests [Luke 8:43, 44].

Luke 8:43-44

43        And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.44        She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

What was the significance of the hem of His garment and how did she know touching it would heal her? Other people, too, were healed by touching the borders or tassels of his clothes [Mark 6:56].

 Mark 6:56        And wherever he went-- into villages, towns or countryside-- they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

The Hem of His Garment

One of the best known miracles of healing that Jesus performed was the occasion when a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the hem of his garment, Matthew 9:20

Matt 9:20-21        Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  21        She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.

The woman was, in fact, reaching for the tassels on Jesus' prayer shawl. In Hebrew, these tassels, which are attached to the corners of the prayer shawl, are called tzitzit. Why should she stoop to touch the fringe? Why not his arm, or his feet?
As the Atorah was placed over the head, it formed his own tent. WINGS of the garment were formed when the arms were held out. For this reason, the corners of the prayer shawl are often called "wings." Malachi said "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings," Malachi 4:2.

Mal 4:22          But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

During the first century there were several traditions associated with the tzitzit concerning Messiah. One was that these knotted fringes possessed healing powers. Certainly the woman with the issue of blood knew of these traditions, which would explain why she sought to touch the hem (the wings) of Jesus' prayer garment. The same word used in Numbers 15:38 for corner is used in Malachi 4:2 for wings. With this understanding in mind, an ancient Jew under the prayer shawl could be said to be dwelling in the secret place of the Most High and under His wings (Ps. 91:1-4). The lady with the issue knew that if Jesus were the promised Messiah, there would be healing in His wings (fringes). That this was the opinion of many other people is revealed by the crowd who sought his healing powers, "that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole," Matthew 14:36.
When one realized the significance of this concept to the first-century Hebraic mind, it becomes clear why this woman was instantly healed. She was expressing her faith in Jesus as the Son of Righteousness with healing in His wings and declaring her faith in God's prophetic Word.>

Mal 4:1-6

CHAPTER 4:1          "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2          But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3          Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty. 4          "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 5          "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6          He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."