Deb, I need some information about the Jewish prayer shawl. I have to interpret for a man next Sunday who will be talking about the meaning of them. I know nothing about them. Thought if I could get a little information that it would help me interpret it more correctly. He will talk about the shawl, the tassels, the knots and the way the tassel is wound. Do you know anything about this? Thanks for any help taht you can share, Prayers, Babs

Dear Babs, The prayer shawl is called a TALleet in Hebrew.  (Many people pronounce it TALlis)  It is commanded in Numbers 15:39 that each male over 13 (bar mitzvah age) wears fringes at the corner of his prayer garments, as a reminder to observe G-d's commandments (the rest of them).  (But some Jews & congregations restrict wearing the tallit to married men.)  The praeyr shawl is worn -- guess when! -- when praying.  One of the customs is that wehen a congregant is honored to read or to bless the Torah reading, the man touches his tallit to the Torah scroll & then kisses his tallit. 

An undershirt with fringes is worn by all male Orthodox Jews from about age 4.  Some are comfortable wearing the fringes so that they show.  Others tuck the undergarment in.  The fringes are called TZITtzit.  THe law commanding wearing them is (N 15:37) the 3rd (& last) paragraph of the prayers that all believing Jews contain in a mezuzzah -- doorpost sign in the form of a container of 4"by 1" or so, generallhy decorated handsomely.  It is the custom to kiss teh fringes at various times during religious service.  The undershirt is called tzitzit katan ("small") & is only worn during he daytime.

In modern-day Judaism, among the Reform & Conservative Jews, females aS well as males wear  tallit during prayers, but it is entirely optional for these women & girls.  The feminine tallitsim (TALleet-seem) are decorated in bright silk-screening generally

Each tzitzit tassel is supposed to have a cord of blue in it.  But the Orthodox point out that the dye used by the Israelites has been lost to us, so most Orthodox Jews only wear white tassels today. 

Now, as to your other questions -- the knots & the way the tassel is wound -- your speaker must be well-versed in the Talmud (interpretations of the Torah) as these items are not general knowledge.  IF you can speak with him early this week, & post for me what he says about the knots & the way the tassel is wound, I may be able to check on Kosher websites to see whether he is right ....

Yours in Him, Deb

 Deb, thank you so much for this info. I will check with the speaker tomorrow and get back to you. He had talked to me about the blue dye. He had read taht the dye was from a certain kind of  snail. Do you know if that is correct? There is a chapter in New Testament in the book of Acts about a woman that sold purple cloth. HIstory, not Bible, says that she went to a river to gather the snails for her dye. Acts makes reference to her and women meeting at the river each evening to pray. 

HOpe you had a good day. My family have all gone home. We had a nice day but I am ready for a few minutes of alone time and rest. Babs 

Dear Babs, I think that you are referring to a blue dye that we don't know now how it was made.  So we can't use that blue dye any more.

Snails are completely not Kosher, & could not possibly be used as a dye by Jews.

BTW, the Proverbs 31 woman also was dressed in purple (linen). 

It isn't only FOOD that needs to be Kosher, it's also garments, vestry items, the Torah scroll, etc.  There are also extensive laws regardign "lack of santificaiton" in people, that require this or that before a visit to the purification bath called the Mikvah.

Yours in Him, Deb

 Deb, these are the questions from the speaker.

Did the phrase in Mal. 4:2 "The Sun of righteousness" lead people to believe that Messiah would appear after 4000 years from creation? I have read that there are teachers of the Torah who say that Messiah did not come as prophesied due to Israel's sin.

On the Tallit, do the Tzitzit in gematria give us the numerical equivalent to G-d's name as well as the number of commandments in the Torah? As Christians we also connect this verse to a verse in one of Peter's letters (1 Peter 2:24) that says we are healed by Yeshua's (Jesus) "stripes" (whip marks). There are 39 windings on the Tzitzit and Jesus had 39 "stripes" from the soldiers whips.

In regards to the snail being non-kosher, is there a Torah reference to a commandment in regards to kosher dress? Also what is the Jewish view as to what animal the seacow was in Exodus 25:5. It would seem from what I have read that this appears to be a non-kosher animal and yet it was used in the tabernacle. Any insight that you can give would be greatly appreciated. May the L'rd bless you!

  Deb, thanks for any help that you can give, Babs

 

Ah, gematria!  I thought that that was where this speaker was comoing from, but I didn't want to put words in his mouth.  Gematria has only one orthodox generally-accepted use, & that is that "chai (pronounced: khi) is the way that the number 18 is written, & also is a word that means "life."  Therefore, we generally give to charity in units of 18 -- 36, 180, etc.  The rest of gematria is divided into 2 types:  that written in teh Talmud (early interpretatiosn of the Torah), & that studied in the Kabbalah (cab-ah-la).  The Kabbalah's study is supposed to be restricted to married males older than 30, because it is deemed to be dangerous to those whose fervor in the faith has not yet peaked.  There are 613 commandments in Torah, & there certainly are NOT 613 threads/cords in the tzitzit.  G-d's name is unknown, which is part of the reason why we don't write His name out in full.  (The other reason is not to take His name in vain.)  ]

Since there are four sets of tzitzit on every tallit, it is most implausible that there could be an odd number like 39 for the total number -- it would have to be even, since all four sets are identical.

Malachi only has 3.24 verses in the Prophets according to the Hebrew tradition.

The main commandment about dress is that wool & linen may not be woven in one cloth.  Also, non-Kosher animals cannot be used in manufacturing (for example, the snail). 

Dolphins are the animals named in the Hebrew Scriptures (Ex 25:5) -- I assume taht your Scriptures calls them "sea-cows."  BTW, I now notice th at there were blue & purple cloths that must have been Kosher that are mentioned in the same paragraph.  The purple we know was used for more t han a millenium -- the Proverbs 31 woman again.  The blue I don't know about.

Hope this is of some help.  Yours in Him, Deb

 Deb, thank you for this information. I am curious how your Book of Malachi is divided. I have chapter 3 verses 1 to17 then chapter 4 verses 1 to 6    Chapter 4 verse 2 says,  "But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and ship about like calves from the stall.   I am wondering if your scripture is divided different than mine or if you do not have this part.

Hope you dont mind these discussions. I am enjoying learning from you. In Him, Babs 

The snail people are talking about produces a Purple, not blue ink. The phonecians 'fished' them into extinction. Someone said that this animal isn't kosher so I think this guy whos coming to speak is wrong about that. Also, it is the sea cow, not dolphin. The ark was wrapped in the skins of a manatee like animal that is extinct today (it had flukes more like a whale instead of a manatee, but the rest is similar). Apparently, the ark was also wrapped in a cloth made from this blue dye of unknown origin.

desmo986, where is your source for this information? I would be interested in reading it. Thanks, Babs 

Dear Babs, Thanks for having oriented me with where to look.  Our chapter 3 goes on into your chapter 4 of Malachi.  We have the verse that you're talking about, "But for you who revere my Name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing," as verse 20 of chapter 3.  It sounds to me like the kind of verse that Christians use as a precursor to their Messiah, Jesus, & that Jews use as a precursor to the Messiah who won't be here until there is universal peace.  The fundamental idea for Jews, though, isn't to look through Scriptures for precursor verses, but rather to try to get Jews to follow the commandments.  We believe that if every Jew followed all of gte commandments that are possible outside the destroyed Temple, the Messiah would immediately come ....

Our English text, "A New Translation of THE HOLY SCRIPTURES According to the Traditional Hebrew Text, (Jewish Publication Society, 1985), BTW, definitely refers to a dolphin.

I, too, enjoy this discussion!  Yours in Him, Deb