Tallit

A tallit is a prayer shawl. It is a rectangle of woven cloth, usually wool or silk (but never both). A tallit is usually decorated with several blue or black stripes at each end. The two ends will also end in fringes or a series of knots. Tied through a small hole in each corner is a longer group of threads called a tzitzit. The tzitzit are actually the really important bit. They are there because the Shema tells people to wear fringes on the corners of their clothes. Most tallitot have a thicker piece of material sewn on to form a sort of collar, which is often decorated with patterns or with the words of the blessing that people say as they put the tallit on. When we want to talk about more than one tallit, we call them tallitot.

Jewish people wear tallitot during morning prayers, and especially when they are reading the Torah or hearing it read. There are many different customs about who should wear a tallit. In many communities only men wear a tallit but in others both men and women will wear them. In many Jewish communities only people over the age of 13 wear tallitot. In others only people who are married will wear them. Some people will wear their tallit like a shawl, wrapped around their shoulders, some will wear it around their shoulders, like a cloak and others wear a tallit draped around their neck rather like a scarf, with one end hanging down on each side.