Alan Horvath | About Alan's Prayer Shawl

About My Prayer Shawl

When in my daily prayer time, I wear a Jewish prayer shawl, called a Tallit (say ta-leet') ... it is worn as a garment of praise and worship.

In Ancient Egypt, priests wore fringes on the bottom of their robes to indicate their chosen status, but when Yahweh delivered the Jewish people from their oppression in Egypt, He commanded them to likewise wear such fringes (tzitzit) -- see Numbers 15:37-39 (noted below) -- to indicate their priestly status before Him as a Kingdom of Priests. The commandment, in Numbers 15:37-39, refers to four-cornered garments ... but since the normal clothing of today does not have four square corners, the tallit is one answer ... another is to wear what is now being referred to as Blue Jean Tzitzit; these are simply looped into the belt-loops on one's jeans.

The prophets of the Old Testament wore tallits (also referred to as Mantles) ... Jesus Christ wore one (also referred to as a seamless robe) ... His disciples wore them ... the Apostles wore them ... of course, Jewish people (Messianic and Orthodox) wear them ... and many Christians who are looking into the Jewishness of the Early Church, as established by the Apostles, are beginning to wear them now, as well.

I've seen Jewish prayer shawls before ... but one day, while perusing Sid Roth's Messianic Web Site, I saw a picture of Sid wearing one and it sparked my curiosity. After doing some research, I was astounded at the inspirational meanings behind the wearing of these wonderful garments and decided I wanted to express the Jewishness of the Tree I've been grafted into as a follower of Jesus Christ ... and more importantly, I wanted to obey God's commandment found in the Book of Numbers:

And Yahweh spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes [tzitzit] in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe [tzitzit] of the borders a ribband of blue: And it shall be unto you for a fringe [tzitzit], that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring.
Numbers 15:37-39
The prayer shawl, with the tzitzit at each of the four corners, is called a Tallit ... without the fringes, it is not a Tallit ... and, being a seamless garment, should not be made of any mixed materials:

Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together. Thou shalt make thee fringes [tzitzit] upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
Deuteronomy 22:11-12
Each tzitzit has seven strands of white, representing the purity and holiness of all God's commandments (seven is the number of completeness) and one strand of blue, representing the Messiah, who is the only One capable of fulfilling God's commandments perfectly. Each tassel is called a Tzitzit (say seet'-seeth) but when the blue strand is included, the tassel is called a G'dil (say ga-deel'), meaning Tassel of Greatness.

This garment is really all about the tzitzit ... and the blue strand. Just like the Bible is really all about God's commandments ... and the Messiah. The Torah commands that we follow the Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:15) and the Messiah commands that we follow the Torah (Matthew 5:19).

From days of old, the blue strand was made with a dye that could only be obtained from the glands of a snail that was found in the Mediterranean Sea ... after being exposed to the air, the dyed material becomes the most vibrant color of blue imaginable. Dark, yet very brilliant and known for it's quality of never fading, this dye was always associated with royalty.

Now, here is where it gets interesting! Ironically, soon after the Messiah was crucified, the snails became extinct and the dye was no longer available! For centuries the blue strand was not to be seen in the tassels ... until 1996 when the snails were discovered once again -- a sign of the Second Coming of Messiah! The blue strand is called the Shamash (say sha-mosh') ... it is used to wrap the white strands in very meaningful numerical sequences and is just beginning to appear in the tassels of Jewish prayer shawls, once again, for the first time in some 1,500 years!

Even now, in 2006, I had a very difficult time locating a Tallit with the blue strands ... and when I did, I still had to order the strands separately and learn how to tie them myself in order to have them the way I wanted them. There seems to be quite a variety of tying techniques so I wound up doing my own style. If you look really closely at the top-photo you may be able to notice a different tying style; three wraps, seven times ... and two blue strands in each tassel -- a Yemenite style that came with the Tallit I ordered. I have since changed it with new strands, as seen in the photo below.

If you want to purchase a Tallit (prayer shawl), here's the one I purchased -- see R-40:
Tallit.biz/item.php?id=262

If you want to order and tie your own Tzitzit (white strands) and the Tekhelet (blue strands dyed traditionally; Mediterranean snails) as pictured here, you can do so by visiting TheShofarMan.com

We often read in the Gospels about those who, referring to Yahshua (Jesus), wanted to touch the hem of his garment. The original Greek word used for hem in the Scriptures is kraspedon (say kras'-ped-on) which translates into English as fringe and is a reference to the tzitzit on Yahshua's Tallit. Further, the Hebrew word for hem also translates as wings and the woman who touched the Messiah's tzitzit in Matthew 9:20, was obviously familiar with Malachi 4:2 which, in English, reads there is healing in his wings (tzitzit) -- she knew this Scripture spoke of His tzitzit.

The Tallit is often referred to as a Mantle -- a sign of ministerial authority and divine calling. When we read about the Mantle of Elijah, for example, the Bible is referring to Elijah's Tallit ... in 2 Kings 2:8, Elijah parts the waters with his Tallit ... and after passing his Mantle (and his anointing along with it) on to Elisha, in 2 Kings 2:14, Elisha also parts the waters with Elijah's Tallit.

The traditional Tallit has an equal number of stripes on each end ... in either blue or black. Blue represents the Messiah ... black represents mourning for the destruction of the Temple. The number of stripes vary but, in any case, they remind us that by His stripes we were healed. My Tallit bears nine stripes representing the nine Gifts of the Kodesh Spirit - See 1 Corinthians 12:8-10:

The Three Gifts of Revelation:

The Three Gifts of Power:

The Three Gifts of Voicing:

The Tallit should only be worn with dignity, integrity and humility. Before it is worn, one should begin with praise to the Father and His hallowed Name, taking the four tassels in hand and meditating on their meaning while thanking Him for His wonderful plan ... for His gift of Salvation through His Son ... looking forward, prayerfully, to His gathering of the Bride and to the redemption of Israel.

The Tallit Katan:

The Tallit Katan is a piece of rectangular cloth, with a hole large enough for your head to go through, that has tzitzit on each of the four corners. It is to be worn like a T-shirt under one's clothing, but not directly next to the skin.

You can purchase one: Click Here

Watch all of Alan's videos on YouTube - Click Here

NOTICE: All Information Is Subject to Modification.
Please Return Periodically to Check for Any Corrections Made.
New Info Gets Added; Changes Are Implemented; My Knowledge Is Growing.

Has This Article Been Helpful to You? Put Some Cash In Alan's Tip Jar!
Enter the Amount You Want to Donate & Click the Button Below:

Or, If You Prefer, You Can Donate Using PayPal:

There have been 22292 Unique Visitors to This Page Since July 2006