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The History of the Talis

The Talis -- Its Meaning, Purpose and History

Mishkan (Holy Tabernacle) were marked
In Deuteronomy 22:12 we read: "Thou shalt thusly so they always hung in the very same
make thee twisted cords upon the four corners manner (Taamin 45a).
of thy covering, wherewith thou coverest
thyself." In the Nehar Mitzraim, Hilchot Tzitzit, chap-
ter 2, we find: "The priests cover their heads
Also, in Numbers 15:37-41 -- with the talis to contain the light of the Divine
Presence [Shekinah glory] which descends on
"And the Lord said unto Moses, saying: Speak them when they recite the priestly
unto the children of Israel, and bid them, that benediction."
they make them fringes in the corners of their
garments, throughout their generations, and that According to the Zohar (Exodus 141a), wear-
they shall put with the fringe of every corner a ing a talis "inspires awe and reverence for
thread of blue. And it shall be unto you a God at prayer."
fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember
all the commandments of the Lord, and do The Talis and its wearer never part -- even in
them; and that ye go not about after your own death. The pious wrap their deceased in a
heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to Talis over his shrouds.
go astray; that ye may remember, and do all
My commandments, and be holy unto your Holy writings and religious articles --
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, wrapped in the Talis -- are always buried
to be your God: I am the Lord your God." when unusable; they are never just discarded.

The Talis is...a religious symbol...a garment... The Torah commands that tzitzis (fringes) con-
a shroud...a canopy...a cloak which envelopes tain a thread of Tichales (blue). The reason for
the Jew physically and spiritually. this is contained in Sotah 17b.

In prayer and in celebration -- joy and sorrow Blue is like sea,
-- the Talis has followed the Jew through the Sea is like sky
centuries. Sky is like the Throne of the Lord.

In the Talmud we read: "The Holy One, The dye used for this color came from a spe-
Blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a cies of the snail family called Chilazone -- of-
talis...showing Moses how to pray" (Rosh Ha- ten identified as the Sepia Officinalis or Helix
shana 17b). Jointhina. The Talmud recounts that the
Chilazone appears only once in seventy years
Also -- "The Atarah (crown) is usually em- (Menachot 44a).
broidered in gold or silver. It is placed at the
top of the talis so that its outside can be distin- Rabbinic literature indicates several locations
guished from its inner. The tent walls of the for Chilazone:

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