Tallit in the context of "Tekhelet"

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⭐ Core Definition: Tallit

A tallit, taleth, or tallis is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringes known as tzitzit attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the beged ("garment") and is usually made from wool or cotton, although silk is sometimes used for a tallit gadol.

The term is, to an extent, ambiguous. It can refer either to the tallit katan ("small tallit") item worn over or under clothing (commonly referred to as "tzitzit"), or to the tallit gadol ("big tallit") worn over the outer clothes during Shacharit—the morning Jewish prayer service—and all of the Yom Kippur prayer services. The term "tallit" alone typically refers to the tallit gadol.

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👉 Tallit in the context of Tekhelet

Tekhelet (Hebrew: תְּכֵלֶת təḵēleṯ) is a blue dye that historically held great significance in ancient Mediterranean civilizations. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and is accordingly commonplace in Jewish culture, wherein it features prominently to color the fringes (called tzitzit) of several Jewish religious garments, such as the tallit. The dye was similarly used in the clothing of the High Priest of Israel and in tapestries in the Tabernacle.

Biblical texts do not specify the source or production method of tekhelet. Rabbinic literature, however, records that it was produced from a marine animal: ḥillāzon (חלזון). The practical knowledge of tekhelet production was lost over time, resulting in the omission of the dye from tzitzit. The ḥillāzon has been identified in contemporary times as Hexaplex trunculus.

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Tallit in the context of Jewish identity

Jewish identity is the objective or subjective sense of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. It encompasses elements of nationhood, ethnicity, religion, and culture. Broadly defined, Jewish identity does not rely on whether one is recognized as Jewish by others or by external religious, legal, or sociological standards. Jewish identity does not need to imply religious orthodoxy. Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community.

Conservative and Orthodox Judaism base Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law (halakha), all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law. Progressive Judaism and Haymanot Judaism in general base Jewishness on having at least one Jewish parent, while Karaite Judaism bases Jewishness only on paternal lineage. While these differences between the major Jewish streams are a source of the disagreement and debate about who is a Jew, all interpretations of Rabbinic Judaism agree that a valid Jewish identity may also be achieved via conversion.

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Tallit in the context of Tzitzit

Tzitzit (Hebrew: צִיצִית ṣīṣīṯ, [tsiˈtsit]; plural צִיצִיּוֹת ṣīṣiyyōṯ, Ashkenazi: tsitsis; and Samaritan: ࠑࠉࠑࠉࠕṣeṣet) are specially knotted ritual fringes, or tassels, worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by observant Jews and Samaritans. Tzitzit are usually attached to the four corners of the tallit gadol (prayer shawl), usually referred to simply as a tallit or tallis; and tallit katan (everyday undershirt). Through synecdoche, a tallit katan may be referred to as tzitzit.

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Tallit in the context of Chuppah

A chuppah (Hebrew: חֻפָּה, romanizedḥuppā, lit.'canopy, covering', Yiddish: חֻפָּה, romanizedkhupe~khipe) is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held up by attendants to the ceremony. A chuppah symbolizes the home that the couple will build together.

In a more general sense, chuppah refers to the method by which nessuin, the second stage of a Jewish wedding, is accomplished. According to some opinions, it is accomplished by the couple standing under the canopy along with the rabbi who weds them; however, there are other views.

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Tallit in the context of Flag of Israel

The flag of Israel was officially adopted on 28 October 1948. It is a white banner with three blue (tekhelet) symbols: a pair of horizontal tallit-like stripes above and below a centred Star of David. Relevant Israeli legislation describes the flag's dimensions as 160 cm (63 in) by 220 cm (87 in), thereby fixing the proportion to a ratio of 8:11. But variants can be found at a wide range of proportions, with 2:3 also common.

The symbols' colour is generically described as "dark sky-blue" and may differ from flag to flag, ranging from pure blue (sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue) to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. An early version of the flag was displayed at a procession marking the third anniversary of the founding of Rishon LeZion in 1885. A similar version was designed for the Zionist movement in 1891. The highly distinctive Star of David, which recalls the legendary Seal of Solomon, has been prominent as a widely recognized Jewish symbol since the 17th century and was formally endorsed by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

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Tallit in the context of Jewish religious clothing

Jewish religious clothing is apparel worn by Jews in connection with the practice of the Jewish religion. Jewish religious clothing has changed over time while maintaining the influences of biblical commandments and Jewish religious law regarding clothing and modesty (tzniut). Contemporary styles in the wider culture also have a bearing on Jewish religious clothing, although this extent is limited.

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Tallit in the context of Shroud

A shroud is an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to burial sheets, mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the Jewish tachrichim or Muslim kaffan, that the body is wrapped in for burial. A famous example of this is the Shroud of Turin.

A traditional Jewish shroud consists of a tunic; a hood; pants that are extra-long and sewn shut at the bottom, so that separate foot coverings are not required; and a belt, which is tied in a knot shaped like the Hebrew letter shin, mnemonic of one of God's names, Shaddai. Traditionally, mound shrouds are made of white cotton, wool or linen, though any material can be used so long as it is made of natural fibre. Intermixture of two or more such fibres is forbidden, due to the prohibition of Shaatnez. A pious Jewish man may next be enwrapped in either his kittel or his tallit, one tassel of which is defaced to render the garment ritually unfit, symbolizing the fact that the decedent is free from the stringent requirements of the 613 mitzvot (commandments). The shrouded body is wrapped in a winding sheet, termed a sovev in Hebrew (a cognate of svivon, the spinning Hanukkah toy that is familiar under its Yiddish name, dreidel), before being placed directly in the earth (or in a plain coffin of soft wood where it is required by governing health codes).

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Tallit in the context of Christianity and fringed garments

Christianity and fringed garments refers to the mention of fringed garments in Christian sources, and to the Christian continuation and adoption of Jewish rituals, tzitzit and tallit.

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Tallit in the context of Mantle (monastic vesture)

A mantle (Koine Greek: μανδύας, romanized: mandyas; Church Slavonic: мантия, romanized: mantiya) is an ecclesiastical garment in the form of a very full cape that extends to the floor, joined at the neck, that is worn over the outer garments. Especially in the case of Elijah, it was likely a tallit, a Hebrew garment that housed the fringes still seen today which are also translated at "the hem of His garment" in the New Testament. It is also likely that further ecclesiastical garments were based originally on this one.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, the mantle is a monastic garment worn by bishops, hegumens, archimandrites, and other monastics in processions and while attending various church services, such as Vespers or Matins; but not when vested to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Unlike the Western cope, the mantle is worn only by monastics. The klobuk is worn over the mantle.

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