Tallit

A tallit (Hebrew: טַלִּית‎) is a Jewish prayer shawl worn in the temple on the Sabbath and on holidays, and while reading morning prayers called Shacharit. The tallit has a special curled and knotted tassels familiar as tzitzit bound to its four corners.

Tallit katan

The tallit katan, or "small" tallit, is worn for the full length of the day by many Orthodox and some other observant Jewish men. While it should not be worn straight on the skin, it is frequently worn underneath one's shirt and on top of an undershirt. Nonetheless, Hasidic Jews incline to wear them on top of their shirts, under a suit vest. A tallit katan can be worn through nearly all functions, even though there are some limitations, for example, one should "tuck-in" tzitzit once going into a burial ground.

Tallit gadol

The tallit gadol or "large" tallit, is worn on top of one's clothes resting on the shoulders. The tallit is the prayer shawl that is put on during the daylight services in synagogue and by the leader of the prayers through some additional ceremonies. The tallit gadol, which can be extend out like a sheet, is customarily woven of wool — particularly among Ashkenazim. Some Spanish and Portuguese Jews, notwithstanding, have the practice of utilizing silk tallitot; and cotton or linen is also conventional alternatives. In current times, additional textiles are also used such as rayon, polyester and acrylic. Tallitot may be of any color, however are normally white with black, blue or white stripes along the lateral sides.

Dimensions of tallitot differ immensely. The silk and synthetic ones range in sizes from about 91 × 137 cm to 183 × 244 cm. The woolen tallit is proportionately larger and sometimes reache to the ankles, in accordance to the halacha that the tallit should be big enough to cover the entire body. A ribbon, or a band creatively knitted with silver or gold yarns named "spania", and aproximately 61 cm long and 5 to 15 cm wide, may be stitched on the edge of the tallit closest to the head, and is named the atarah.

The design and color design may also vary. Many have black or blue stripes that are revealed to stand for the techelet. Hassidim prefer tallitot knitted from genuine Turkish wool. These tallitot have 5 stripes with the center stripe being bigger than the others.

From the four corners of the tallit hang fringes called tzitzit, in obedience to the rules in the Torah (Book of Numbers 15:38).