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Wearing a Tallit for the First Time

Before we had palm pilots and voice messages, we remembered things with strings. Like the string tied around a finger, the fringes of the tallit (called tzitzit) work to remind us of an important task. As Moses instructed us so long ago, "And you will look at the strings, and you will remember all the instructions of God…and you will be holy." Wrapped in the tallit, its fringes dangling from each of its four corners, we remember our sacred missions - to fix the world, to seek justice, and to pursue peace - and we feel protected by the many memories woven within its threads.

MEDITATION

V'arastikh li l'olam

Encircle me with your covenant. Wrap me in your light.

RITUAL

Carefully unfold the tallit. Grasp the atarah, the long strip of cloth which contains the blessing or embroidered design, and which will lay against your neck. Hold the tallit stretched out before you. Recite the blessing, then lift your right hand over your left shoulder, wrapping the tallit around you. If it is a large tallit, you may wish to toss the tzitzit, the fringes, to both sides. Adjust the tallit so that it hangs equally over both shoulders.

BLESSING

Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha'olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hitatef b'tzitzit.

Praised are you. Lord our God, ruler of the universe, whose mitzvot make our lives holy and who gave us the mitzvah to wrap ourselves in tzitzit.

Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha'olam shehecheyanu v'keyemanu v'hegiyanu lazman hazeh.

Blessed is the Holy One who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this moment.

TEACHING

Let all my being praise the Lord who is clothed in splendor and majesty, wrapped in light as in a garment, unfolding the heavens like a curtain. (Psalms 104:1-2)

Like paratroopers who always take their parachutes with them when they jump from planes, those who have begun wearing a tallit as they pray discover just how essential it is. Like the parachute that catches the breath of the wind, protecting those who dare to jump into the air, the tallit ensures God's embrace for those who dare to leap into prayer. (CLAL faculty)

L'hitatef b'tzitzit To wear the sacred fringes

(CLAL faculty)

CLAL's National Jewish Resource Center develops and publishes rituals that help to bridge the gap between our contemporary lives and the ancient wisdom of the Jewish tradition.