The ultimate symbol of Jewish prayer, the Tallit is a special prayer shawl worn during morning prayers every day of the week. The traditions vary as to how exactly to go about putting on the Tallit, and when one should do so, and beginners might hesitate to ask the important question of: How do you wear a Tallit? So this bit of explanation should help clarify the issue to a certain extent, after which you can decide how you prefer to practice it based on your traditions and beliefs.
The Tallit is worn with two of the fringes in the front and two in back. It can be difficult to drape the Tallit correctly if it is too small, and should be big enough to cover your head and upper body at minimum.
Find your size in our Tallit size chart
The steps to donning your Tallit:
- Before putting on the Tallit, always check the strings in your Tzitzit fringe strings, making sure they are undamaged and untangled, with the knots firmly in place.
- The embroidered ‘Atara’ part faces upwards and outwards, and you hold it over your head while saying the blessing over the Tallit.
Transliteration:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam Asher Kideshanu B’mitzvotav V’tzivanu L’hit’atef BaTzitzit.
Translation:
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to enwrap ourselves in Tzitzit.
- Then, some traditions call for the actual wrapping of the Tallit around you by putting all four Tzitzit corners over your left shoulder for a few moments. This tradition is because the blessing is worded ‘to wrap ourselves in Tzitzit’.
- For the remainder of the prayer, the Tallis is draped over the shoulders so that there is a Tzitzit fringe in the front left, front right, back left and back right, and can be worn on the head like a hood, or around the neck, as preferred.
- During the morning recitation of Shema, where the commandment for the Tzitzit appears in the prayer, it is customary to hold all of the strings of the Tzitzit in your left hand. The Tallit is not worn during the nighttime recitation of the Shema because it is not permitted to fall asleep in the Tallit.
Follow our video demonstration to see how it is done in real life.
The reason for the Tzitzit fringes on the edges of the Prayer Shawl is clearly expressed in the Torah, where it says that you will see the Tzitzit fringes and remember God’s commandments. In the verse a blue dye is mentioned, dying the fringes. For a long time that dye was lost, but there recently was discovered a dye thought by many to be the correct type, and as such some people now wear their fringes with some of the strands dyed blue.
In the past the garment was worn all day, but now Tallitot are worn only for prayer, so that your attention won’t wander to other matters while you wear the Tallit. If you wish to wear Tzitzit strands all day, another garment called the Tallit katan (or just Tzitzit) can be worn all day in addition.
There are a number of different customs as to when you begin to wear a Tallit, a few of which are: As soon as the small child starts learning Torah, at Bar mitzva, or when they get married.
The Tallit itself is not inherently holy, unless it has a blessing written on it, however traditionally, out of respect for a prayer garment, it is not taken into a restroom. Washrooms without toilets are fine.
Women are not obligated to wear a Tallit, because they are exempt from time-bound commandments in the bible. However nowadays many women from Reform or Conservative communities do choose to don Tallitot, and that is permissible provided they keep careful focus and attention on their prayers while wearing the prayer shawl. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein writes in support of this, provided the Tallit be distinctly feminine, so as to not be mistaken for men’s clothing (wearing the other gender’s clothing being a separate problem in Halacha).
