tallit katan

A Catholic Explains the Mormon Garment

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There is an excellent commentary by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, who is Catholic, on the LDS (Mormon) garment.  In her article she describes the garment as not dissimilar to the sacred clothing of many religious groups around the world, including Jews, Catholics (Roman and Eastern), Sikhs, Buddhists, Amish, Muslims, Hindus, Jains, and tribal religions.  I too once wrote about the sacred undergarment of the Jews, the tallit katan (and its tzitzit).   [Read more…]

Talith, Tents, and Temples

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Touching the Hem of Jesus

Touching the Hem of Jesus

This is TempleStudy.com’s first guest blog post.  It is by Jennifer O., a reader here, and a student of the gospel.  She sent me the following short article she wrote about the talith, and I thought it had some great thoughts to share with all of you. -Bryce

The Jews have a religious symbol called a talith (tallit), or a prayer shawl, that covers them when they pray. They claim that it envelops them both physically and spiritually, in sorrow and joy, in celebration and prayer. Today, this shawl is worn at all of the major feasts and festivals, but in Biblical times, it was worn constantly by the men while outside of their home. Even Israel’s flag was inspired by this shawl, adding only David’s shield to create their national flag. [Read more…]

Tallit Katan – The Sacred Undergarment of Judaism

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A traditional Jewish tallit katanMormons wear sacred undergarments as part of our religious worship. I thought it might be good today to take a look at a well-known religious tradition, Judaism, and the very similar practice that they have, like us, of wearing certain sacred clothing. I, for one, highly respect the Jews’ practice of this in their worship.

The tallit katan (literally the “little tallit”) is a white undergarment worn by the Jews, usually Orthodox or Hasidic, in order to fulfill the commandment given in Numbers 15:38-40 to make such a holy garment, [Read more…]