From:    heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
To:      "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Date:    Wed, 3 Dec 1997 01:06:17 +0000
Subject: Re: Wearing of the tallit

 

From:          Rabbi Yehoshua Othniel
To:            <heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com>
Subject:       Re: Wearing of the tallit


  Dear Suzanne,

  Women do not wear tallits, at least in observant synagogues.  I have seen
them do so in Reformed congregations, but I do not approve of this
practice, nor do I approve of the practice of women wearing Yarmulkes,
(Hebrew: Kippot).  These two garments have become seen as mens' garments
and for women to wear them, they violate torah.

  Let me share with you what my wife does to satisfy the mitzvah of wearing
tzitzit or fringes.  My wife Rachel wears a scarf or veil which covers her
head.  This scarf is a four cornered garment and attached to the four
corners are tiny tzitzit.  This is a traditional practice for observant
Jewish women;  the wearing of a head covering.  I should add, married women
wear such a covering, unmarried women do not.

  My wife also has a tallit of sorts.  It is a beautiful sheer shawl of
black and gold. A very feminie garment to say the least.  On the four
corners of this shawl she has also attached tiny tzitzit, and she uses this
garment in her private daily devotions.
She choses not to wear it to the shul,  (Yiddish for synagogue.)  She does
however wear her scarf as do many of the women who attend my shul.

  I see nothing wrong with your wearing a shawl appropriate to women,
although I would suggest you refrain from adding tzitzit to the four
corners of this shawl until you have spoken to the rabbi of the
congregation about it first.  We must always be considerate of others and
not cause them to stumble.  If he approves, who knows, perhaps you will
start a trend amongst the women there?

  As to the use of "Temple" or "Synagogue",  some congregations use the
word temple in their name,  i.e.  Temple Beth David.  This is the name of
the shul I attended as a boy growing up.  There is a difference between the
two.  The Temple is where sacrifices were made and it can only be located
in the city of David.  A synagogue is a house of study and worship and can
be located anywhere.  There were synagogues inside the Temple precincts, 
not formal houses of worship as we know them today.  These were more or
less small rabbinic accademies which met in various rooms of the temple or
in the outer court areas.

  In Messiah,

  Rabbi O.
__________________________________
Rabbi Yehoshua M. Othniel
Kehilat Ami Echad
P.O. Box 1452
Independence, KS  67301,  U.S.A.

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>
>From:          Roi Levine Garcia
>To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
>Subject:       Re: Wearing of the tallit
>
>Read Tallit, Garment of Light by Ariel Kaplan
>
>Roi
>
>*******************************************************************

To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
From:          Randy & Suzanne Surfass 
Subject:       RE: Wearing of the tallit

I particularly enjoyed the book "Talit: Garment of Glory" by Rabbi
David M. Hargis (Zadok Scroll Works).

http://www.messianic.com/products.htm

Suzanne in MI

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