A tallis is a prayer shawl with special tassels (it's got a fringe and four longer, braided tassels, one at each corner). Traditionally only men wore them, but now in most synagogues women wear them too. I used to have a pretty nice one from my Bat Mitzvah day but I lost it.
Tefillin are two small metal boxes with prayer parchments in them, attached to a leather strap that you're supposed to wind around your arm in a certain way. I don't know the ritual requirements for them. I think Dad still has a set. They have the same little prayers written in them as a mezuzah, the little ornament that Jews affix to the doorposts of their homes. This is in accordance with Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which is also part of the shema:
“You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign upon your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”.
I am not very religious, but I do have a mezuzah on my door - a nice purple ceramic one. :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-12-23 08:43 pm (UTC)Tefillin are two small metal boxes with prayer parchments in them, attached to a leather strap that you're supposed to wind around your arm in a certain way. I don't know the ritual requirements for them. I think Dad still has a set. They have the same little prayers written in them as a mezuzah, the little ornament that Jews affix to the doorposts of their homes. This is in accordance with Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which is also part of the shema:
“You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign upon your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”.
I am not very religious, but I do have a mezuzah on my door - a nice purple ceramic one. :)