Discover the tallit's significant role in prayer -- from ancient biblical truths that reveal how it is made and for what reasons. Get equipped for more powerful prayer than ever -- from learning the significance of the fringes on the four corners added to it. Become more intimate with God -- from discovering how to draw in the atarah (collar), to wear your tallit as a 'sanctuary' or 'tent.' Restore the sacredness of your prayer time -- by using your tallit as part of your increased prayer focus.
The Tallit / Prayer Shawl Originally the word meant "gown" or "cloak." This was a rectangular mantle that looked like a blanket and was worn by men in ancient times. At the four corners of the tallit tassels were attached in fulfillment of the biblical commandment of fringes (Num. 15:38-41). The tallit was usually made either of wool or of linen (Men. 39b) and probably resembled the ("blanket") still worn by Bedouin for protection against the weather. The tallit made of finer quality was similar to the Roman Arch-Bishop Vestment and was worn mostly by the wealthy and by distinguished rabbis and scholars (BB 98a). The length of the mantle was to be a handbreadth shorter than that of the garment under it (BB 57b). After the exile of the Jews from South-Western Israel and their dispersion, they came to adopt the fashions of their gentile neighbors more readily. The tallit was discarded as a daily habit and it became a religious garment for prayer; hence its later meaning of prayer shawl. The Tallit, Tallith, Tallis, Talis also known as the Prayer Shawl. Tal meaning Tent, ith meaning Little join them to get Tallith as Little Tent. The Tallit (Modern Hebrew) Yiddish pronounced Tah-lis is a Prayer Shawl. It is a rectangular shaped piece of linen or wool with special fringes called Tzitzit on each of the four corners. The whole purpose of the garment is to hold the Tzitzit. (Fringe). The prayer shawl, tallit is a religious symbol, a garment, shroud, canopy, cloak which envelops the body physically and spiritually, in prayer and celebration in joy and in sorrow. The Tallit is a special personal religious garment worn and used for many years or a lifetime and never discarded. The Tallit is treated with the utmost respect, as if it had a mantle of holiness, acquired from years of use. What punishment is worthy of death? How about the commandment to Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. We will see how one man's disobedience to the Law of the Sabbath brought forth the Tallit (Prayer Shawl). In the Levitical Law there are many laws that if broken are punishable unto death. The commandment that is relevant for this book is Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy Exodus 20:8-11. 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: 11For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. The story goes as while in the wilderness one Sabbath day, there was a man found gathering stick which was unlawful. This man was apprehended taken to Moses and the Priest to see what should be done to this man. Moses made intercession with G-d and was ordered to stone the man to death. One could argue the man forgot it was the Sabbath Day he was out collecting the sticks to store in his tent. During that time the commandments were fresh in the minds of the people. They had witnessed many blessings and many curses. So let's see what happened!
The Secrets of the Prayer Shawl is a short introduction to the purpose and meaning of the Prayer Shawl. It has been ordained by Hashem so that we may remember his constant presence in our lives all through the day so that we may live a holy life pleasing in His sight. It also acts as a private tent to meet God person to person.
Explore the incredible work of the Lord in the hearts and lives of women in the Muslim world! In these gripping stories of Christ's presence straight from the underground church, Pastor Tom Doyle and his wife, JoAnn, show you how women in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran are leading their communities to faith in Jesus—and how you can too! Despite enormous risks to themselves and their families, former Muslim women are now influencing their husbands and their children and bringing others to faith in Jesus Christ. No matter where they live, these women are the God-ordained spiritual gatekeepers of their families. Even though the level of oppression that women face under Islam is unfathomable to many in non-Muslim nations, these brave women stop at nothing to share their faith. The Doyles believe that women are a major reason why more Muslims than ever are coming to faith in Christ. Over the years they have discovered that once God sets a Muslim woman free, she becomes an unstoppable force for God. Women Who Risk takes readers into Muslim homes in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and other hot spots to see the power of Christ at work. This incredible book contains: Inspirational stories straight out of the underground church—stories you don’t get on the news Examples of the miraculous works of God happening in the Muslim world The experiences of pastors who have worked for the past twenty-five years in the Middle East A clear call to action sounding the alarm to the body of Christ Motivation for all Christians to boldly share their faith with family and friends The stories of these women are both breathtaking and heart-rending. Living on the edge, these women spread the gospel without fear, and the victory of the gospel is thrilling for all to see. If you’re wondering if God still performs miracles or are afraid your life can't make an impact, then this is the book for you.
After the publication of her best-selling book To Begin Again, Naomi Levy received a flood of feedback from readers telling her how much the prayers in it had helped and moved them. Many urged her to publish a collection of her prayers—and now she has. In a time when we all need inspiration, comfort, and connection, Talking to God will help us reclaim prayer as an integral part of our lives, making it as natural and uninhibited as talking to our loved ones. Prayer is essential to the lives of millions, but many of us are searching for ways to supplement traditional prayers with ones that are less formal and more intimate. Written in a simple and direct style, the prayers in this book—and the wonderful stories that accompany them—are for people of all faiths, and for all occasions large and small. Naomi Levy’s personal prayers address the anxieties and roadblocks we all face in contemporary life. There are prayers for facing a new day, realizing one’s potential at work, celebrating an anniversary or birthday, and going to sleep at night. And there are prayers for the more profound occurrences in life—love and marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, illness, loss, and death. Rabbi Levy’s words, imbued with grace and empathy, touch on the entire range of human experience. Many of us will recognize ourselves in her prayers and stories and will be comforted by them, as well as challenged and uplifted. Perhaps most important, they are stepping-stones for us to go on and create our own prayers, to find meaning in our own lives, and to begin or renew our own relationships with God. From the Hardcover edition.
New York Times Best Seller! 1500 5-Star Reviews! From the author that brought you NEW YORK TIMES best selling books The Harbinger, The Mystery of the Shemitah, and The Paradigm selling over 3 MILLION copies Imagine if you discovered a treasure chest in which were hidden ancient mysteries, revelations from heaven, secrets of the ages, the answers to man’s most enduring, age-old questions, and the hidden keys that can transform your life to joy, success, and blessing…This is The Book of Mysteries.
What happens when a former Zen Buddhist monk and his feminist wife experience an apparition of the Virgin Mary? “This book could not have come at a more auspicious time, and the message is mystical perfection, not to mention a courageous one. I adore this book.”—Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit Before a vision of a mysterious “Lady” invited Clark Strand and Perdita Finn to pray the rosary, they were not only uninterested in becoming Catholic but finished with institutional religion altogether. Their main spiritual concerns were the fate of the planet and the future of their children and grandchildren in an age of ecological collapse. But this Lady barely even referred to the Church and its proscriptions. Instead, she spoke of the miraculous power of the rosary to transform lives and heal the planet, and revealed the secrets she had hidden within the rosary’s prayers and mysteries—secrets of a past age when forests were the only cathedrals and people wove rose garlands for a Mother whose loving presence was as close as the ground beneath their feet. She told Strand and Finn: The rosary is My body, and My body is the body of the world. Your body is one with that body. What cause could there be for fear? Weaving together their own remarkable story of how they came to the rosary, their discoveries about the eco-feminist wisdom at the heart of this ancient devotion, and the life-changing revelations of the Lady herself, the authors reveal an ancestral path—available to everyone, religious or not—that returns us to the powerful healing rhythms of the natural world.
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE A SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BESTSELLER In AD 70, when the Second Temple was destroyed, a handful of visionaries saved Judaism by reinventing it, taking what had been a national religion and turning it into an idea. Whenever a Jew studied—wherever he was—he would be in the holy city, and his faith preserved. But in our own time, Zionists have turned the book back into a temple, and unlike an idea, a temple can be destroyed. With exuberance, humor, and real scholarship, Rich Cohen's Israel is Real offers "a serious attempt by a gifted storyteller to enliven and elucidate Jewish religious, cultural, and political history . . . A powerful narrative" (Los Angeles Times).
