Word Prompt – TALLIS – Gershon Schusterman

A tallis is not a prayer shawl, though a prayer shawl is a tallis! A tallis is a cloth in which one enrobes oneself, such as a shawl, stole, cloak, robe, wrap, etc. When the garment covers a man’s body and has four corners, he is obligated to place tzitzit-fringes on it, whether one is praying or playing ping-pong.

Clothes play a significant role in Jewish law and lore. The first recorded clothes were made from fig-leaves and worn by Adam and Chava. The Kohen Gadol made a holy fashion statement with his eight priestly garments. The Gemara (B”K 91b) says that R' Yochanan called his clothing mechabdusa – that which honors me. Often, “clothes make the man.”

Clothing, while superficial, plays a major role in expressing oneself. One chooses what to wear, in the gym and at a wedding, so that he is appropriately presented. What one wears influences one’s behavior.

Chassidus Chabad applies this paradigm to the neshama, the G-dly soul, the person’s true “I,” as it expresses itself through one’s inner attributes, i.e., one’s mind (intellect) and heart (emotion), and one’s outer garments, i.e., one’s thought, speech and action. What we understand to be true and what we feel about it is how our personal “I” expresses itself, filtering into the external tools by which we communicate with ourselves and others, which are thought, speech, and action.

Koheles (9:8) charges us: “At all times keep your clothing white.” This is interpreted to mean to keep your outer garments – thought, speech, and action – clean, and your inner garments – one’s mind and heart – pure. Contrary to popular assumption, a person is shaped from the bottom up – by how he acts, speaks, and thinks.