Understanding Your Tallit God instructed the Israelites to attach fringes (called tzitzit in Hebrew) to each of the four corners of their garments so that when they saw them, they would remember all of Gods commandments and do them (Numbers 15:38-40; Deuteronomy 22:12). Centuries later when fashions changed and garments no longer had four corners, the Jewish people created the prayer shawl (Tallit) so that they could fulfill Gods command to wear tzitzit. The prayer shawl has become the time-honored Jewish tradition of submission to Gods will revealed in his Word (the Torah).

The Twelve Tribes The Israelites were divided along family lines, each called a shevet or mateh in Hebrew meaning literally a "staff" or "rod". The term is conventionally translated as "tribe" in English, although the divisions were not small isolated distinct ethnic groups in the modern sense of the term. Some English speaking Jewish groups view the pronunciation, English transcription and Hebrew spelling of the tribal names to be extremely important. The transcriptions and spellings are as follows:

Reuben: ראובן, Standard Rəuven, Tiberian Rəʾ?ḇēn

Simeon: שמעון, Standard imon, Tiberian imʿn

Levi: לוי, Standard Levi, Tiberian Lēw

Judah: יהודה, Standard Yəhuda, Tiberian Yəh?ḏāh

Dan: דן, Standard Dan, Tiberian Dān

Naphtali: נפתלי, Standard Naftali, Tiberian Nap̄tāl

Gad: גד, Standard Gad, Tiberian Gāḏ

Asher: אשר, Standard Aer, Tiberian Āēr

Issachar: יששכר, Standard Yissaḫar, Tiberian Yiśśḵār

Zebulun: זבולן, Standard Zəv?lun, Tiberian Zəḇ?lun

Joseph: יוסף, Standard Yosef, Tiberian Ysēp̄, containing the tribes:

Manasseh: מנשה, Samaritan Manatch, Standard Mənae, Tiberian Mənaeh

Ephraim: אפרים, Samaritan Afrime, Standard Efryim, Tiberian Ep̄ryim/Ep̄rāyim

Benjamin: בנימין, Standard Binyamin, Tiberian Binyāmn

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