Placing on the Prayer Shawl, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton
Brother Calderone is the pastor of the Spanish congregation in Bellevue, and on Sunday, he made a special presentation to Pastor Kern. After showing the prayer shawl he had selected, and reading the history of the holy cloth, he called forward Pastor Mansfield and gave him the honor of placing the shawl, and of praying a special prayer. The other ministers joined in this moving ceremony.
“The Prayer Shawl, (aka. tallis, tallit, talis) is a religious symbol, a garment, shroud, canopy, cloak which envelops the Jew both physically and spiritually, in prayer and celebration, in joy and sorrow
“The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Lord and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge. Thus you shall be reminded to observe all My commandments and to be holy to your God. I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I, the Lord your God.” [Numbers 15:37-41]
