Jewish Emblems and Garments
Rabbi Jeremy Storch

TZITZIT
In Numbers 15:37-40, God commanded the Israelites to put fringes on the corners of their garments. The fringes, known as “tzitzit” (pronounced tzeet-zeet in Hebrew) represent the 613 commandments in God's Torah. God commanded the Israelites to wear the “tzitzit” as a reminder to them to obey all of His commandments and not to stray after the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, which the pagan nations surrounding them did.

To gain a deeper knowledge of the significance of the “tzitzit,” we must understand that the letters of the Hebrew language also have numerical value. The numerical value of the word “tzitzit” is 600. Each corner of the Jewish prayer shawl, Talit in Hebrew (pronounced tah-leet) has 8 strands (fringes) which are tied in 5 knots. When you add the numerical value of the word “tzitzit” which is 600, plus the 8 strands and the 5 knots, it gives us a total of 613, which is exactly the number of commandments in God's Torah.
 

Adonai Echad

By virtue of God's name being in the tzitzit, there is a supernatural dispensation of God's power and authority in the garment itself. I am not talking about magic or about ancient Jewish mysticism which is found in the Kaballah. I am talking about something that is very scriptural and very real. Here are some examples:

When Elijah, a Torah-observant Jewish prophet, touched the Jordan River with his Talit, the waters parted in two (2 Kings 2:8). The same thing happened again when Elisha, the successor to Elijah, took the same garment and struck the water – it divided in two. (2 Kings 2:14)

Yeshua (Jesus) was also a Torah-observant Jew who kept all of His Father's commandments. He, too, wore the Talit with the fringes at the hem of His garment. According to Luke 8:43-48, a woman with an “issue of blood” pressed through the crowds and when she came in contact with the tzitzit of Yeshua's garment, she was instantly healed!

For believers in Yeshua today, wearing the Jewish Talit has great significance: Obedience to the Word of God; supernatural power, authority and healing; divine covering and protection; divine intimacy with God. When the Talit is draped over one's head, it literally becomes a “prayer closet” and also (Revelation 19) reveals that it is a symbol of the second coming of the Messiah Jesus.

KIPPAH
Another garment is the Jewish skullcap which is called the “Kippah” in Hebrew (pronounced Key-pah) and means “covering.”  In Yiddish, which is a European dialect of the Hebrew language, the kippah is referred to as a “yarlmulka”. This comes from the Hebrew phrase “Yaray may Elohim” which means “in fear” or “in reverence for God.” 
 

While there is no Biblical mandate to wear the kippah, the origins of it being a sacred garment is traced back to the wardrobe of Aaron, the High Priest of Israel and to Aaron's ministry in the Tabernacle of Moses. According to Exodus 28:4, one of Aaron's priestly garments was a turban which was wrapped around Aaron's head. The turban was called “Mitznefet” in Hebrew. Attached to the front of the turban was a gold plate with the words “Kodesh L'Adonai” engraved on it, which means “Holiness to the Lord.” (Exodus 28:36)
 

1 Peter 2:9 says that as believers in Yeshua (Jesus) we are all a “royal priesthood and a holy nation”. Hence, the application for male believers (Jew or Gentile) to wear the Kippah, recognizing that it is a sacred, holy garment, just like the Talit, the Jewish prayer shawl.

Some of you may be saying, didn't the apostle Paul warn men not to cover their heads in 1st Corinthians chapter 11.  There is a great misconception here by many believers today. First of all, as you read through all the chapters in 1st Corinthians, you will see that the believers in Corinth were experiencing many problems which Paul had to address. One of them was a “role distinction” problem, which was part of the Greek culture – namely men giving the “appearance of women” and women giving the “appearance of men.”

In 1st Corinthians 11, Paul uses the Greek word “kataka-loopto” for the word “covering” when he warns men not to “cover” their head. “Kataka-loopto” means to cover one's head with a “veil” or with “long hair” as some were doing. It has nothing to do with the kippah, the Jewish skullcap, which wasn't even invented until about 500 years later. Paul was telling the men in Corinth not to look like women!

Paul also warns women in 1st Corinthians 11, not to “shave their heads bald” as some were doing. This kind of appearance was associated with temple prostitution in the pagan Greek society. Instead, he instructs the women to cover their heads with a veil, a symbol of humility, dating back to the humility of Rebekah, who covered herself with a “veil” when she first saw Isaac. (Genesis 24:65)

So, for all of you men out there who are discovering your Jewish roots in the Messiah Jesus, feel free to wear the kippah, a sacred holy garment in Judaism and don't let anyone condemn you for doing it!

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