The ritual space of the synagogue is not the only way that Jews in the modern world have come to express their religious identity through material objects: two other physical realms are often "Judaized" through objects: the Jewish body and the Jewish home. These more intimate spaces also create intersections of traditional religion and modern adaptation.
Dress
There is no single form of Jewish "dress" or clothing, or even any single religious sense of "appropriate dress" (as is common, for instance, among all Muslims--although differently interpreted). Some forms of apparel and other physical accoutrements do, however, serve to mark out the Jewish body, either in special, ritual circumstances, or as a way of blending modern dress with traditional Jewish elements.
Two pieces of apparel, in particular, are common to Jews (especially Jewish males): some Jews wear them only in ritual circumstances (particularly in the synagogue), while other Jews (again, especially males) decide to wear them all the time in order to mark out their Jewishness publicly.
1. The prayer shawl; in Hebrew tallit (sometimes pronounced tallis, the older, Ashkenazic pronunciation of the Hebrew).
The Torah contains an injunction for the Israelites to wear fringes on their garments as a reminder of the commandments of the Lord:
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue; and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God." (Number 15:37-41)
The tassles (Hebrew: tzitzit) are traditionally worn on a special prayer shawl, called a tallit. Many denominational Jews only wear a tallit during specific rituals in the synagogue, and it has grown into a rather elaborate shawl.
This
gentleman is wearing a traditional prayer shawl (the tassels are not quite
visible, hanging from the corners of the shawl below his waist). Some Jews own
their own prayer shawls; but most synagogues usually keep many on hand for use
during services.
This young man has a more distinctive tallit (you can see the tassels more clearly at the four corners); like any item of clothing, the ritual prayer shawl can often be a place where tradition meets individual expression. (The young man pictured here recently contact me and told me the following: "Next year, I am entering the Reform Jewish Seminary, Hebrew Union College, to commence my studies to become a Rabbi. It is important for people to see that Judaism maintains its roots, as well as, adapting to the modern age.")
Some modern orthodox Jews wear a special undergarment with the tassels attached all the time, so that they are constantly fulfilling the biblical injunction to remember the Lord's commandments:
This is an example of an "olive drab" tzitzit undergarment (note the tassels at the corners), suitable for army service.
In recent years, women (who were not traditionally considered bound by the commandment to wear tzitzit) have begun to wear the prayer shawl in more egalitarian (generally Conservative or Reform) liturgical settings, where women have also been included in leadership roles in the worship service:
2. The skullcap: in Yiddish, the yarkmulke; in modern Hebrew, the kippah.
There is no biblical injunction to cover the head: it was common in the ancient and medieval worlds for men and women alike to wear some form of head covering, either as a sign of status or of modesty. This custom of dress was transformed into a religious choice, particularly among Jewish males, in the middle ages, designed to set them apart from gentiles.
Like the tallit and the tzitzit, the kippah is sometimes worn only in ritual circumstances (either in a synagogue or during domestic rituals) and, increasingly in progressive Jewish movements, by both men and women:
Sometimes it is worn all the time, and not just in ritual situations:
Here we see a Jewish man (on the right) having some drinks with his non-Jewish friends (note the pink kippah on his head).
Like the tallit, the kippah can also emerge as a method of blending traditionalism and individuality.
Tefillin (phylacteries). A third physical object used in Jewish ritual are the tefillin or phylacteries (phylacteries means "amulets" in Greek and is not used by Jews; the term tefillin is usually taken as an irregular plural of tefillah, "prayer"; but may have a different root altother): small, hollowed boxes containing verses from the Torah, with straps attached so that the boxes can be strapped to the forearm and the forehead in a rabbinic interpretation of a biblical commandment ("Bind them [the Lord's commandments] as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a frontlet between your eyes" [Deut 6:8]). Since rabbinic times (probably in the early middle ages) these have been used during the daily ritual prayers (not on Sabbath or festivals) by adult (traditionally, adult males), and have gained increasing specificity as to how they are manufactured and put on. More difficult both to acquire and to use, the tefillin are used by Orthodox and some Conservative Jews (among whom it has become more common for women to wear tefillin when they conduct daily prayers):
Here is a Jewish man being instructed in how to put on tefillin by an ultra-Orthodox Jew; the Chabad Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews feel it is their duty to assist every male Jew in performing the mitzvot (commandments), including the increasingly rare commandment to wear tefillin and conduct daily prayers.
In deliberate contrast to modern Jews who restrict their Jewish dress to ritual occasions, or adapt traditional forms with individual style, ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim (who, by definition, will always choose tradition over modernization) have retained a form of archaic dress that immediately marks them off from others. They dress in a manner that is deliberately "un-modern," the way their ancestors dressed in European villages before they were legally emancipated and integrated into modern society. Usually they wear black hats, thick wool suits, and let their beards and sideburns grow out.
Yet even as the haredim inscribe absolute resistance to modernity on their bodies, they are often well integrated into society, at the cultural, political, and economic levels, as these "traditionalist" Jews make clear:
Domestic space
In addition to the Jewish sanctuary and the Jewish body, the Jewish home is often marked off by ritual and other objects that mark the space as Jewish. Some elements are, like the tallit, modern interpretations of rabbinic versions of Scriptural commandments, such as the mezuzah
A mezuzah (literally, "doorpost") is a rabbinic interpretation of a biblical injunction found in Deuteronomy:
And you shall write them [the Lord's commandments] upon the door-posts of your house, and on your gates (Deut 6:9).
Since rabbinic times, this has been interpreted as a commandment to bind certain Scriptural verses in a cylinder and attach them to the entry-ways (both internal and external) of the house, at eye level, as this diagram indicates:
Inside every mezuzah is a piece of rolled parchment containing biblical verses, as pictured here:
Traditionally, the verses are the Shema, and the parchment is rolled up so the first letter of the Shema is visible (a shin, which is visible on the scroll in the picture above).
The mezuzah acts as a subtle sign of Jewishness to the outside world: that is, it serves as a mark to "those who know" that the house is Jewish; yet it is subtle enough that it does not unduly mark out a home.
As a traditional physical marker of Jewishness, the mezuzah is also often a site for blending traditionalism with individual creativity, as in these mezuzot:
Other physical objects often serve to inscribe the domestic space as Jewish, particularly since many traditional religious rituals are conducted in the home, and not in the synagogue. Objects such as candlesticks and wine goblets (used in Sabbath rituals of candle-lighting and blessing over wine) or seder plates (used in the domestic ritual meal conducted at Passover) again provide a means of simultaneously "Jew-ifying" a domestic space while individualizing or adapting that traditional form to new circumstances.
This is a very standard, "traditional" Shabbat ritual set: two sterling silver candlesticks, and a sterling silver wine goblet (to perform the ritual blessing over the wine, the kiddush). There is minimal decoration (symbolic representations of Jerusalem on the kiddush cup).
This is a much more "modern" set: glass, instead of sterling silver, multicolored with abstract decoration instead of the staid, traditional silver filigree of the "traditional" set. They serve exactly the same ritual function as the "traditional" set above, but provide more individual creative expression in the process.
The lighting of the eight-branched candelabra (menorah or chanukiah) is a common domestic ritual during Hanukkah, and the candelabra provides opportunities for traditionalism:
... as wel as individualism...
