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In Numbers 15:37-41 and Deut. 22:12, the Israelites were commanded to wear fringes, tassels, or twisted coils on the corner of their garments to remind them of YEHOVAH's commandments and the necessity of obeying them. There were 39 windings in each, which equals the numerical value of the Hebrew words "the Lord is One." It is awesome to realize that the Messiah suffered the same number of stripes for our healing. (Is. 53:5; I Pet. 2:24) Even today the Jewish people say that the Talis (Prayer Shawl) 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. It is used at all major Jewish occasions -- circumcisions, barmitsvahs, weddings and burials. It protects the scrolls of the Torah when they are moved. The dead are wrapped in it when they are buried. The bride and bridegroom are covered with the canopy of the prayer shawl. (Some wrap them in it, while others have the whole wedding party stand under it.) When the state of Israel was founded it inspired the Jewish flag. Three separate people had the same idea -- they just unfurled the prayer shawl and added the Shield of David.