riests and an
holy nation" (Ex. xix. 5 sq.; cf. Is. lxi. 6), certain outward signs
assumed a new significance and continued to be cherished by orthodox
Jews as tokens of their faith. The tassels attached by blue threads to
the four corners of the outer garment were unique only as regards the
special meaning attached to them (Num. xv. 37-41; Deut. xxii. 12), and
when in the middle ages they marked out the Jew for persecution they
were transferred to a small under-garment (the little _t[=a]l[=i]th_),
the proper _t[=a]l[=i]th_ being worn over the head in the synagogue.
Similarly, sentences bound on the left arm or placed upon the forehead
(Deut. xi. 18, cf. the high priest's plate) find analogies in the means
taken elsewhere to ensure the protection of or to manifest one's
adherence to a deity; the novelty lies in the part these sentences took
in the religion (see PHYLACTERY). While the particular prohibition
regarding the beard and hair in Lev. xix. 27 (cf. Ezek. xliv. 20) was
for the avoidance of heathen customs, the _p[=e]y[=o]th_ or long curls
which became typical in the middle ages are reminiscent of the
Horns-curl of Egypt and the Mahommedan "heaven lock" and evidently
served as positive distinctive marks. Apart from these details later
Jewish dress does not belong to this section. In the Greek and Roman
period foreign influence shows itself very strongly in the introduction
of novelties of costume and of classical terms, and the subject belongs
rather to the Greek and Roman dress of the age.[23] Two conflicting
tendencies were constantly at work, and reached their climax in the
middle ages. There was an anxiety to avoid articles of dress peculiar to
other religions, especially when these were associated with religious
practices; and there was a willingness to refrain from costume contrary
to the customs of an unsympathetic land. On the one hand, there was a
conservatism which is exemplified when the Jews in course of immigration
took with them the characteristic dress of their former adopted home, or
when they remained unmoved by the changes of the Renaissance. On the
other hand, the prominent badge enforced by Pope Innocent III. in 1215
was intended to prevent Jews from being mistaken for Christians, and
similarly in Mahommedan lands they were compelled to wear some
distinctive indication of their sect. Thus the many quaint and
interesting features of later Jewish costume have arisen from certain
specific causes, an