The Tallis; The Jewish Prayer Shawl

I have a question:
I am a non-Jew and I would like to know what the signs or symbols on one edge of the prayer shawl mean, also, do they signify anything special with regard to prayer? As the Lay Leader of my church, I lead a class on the Bible and during discussions certain aspects of Jewish ritual are asked to be explained. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Thank you.

About me: George McCulloch
My e-mail address: susalba@worldnet.att.net
How I found this site: surfing the web.

Thanks for your question, George.

The letters embroidered on the collars of some prayer shawls are just the words of the blessing that is recited before donning the shawl.

But the long fringes at the corners --- their number of threads, and their pattern of winding and knotting --- have deep significance. Their pattern spells "G-d is One" via gematria, and they "add up" to 613 (the number of commandments incumbent on free, male Jews) which is a reference to the function of the explicit Biblical commandment to don fringes.

---Jordan