The Jewish prayer shawl commonly given to a boy at a bar mitzvah and worn during prayer is called a tallit.
A tallit is a rectangular garment with ritual fringes, called tzitzit, attached to its corners. The fringes recall the biblical commandments and are intended to help the wearer remember them. A tallit is generally worn during morning prayer, though practices vary by community.
Many families present a tallit to a bar mitzvah celebrant as a meaningful gift connected with taking on Jewish religious responsibilities. In some communities, people begin wearing a tallit at bar mitzvah age; in others, the custom may begin earlier, later, or differ by gender and denomination.
A tallit is different from tefillin, the leather prayer boxes worn during weekday morning prayer, and from a kippah, the small head covering worn by many Jewish men and boys. A synagogue’s Torah curtain or eternal light is also unrelated to the tallit.