Mary, I'm getting increasingly impressed with MyJewishLearning.com. It explains the custom of wearing during the day here:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/Prayer/Ritual_Garb/Tallit.htm

I don't think there's any prohibition on wearing it other times. Some Orthodox wear the 'Tallit Katan" all the time.

But I think the general idea traditionally is that you don't go beyond what is commanded, as that is difficult enough.

Of course the Reform approach to ritual has had a different rationale. I think both what is meaningful to you and to the others you pray with are important considerations.

Personally, I find the Tallit beautiful and inspiring, but the kippah looks a little silly. Still it's moving when you have a whole bunch of people wearing it as a sign of reverence.

The commandment is to SEE the fringes, and in so doing, remember all of the other commandments. The Torah does not, in fact, command us to wear the fringes during morning prayer--the Torah is not even aware of the existence of shacharit!

The command falls under the category of time-bound commandments. That is, it must be done daily, though not at a particular time of day. Really, the command would be fulfilled if you did during mincha. Or for a minute before your 10 a.m. coffee break, for that matter.

We do it during shacharit because the assumption is that shacharit falls early in your day, once the sun is up. It is important for the sun to be up so that we can SEE the tzitzit. If shacharit is daily and occurs when the sun is up, it's a good time to fulfill the command.

At night, however, the sun is no longer up and thus it is dark. The idea being that with the sun down, you can't SEE the tzitzit.

Now, of course there are two problems with this. One is the obvious existence of light bulbs. The second is more complicated. If all of my above reasoning sounds little "Orthodox," there's a reason for that. We Reform Jews tend not to think of these things in halachic terms.

As you say, Mary, "I feel safe and cozy and experience a sense of balance and oneness with the One that is missing when I don't wear it." We think about it as a more esoteric spiritual exercise. Both of those little issues being the case, why not wear it at night?

I do wear a talit katan every day, and I also wear large black and white talit during prayer. I wear them for different reasons. I wear the talit gadol like a sports uniform--it prepares me for an activity seperate from my mundane life.

I wear my talit katan kind of because of the commandment. I call the tzitzit my "anti-asshole fringes." When I SEE them, I am reminded to be less of a dick to the people around, I recall my obligations.

M.B., you are correct that no one requires the wearing of a talit gadol at any time. However, the Torah does clearly demand wearing the fringes that are on the "shawl." You mention that even in early Reform days, some Rabbi wore them. You seem totally okay with Rabbis wearing them. Why is that?

I hope that as a pluralistic society, we've moved to a point where we can get over people looking different from us. Is it unnecessarily divisive for black people to continue looking black in public?

Would I make you more comfortable if I wore my talit katan with my fringes under my pants, rather than hanging out as I currently do?

Is it bad for some people to wear different styles of clothing in our pluralistic society? Is it bad for women to wear things that men don't usually wear, like dresses?

The key to the word pluralism is plural. As in multiple different things.

David Wilinsky has got much it right. As I understand it, the mitzvah is not to wear a tallit, but to wear titzit (tassels) on corner of a garment with four corners. The word tallit is generic for garment. For example, the Talmud (the first Mishna in Baba Metziah) discusses the case of two people who has a dispute about a tallit, meaning a garment. Almost all of the Halachah deals with the qualities of the tzitit, and little about the garment itself. The blessing, we should note is "l'isatef ba'tzitzit" which translates as "to wrap in tzitzitf" and not a blessing over the wearing of a tallit.

Wilinsky is correct that women are not obligated in the mitzvah of tzitizit because the obligation exists only when one can "see" the tzitzit (i.e., in the daytime) and women are not obligated in most positive mitzvot that are time bound.

We wear a tallit at shachrit as a matter of "doubling up" on mitzvot. Since prayer is a mitzvah, and we recite the portion dealing with tzitzit, it is appropriate that we wear tzitzit. (Yes, I know that those passages are not found in the Reform siddur.)In the same way that many people make the blessing over the etrog and lulav while standing in the sukkah.

By the way, on Yom Kippur eve, the practice is to put on the tallit before Kol Nidre while it is still technically daytime. (see Cnatorpenny's response)

We need to avoid confusing two issues. One is whether and when to wear tzitzit and a tallis. The second is the reciting of a blessing (b'racha) over the tzitzit. There is nothing wrong with putting on a tallit at midnight. The real question is whether one should say the blessing if one does so. With regard to women, the question would also be whether they should recite a blessing given that they are not obligated to wear Tzitzit.

The wearing of Tallit is mandated in the Torah as others have stated. The wearing in daylight only is a traditional practice but does NOT mean you can not wear one anytime, all the time or at night. It was merely not a common practice but in the modern age, if you feel closer to g*d as I do when I wear mine, by all means let no one tell you that you are not allowed.

And yes, some Reform Jews do wear tallit and kippahs on Shabbat and daily as well.

In Israel, a Jew may be arrested and charged with a felony for wearing a tallit (prayer shawl) as in the case of Norfrat Frenkel, a 5th year medical student caught praying with the Women of the Wall group. She may also be prevented from practicing medicine in Israel because of this religious crime.

As an American who would not personally wear a tallit, I find the imposition of ultra-Orthodox rules on people of other faiths to be abhorent. A state which claims to be a "Jewish state" should allow religious freedom for all people.