If you've ever seen a Jewish man with strings hanging out of his clothing, this is probably what you were seeing. There is no particular religious significance to the tallit (shawl) itself, other than the fact that it holds the tzitzit (fringes) on its corners.
Sound pressure or acoustic pressure is the local pressure deviation from the ambient (average, or equilibrium) atmospheric pressure, caused by a sound wave. In air, sound pressure can be measured using a microphone, and in water with a hydrophone. The SI unit of sound pressure is the pascal (Pa).
In most sound references, dB means dB in reference to (as a ratio over) 'X'.. Where 'X' is a reference level. I think the reference used is the sound pressure which is the threshold of human hearing. So a sound with 10 times the POWER of that reference would be 10 dB. A sound with POWER 100 times the reference would be 20 dB. The answer to your question is: It can be. Sound intensity (if expressed as a pressure) and Sound Pressure Level (SPL) are the same. But neither is power. Sound power is proportional to sound pressure squared. Thus, if you increase sound PRESSURE by a factor of 10, you have increased POWER by a factor of 10^2 = 100.