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).
While sound pressure measurements should give a reading of the sound pressure in dB SPL, in the context of human hearing it is more practical to provide also a value which corresponds more closely to the hearing sensation or loudness in phones.