Tefillin - An Introduction

(4) HEAR, O ISRAEL: ADONAI IS OUR GOD, ADONAI IS ONE. (5) And thou shalt love Adonai thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; (7) and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. (9) And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

(16) Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. (17) For God's anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that God is assigning to you. (18) Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, (19) and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; (20) and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates— (21) to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that God swore to your fathers to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.

והיה לך לאות AND IT SHALL BE FOR A SIGN UNTO THEE — i. e. the Exodus from Egypt shall be to thee as a sign

על ידך ולזכרון בין עיניך UPON THINE HAND AND AS A MEMORIAL BETWEEN THINE EYES — meaning, that you shall write these paragraphs (verses 1—10 and 11—16) and bind them upon the head and upon the arm.

לאות על ידך, according to the true meaning: an exhortation that this memory should be with you permanently, as if the subject matter had literally been inscribed on your hand. We find a similar syntax in Song of Songs 8,6 שימי כחותם על לבך, “place it on your heart as if it had been engraved there like a seal,” בין עיניך, like a precious jewel which one places on one’s forehead as a decoration.

§ And Rav Chananel says that Rav says: The requirement to have the titora of phylacteries, i.e., the base of phylacteries upon which the compartments rest, is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. Abaye said: The requirement to have the ma’ebarta of phylacteries, i.e., the passageway through which the straps are inserted, is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. And Abaye says: The requirement to have a letter shin protruding on the phylacteries of one’s head, which is achieved by pressing the hide into the shape of that letter, is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai... Rabbi Yitzchak says: The requirement that the straps of the phylacteries be black is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai...

As it is taught: “And you shall observe this ordinance in its season from year [miyamim] to year” (Exodus 13:10). This indicates that these commandments apply during the days [yamim] but not during the nights. Furthermore, the letter mem, meaning from, in the term: “From year [miyamim],” teaches: These mitzvot apply on some days, but not on all days. This excludes Shabbatot and Festivals. This is the statement of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili. Rabbi Akiva says: This verse, mentioning an ordinance, is stated only with regard to the Paschal offering!

Rabba bar Rav Huna derives the exemption from the obligation to don phylacteries on Shabbat from a different source, the source where Rabbi Akiva derives it from, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Akiva says: One might have thought that a person should don phylacteries on Shabbatot and Festivals. To counter this, the verse states: “And it shall be for a sign for you on your arm, and for a remembrance between your eyes, so that God’s law shall be in your mouth; for with a strong arm God brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:9). This teaches that the obligation to don phylacteries applies when the Jewish people require a sign, to exclude Shabbatot and Festivals, as they themselves are signs.

Rabbi Elazar says: Anyone who dons phylacteries after sunset violates a positive mitzva. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: He violates a prohibition.

Upon donning his tefillin on his arm, one should recite: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us to don tefillin.

Upon donning tefillin on his head one should recite: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us with regard to the mitzva of tefillin.

§ Rav Ḥisda says: If one spoke between donning the phylacteries of the arm and the phylacteries of the head, he must recite the blessing again when donning the phylacteries of the head. The Gemara notes: One can infer that if he spoke, yes, he must recite a blessing when donning the phylacteries of the head, but if he did not speak, he does not recite a blessing. The Gemara challenges this: But Rav Ḥiyya, son of Rav Huna, sent a ruling in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: On the phylacteries of the arm one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us to don phylacteries. On the phylacteries of the head one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us concerning the mitzva of phylacteries. This indicates that one always recites a blessing when donning the phylacteries of the head. Abaye and Rava both say, to resolve this apparent contradiction: Rabbi Yoḥanan meant that if one did not speak, he recites one blessing; if he spoke, he recites two.

(3) Tefillin have ten details that are all halakhah according to Moses from Sinai, and all of them prevent tefillin from being fit, therefore if one changes one of them those are unfit tefillin. Two of these are with regards to their writing, and eight of them are regarding the covering and the tying of the straps. These are the two regarding their writing: They must be written in ink, and they must be written on parchment.

There are eight halachot with regards to the making of tefillin that are halakhah from Moses at Sinai, and therefore each of them prevent tefillin from being fit, and if one changes but one of them, they are unfit, and they are:

1. They must be square, and they are sewn shut in a square, and they casing must be square on all sides.

2. In the leather of the headpiece is the shape of a shin on the right and on the left.

3. The parchments must be tied with a piece of parchment.

4. The parchments must then be tied with hair above the scrap, and then placed into the compartments.

5. They must be tied shut with sinew.

6. They must be made with a passage from leather covering that straps can pass through easily.

7. The straps must be black.

​8. They knot must be in the shape of a dalet.

(2) The Tefillin Shel Yad is bound on the left arm over the biceps muscle which is the flesh that stands out on the upper arm that is intermediate between the shoulder-blade and forearm, so that when the upper arm is held close to the ribs, the Tefillin will be opposite the heart and thus the precept will be fulfilled, "And these words … shall be upon thine heart" (Deuteronomy 6:6).

Intention before putting on tefillin:

(1) By putting on tefillin, I intend to fulfill the command of my Creator, who has commanded us to wear tefillin, as it is written in the Torah:

"You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes."

The tefillin contain four sections of the Torah which proclaim the absolute unity of God, blessed be God's name, and remind us of the miracles and wonders which God did for us when God brought us out from Egypt, the One who has the power and the dominion over the heavenly and earthly creatures to deal with them according to divine will.

(2) God has commanded us to wear tefillin on the arm in memory of God's outstretched arm; opposite the heart, to suggest that we ought to subject our heart's desires and designs to the service of God, blessed be; and on the head opposite the brain, to suggest that the mind which is in the brain, and all senses and faculties, ought to be subjected to serving the One, blessed be.

(3) May my observance of the mitzva of tefillin bring me long life, holy inspiration and sacred thoughts, and free me from any sinful reflection whatever. May the evil impulse never tempt us, but leave us to serve the Lord as our heart desires.

May I do this mitzva perfectly - and even if I make mistakes, may it be as if I did it perfectly!

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us to wear tefillin.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the precept of tefillin.

Blessed be the name of his glorious majesty for all time.

I betroth you to myself forever. I betroth you to myself in righteousness and in justice, in kindness and in mercy. I betroth you to myself in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

(18) And in that day —declares the LORD— You will call [Me] Ishi, And no more will you call Me Baali. (19) For I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, And they shall nevermore be mentioned by name. (20) In that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; I will also banish bow, sword, and war from the land. Thus I will let them lie down in safety. (21) And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, And with goodness and mercy, (22) And I will espouse you with faithfulness; Then you shall be devoted to God.

What did Moses see? It is said: “And I will remove My hand, and you will see My back, but My face you will not see” (Exodus 33:23). Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida, the expression: “And you will see My back,” should be understood as follows: This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who, as mentioned above, wears tefillin, showed him the knot of the tefillin of His head, which is worn on the back of the head.