Tefillin

Tefillin ( or ; ), or phylacteries, are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are traditionally worn by male adult Jews during Shacharit on weekdays.

In Orthodox and traditional Conservative Jewish (including Masorti) communities, they are worn solely by men; some Reform and Conservative communities allow Jewish adults to don tefillin regardless of gender. In Jewish law (Halakha), women are exempt from most time-dependent positive commandments (including the wearing of tefillin). Unlike other time-dependent positive commandments, most halakhic authorities rule that female Jews need not fulfill this commandment.

"Tefillin" is technically the plural form of "tefillah" () but oftentimes used as a singular noun. The arm tefillah () is placed on the upper (non-dominant) arm, and the strap wrapped around the forelimb, hand, and middle finger. The head tefillah () is placed between the eyes at the boundary of the forehead and hair. The tefillin are intended to fulfill the Torah's instructions to maintain a continuous "sign" and "remembrance" of the Exodus from Egypt. While historically, Jewish males wore tefillin all day, this is no longer common. The general practice today is to remove them following morning services.

The biblical verses often cited as referring to tefillin are obscure. Deuteronomy 11:18, for example, for instance, does not designate explicitly what specifically to "bind upon [one's] arm", and the definition of "totafot between [one's] eyes" is not obvious. The details are expounded in the Oral Torah. At least as early as the , many Jews understood the biblical commandment to wear tefillin literally and wore some form of physical tefillin, as shown by archaeological finds at Qumran and a reference made in Matthew 23 of the Christian New Testament. However, Karaite Judaism understands the biblical commandment to be metaphorical.

thumb|Man wearing arm- and head-tefillin at the [[Western Wall in 2009]]

Biblical source

The obligation of tefillin is mentioned four times in the Torah: twice when recalling The Exodus from Egypt:

and twice in the Shema passages:

Etymology

thumb|[[Levantine man wearing arm wrappings and a headband similar to tefillin (, Tomb of Horemheb in Saqqara)]]

In the Hebrew Bible, tefillin are referred to as (), the plural of (ṭoṭepheth), meaning "headband" or "frontlet". Jeffrey H. Tigay argued that the word originally meant "headband", as ornamental bands encircling the head were common among Levantine populations in the Hebrew Biblical period. The scholarly consensus is that is derived from a reduplicated root ṭ-p-ṭ-p () meaning "to encircle" (related to Arabic ṭāfa, "go around" or "encircle") with the feminine suffix -t.

Rabbi Akiva, in Sanhedrin 4b, argued the word (ṭoṭepheth) to be a combination of two foreign words: meant "two" in the Coptic language and meant "two" in the "Afriki" language, hence, and means "two and two", corresponding to the four compartments of the head tefillah. This would appear to be an early attempt at etymology. Menahem ben Saruq explains that the word is derived from the Hebrew and , both expressions meaning "speech"—"for when one sees the tefillin it causes him to remember and speak about the Exodus from Egypt".

The first texts to use the word (tefillin) are the Targumim and Peshitta, and it is also used in subsequent Talmudic literature. The word "phylactery" occurs once (in ACC PL) in the Greek New Testament, whence it has passed into the languages of Europe. Maimonides details of the sanctity of tefillin and writes that "as long as the tefillin are on the head and on the arm of a man, he is modest and God-fearing and will not be attracted by hilarity or idle talk; he will have no evil thoughts, but will devote all his thoughts to truth and righteousness". Joseph Caro (16th century) explains that tefillin are placed on the arm adjacent to the heart and on the head above the brain to demonstrate that these two major organs are willing to perform the service of God.

Many have the custom to have high-quality tefillin and beautiful tefillin bags as a hiddur mitzvah. This idea comes from the verse "This is my God and I will glorify Him" (). The Jewish Sages explain: "Is it possible for a human being to add glory to his Creator? What this really means is: I shall glorify Him in the way I perform mitzvot. I shall prepare before Him a beautiful lulav, beautiful sukkah, beautiful fringes (Tsitsit), and beautiful phylacteries (Tefilin)."

Some non-Orthodox scholars think that tefillin may play an apotropaic function. For instance, Yehudah B. Cohn argues that the tefillin should be perceived as an invented tradition aimed at counteracting the popularity of the Greek amulets with an "original" Jewish one. Joshua Trachtenberg considered every ornament worn on the body (whatever its declared function) as initially serving the purpose of an amulet.

In addition, the early Rabbinic sources furnish more or less explicit examples of the apotropaic qualities of tefillin. For instance, Numbers Rabbah 12:3 presents tefillin as capable of defeating "a thousand demons" emerging on "the left side", rabbis Yohanan and Nahman used their sets to repel the demons inhabiting privies, whereas Elisha the Winged, who was scrupulous in performing this mitzvah, was miraculously saved from the Roman persecution. Also, tefillin are believed to possess life-lengthening qualities, and they are often listed in one breath among various items which are considered amuletic in nature. Though tefillin are sometimes mentioned together with amulets in the Talmud due to certain similarities of form, they are never identified as such, but specifically differentiated from them.

Manufacture and contents

thumb|[[Ashkenazi head tefillin, Jerusalem, Israel]]

thumb|Leather moulded into shape for the head-tefillin

thumb|Silver and leather teffilin case made in Germany in 1885

The manufacturing processes of tefillin are intricate and governed by hundreds of detailed rules.

Boxes

In earlier Talmudic times, tefillin were either cylindrical or cubical, but later the cylindrical form became obsolete. Nowadays the boxes should be fashioned from a single piece of animal hide and form a base with an upper compartment to contain the parchment scrolls. They are made in varying levels of quality. The most basic form, called peshutim ("simple"), are made using several pieces of parchment to form the inner walls of the head tefillin. The higher quality tefillin, namely dakkot ("thin"), made by stretching a thin piece of leather, and the more durable gassot ("thick") are both fashioned from the single piece of hide.

The main box which holds the tefillin scrolls, known as ketzitzah (קציצה), is cubical. Below it is a wider base known as the titura (תיתורא). At the back of the titura is a passageway (ma'avarta, מעברתא) through which the tefillin strap is threaded, to tie the tefillin in place.

On both sides of the head-tefillin, the Hebrew letter shin () is moulded; the shin on the wearer's left side has four branches instead of three.

Nowadays it is customary to paint the tefillin black, but archaeological findings show that it is not certain that it was always this way.

Straps

Black leather straps (retsu'ot) pass through the rear of the base and are used to secure the tefillin onto the body. A stringent opinion requires them to be black on the inner side too, but more commonly the inner side is left the color of leather.

The Talmud specifies that tefillin straps must be long enough to reach one's middle finger, and records the practice of Rav Aha bar Jacob to tie and then "matleit" (plait? wind three times?) them. However, the passage leaves unclear where the measuring is done from, whether the reference is to hand- or head-tefillin, and what exactly the meaning of "matleit" is. Combining and interpreting the Talmud's statements, Maimonides, Tur, and Shulchan Aruch ruled that the strap of hand-tefillin must reach from where the tefillin is placed on the arm, as far as the middle finger, where it must be wound three times around the middle finger. Rema wrote that it is not necessary to wind around the finger (rather, the straps must be long enough that one could wind around the finger); however, this leniency does not appear in his comments to the Shulchan Aruch. In addition to the windings around the finger, the Shulchan Aruch states that the custom is to wind six or seven times around the forearm.

Parchment scrolls

thumb|Man makes boxes for tefillin, Jerusalem, 1964

thumb|Man makes tefillin, Jerusalem, 1949. Photo by [[Boris Carmi]]

The four biblical passages which refer to the tefillin, mentioned above, are written on scrolls and placed inside the leather boxes. This is because the verses describe the hand-tefillin in the singular ("sign"), while in three of four verses, the head-tefillin is described in the plural ("totafot").

The passages are written by a scribe with special ink on parchment scrolls (klaf).

The texts have to be written with halachically acceptable (acceptable according to Jewish law) ink on halachically acceptable parchment. There are precise rules for writing the texts and any error invalidates it. For example, the letters of the text must be written in order - if a mistake is found later, it cannot be corrected as the replacement letter would have been written out of sequence. There are 3188 letters on the parchments, and it can take a sofer (scribe) as long as 15 hours to write a complete set.

Ordering of scrolls (Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin)

Talmudic commentators debated the order in which scrolls should be written in the hand tefillin and inserted into the four compartments of the head-tefillin. There are two additional opinions of the Shimusha Rabba and the Raavad, who hold that like Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam respectively, but they hold that the scrolls are placed in the head tefillin in mirror image of those opinions.

It is often claimed that of the tefillin dating from the 1st century CE discovered at Qumran in the Judean Desert, some were made according to the order understood by Rashi and others in the order of Rabbeinu Tam;

Nowadays, the prevailing custom is to arrange the scrolls according to Rashi's view, but some pious Jews are also accustomed to briefly lay the tefillin of Rabbeinu Tam as well, The Vilna Gaon, who wore the tefillin of Rashi, rejected the stringency of also laying Rabbeinu Tam, pointing out that there were 64 possible arrangements of the tefillin scrolls, and it would not be practical to put on 64 different sets of tefillin to account for all possibilities. The Shulchan Aruch rules that only "one who is known and famous for his piety" should put on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, while the Mishnah Brurah explains that if any other person puts on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, it is a sign of arrogance.

The placement of the protrusion of a tuft of calf hairs (se'ar eigel) identifies as to which opinion the tefillin were written.

Obligation and gender

The legal duty of laying tefillin rests solely upon Jewish males above the age of thirteen years, women are exempt from this obligation. the prevalent practice among religious Jews has strongly discouraged women from wearing tefillin. Maimonides counts the commandment of laying the arm-tefillin and head-tefillin as two separate positive mitzvot. The Talmud cites Rav Sheshet, who said that by neglecting the precept, one transgresses eight positive commandments. A report of widespread laxity in its observance is reported by Moses of Coucy in 13th-century Spain. It may have arisen from the fear of persecution, similar to what had occurred to the Jews living in the Land of Israel under Roman rule in the second century, It has been popularly claimed that Rashi's daughters (12th century) and the wife of Chaim ibn Attar (18th century) wore tefillin, but there is no historical evidence to back these claims. There was never a widely accepted practice of women wearing tefillin prior to 20th century progressive Judaism, though historical sources suggest it was done in some communities prior to the advent of progressive Judaism.

In modern times, men have not been the only ones to elect to wear tefillin. Within the Orthodox movement, it remains a male-only religious obligation, but in egalitarian movements women might opt to observe this practice as a social statement. Women affiliated with the Conservative movement often wrap tefillin. Since 2013, SAR High School in Riverdale, New York, has allowed girls to wrap tefillin during morning prayer; it is probably the first Modern Orthodox high school in the U.S. to do so. The wearing of tefillin by members of Women of the Wall at the Western Wall caused consternation from the rabbi in charge of the site until a Jerusalem District Court judge ruled in 2013 that doing so was not a violation of "local custom". In 2018, a group of students from Hebrew College, a non-denominational rabbinical school in Boston, created a series of YouTube videos to help female and transgender Jews learn how to wrap tefillin.

Use

thumb|Old man with a tefillin in Podolsk,

thumb|right|200px|Arm-tefillin with ש (shin) pattern, according to one of the [[Ashkenazim|Ashkenazi opinions]]

Sometimes tefillin were worn all day, but not during the night. Nowadays the prevailing custom is to wear them only during the weekday morning service, although some individuals wear them at other times during the day as well. Observant Jews make a tremendous effort to don Tefillin at the appropriate time every morning, even in crowded airports. Tefillin are not donned on Shabbat and the major festivals because these holy days are themselves considered "signs" which render the need of the "sign" of tefillin superfluous.

On the fast day of Tisha B'Av, Ashkenazim and some Sephardim do not wear tefillin during the morning (Shacharit) service and they are worn instead at the afternoon service (Mincha). Other Sephardim (following the Kabbalah) wear tefillin at Shacharit as usual.

Chol HaMoed

On Chol HaMoed (intermediate days) of Pesach and Sukkot, there is a great debate among the early halachic authorities as to whether tefillin should be worn or not. Those who forbid it consider the "sign" of intermediate days as having the same status as the festival itself, making the ritual of tefillin redundant. Others argue and hold that Chol HaMoed does not constitute a "sign" in which case tefillin must be laid.

Laws and customs regarding putting on tefillin

thumb|[[Israel Defense Forces soldier Asael Lubotzky prays with tefillin.]]

Standard Ashkenazi practice is to put on and remove the arm tefillin while standing in accordance to the Shulchan Aruch, while most Sephardim do so while sitting in accordance with the Ari. All, however, put on and remove the head tefillin while standing. Halacha forbids speaking or being distracted while putting on the tefillin. The Sephardic custom is that no blessing is said for the head-tefillin, the first blessing sufficing for both.

The arm-tefillin is laid on the inner side of the bare left arm, right arm if one is left handed, two finger breadths above the elbow, so that when the arm is bent the tefillin faces towards the heart. The knot of the head-tefillin sits at the back of the head, upon the part of the occipital bone that protrudes just above the nape. The two straps of the head-tefillin are brought in front of the shoulders, with their blackened side facing outwards.

German Jews also did not tie a finger earlier. But later they put on arm-Tefillah with a knot on biceps while standing, then put on head-Tefillah, and after that they wind seven wraps around forearm (counting by the seven Hebrew words of ), and three wraps around a finger.

thumb|Tefillin wrapping custom of the Rodrigues-Pereira family

Some Western Sephardic families such as the Rodrigues-Pereira family have developed a personalized family wrapping method.

Biblical commandments

right|300px|thumb|Two paragraphs that conclude [[Bo (parsha)|Parashat Bo are included in the scroll in addition to the first two paragraphs of Shema Yisrael.]]

{| class="wikitable"

! Location

! Passage

| Exodus 13:1–10: Kadesh Li— the duty of the Jewish people to remember the redemption from Egyptian bondage.

| And the spoke to Moses, saying: 'Sanctify to Me all the first-born, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal, it is Mine.' And Moses said to the people: 'Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the brought you out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten. This day you go forth in the Spring month. And it shall be when the shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He swore unto your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast to the . Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you, in all your borders. And so shall you tell your son on that day, saying: It is because of that which the did for me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign for you upon your hand, and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has the brought you out of Egypt. You shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

| Exodus 13:11–16: Ve-haya Ki Yeviakha— the obligation of every Jew to inform his or her children on these matters.

| When the brings you into the land of the Canaanite, as He swore unto you and to your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the all that opens the womb; every firstborn animal shall be the 'S. Every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a sheep, and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and all the first-born of man among your sons shall you redeem. And when your son asks you in time to come, saying: What is this? say to him: By strength of hand the bring us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; and when Pharaoh found it hard to let us go the killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of animals; therefore I sacrifice to the all males that open the womb, and redeem all my first-born sons. And it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and as "totafot" between your eyes; for by strength of hand the brought us forth out of Egypt.

| Deuteronomy 6:4–9: Shema— pronouncing the Unity of the One God.

| Hear, O Israel: the our God, the is one. And you shall love the your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; and teach them thoroughly to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the road, and when you lie down, and when you get up. And tie them for a sign upon your hand, and let them be "totafot" between your eyes. And write them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates.

| Deuteronomy 11:13–21: Ve-haya Im Shamoa— God's assurance of reward for observance of the Torah's precepts and warning of retribution for disobedience.

| If you listen to My commandments which I command you today, to love the your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give the rain of your land in its season, the early and the late rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. Take care for yourselves, lest your heart be seduced, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and the anger of the be lit against you, and He shut up the heaven, so that there shall be no rain, and the ground not yield her fruit; and you be quickly lost from off the good land which the gives you. Put these words of Mine on your heart and on your soul; tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be "totafot" between your eyes. Teach them to your children, to speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the road, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And write them on the door-posts of your house, and upon your gates; so that your days, and those of your children, may be multiplied upon the land which the swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

References

External links

Halachic sources and diagrams on Tefillin on a commercial site
Many pictures and explanations about Tefillin, the parshiyot and batim
Educational information and diagrams of tefillin on a commercial site
Short movie about Tefillin producing process
How to Guide to Putting on Tefillin
One who performs all labor and activities with his left hand except for writing, should he be wearing the tefillin shel yad on his right hand?;
Illustrations on how to tie the knot (kesher) in the head phylactery, Ashkenazi and Sephardic methods, pp. 627–630 in PDF.
Enhance your knowledge regarding Tefillin; at Vaad Meleches HaKodesh