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Friday

י"ט אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

Friday
י"ט אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

חיפוש בארכיון

Mitzvah 422) The commandment of tefillin of the head.

Parshas Vaeschanan

“and they shall be as tefillin between your eyes” (Devarim 6,8)

It is a positive commandment to lay tefillin on the head as it says “and they shall be as tefillin between your eyes”.  As was explained in the previous commandment (concerning tefillin of the arm), within the realms of this commandment is the writing of the four chapters of the Torah and (with tefillin of the head,) the commandment is to lay them on our heads.  The reason we use these four chapters rather than any other chapters in the Torah is because they contain the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, the Oneness of Hashem and the topic of the Exodus from Egypt which enforces belief in the constant renewal of the world and the supervision of G-d in the lower worlds and these are the foundations of the Jewish faith.  We are commanded to lay these “foundations” each day between our eyes and on the place of our hearts because these two limbs are the home of the intellect and when we lay (the tefillin) upon them as a reminder, we are strengthened in these (beliefs), add a reminder of the ways of Hashem, may He be blessed, and merit eternal life.

I will inform you of the difference between tefillin of the head and tefillin of the arm: the leather of which the tefillin of the arm consists is made of one compartment and we lay there the four chapters on one parchment, whereas the leather of the (tefillin of the) head is divided into four compartments and in each one we lay one of these four chapters.

With regard to the tefillin of the head, whilst the leather of the box is still damp, we form the shape of the letter shin with three heads on the right side of the person laying the tefillin, and the shape of the letter shin with four heads on the left side of the person laying the tefillin and then we put the strap for the head through the leather that is left at the edge of the box and then, with the strap, measure the head of the person laying the tefillin and then make a knot in the shape of a letter dalet at that place.  This shape is impossible to describe in writing and each person teaches his students and it is well known between us, the holy people.

The place where we lay the tefillin on the head is opposite the brain, the place where the brain of a baby pulses, and this is the explanation which is accepted by us in the verse “and they shall be as tefillin between your eyes”. This is what is called “between the eyes” and if one were to lay tefillin literally between the eyes, it would contradict the words of kabbalah.  The rest of the details of the commandment and all its intricacies are the same as the previous commandment.