There are certain ritual items that — while not used by Reform Jews — are a very important part of Orthodox Judaism. An example of this are Tefillin, which are worn by all Orthodox and some Conservative Jews, who take the source of the commandment of Tefillin literally, as it appears in the passage of Shema Yisrael:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day…. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead. (Deuteronomy 6:5-8)

While Tefillin are not part of Reform Jewish ritual, we must acknowledge the importance of these items of faith to those who use them, thus their inclusion on this site.

What are Tefillin?

Tefillin are passages from the Torah that are written on parchment and are placed within leather batim (casements), with leather straps attached to the batim. These straps are used to bind the batim and the parchment Torah passages within them on one's arm and hand and on one's head.

The four passages are written on a single parchment in the hand Tefillin (tefillin shel yad), while in the head Tefillin (tefillin shel rosh) each passage is written on a separate parchment, so that each passage can be placed within one of the four compartments in the head Tefillin. These inner compartments of the head Tefillin also are called "batim."

The four passages are:
"Consecrate to Me every first-born" (Exodus 13:1-10)
"And when the Lord has brought you" (Exodus 13:11-16)
"Shema Yisrael — Hear, O Israel" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
"If, then, you obey" (Deuteronomy 11:13-21)

Four Biblical passages are inserted in the Tefillin:

• Kadesh ("Sanctify to Me," Exodus 13, 1-10).
  In this passage, God blesses the Children of Israel that they may be a holy nation even in the Desert.
  
  
• V'haya ki y'viacha ("And when He brings you," Exodus 13, 11-16). Here God blesses the Children of Israel that they may be a holy nation when they enter the Land of Israel.
  
  
• Shema ("Hear O Israel," Deuteronomy 6, 4-9).
  This verse speaks of the unity of God.
  
  
• V'haya im shamo'a ("And if you hearken," Deuteronomy 11, 13-21).
  This verse stresses the responsibility of fulfilling the commandments.

Two types of "Shin"

The three-headed "shin" symbolizes the Patriarchs — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov.
The four-headed "shin" symbolizes the four Matriarchs — Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah.
The merits of the Patriarchs is on the right.
The merit of the Matriarchs is on the left.

An additional explanation:
The numerical value of the shin is 300.
Twice 300 = 600.
The two shins together form the word 'shesh,' which means six (= 6), thus giving us 606. When we add the seven heads of the two shins, we reach the number 613 — the number of commandments in the Torah.

When we lay tefillin, we thus remember that we desire to fulfill all 613 commandments.

An Allusion to the Resurrection of the Dead

The strips of parchment that cover the Biblical passages, the hair, and the tendons (the special thread used to sew the passage of the bayit, made from the tendons of ritually-clean animals) — in all this we may see an intimation and a symbol of the resurrection of the dead, as follows:

The body of the verses written within (= the script) — symbolizes the body of a man:
The parchment on which the verses are inscribed — symbolizes our flesh.
The thread used for sewing the tefillin — symbolizes the tendons of our body.
The strips of parchment on which the verses are inscribed — symbolize our clothing.
All this intimates that those who fear Heaven and lay tefillin will merit life after death.

The connection between tefillin and the seven blessings of the marriage service.

The tefillin symbolize the eternal bond between Israel and our Father in Heaven. In Shir HaShirim ("The Song of Songs"), which is described by Rabbi Akiva as the "Holy of Holies," the Nation of Israel is compared to a bride — the bride of the "groom," the Holy One, blessed be He. We therefore bind our tefillin around our arm seven times, reminding us of the seven blessings in the marriage ceremony — the bond between the bride and her groom.

The straps that are bound around the middle finger indicate the ring that the groom places on his bride's finger under the wedding canopy.

The weak hand

The reason that tefillin are laid on the weaker hand is to teach us that "not by force shall man triumph," because war belongs to God. Man's hand is too feeble and weak to accomplish anything, whether it be important or insignificant. Therefore did God command us to lay tefillin — on which His Name is engraved — on our weaker hand. The Hand of God gives strength to this feeble hand.

Script according to Sepharadi Oriental communities	Script according to the Ashkenazi version (Beit Yoseph)

There are two traditional methods for the writing of the Torah passages of the Tefillin, that of Rashi, and that of Rabbenu Tam, Rashi's grandson. According to Rashi, the passages are written and are placed within the batim in the order in which they appear in the Torah, namely: "Consecrate to Me," "And when the Lord has brought you," "Hear, O Israel," and "If, then, you obey." Rabbenu Tam places the passage of "If, then, you obey" before "Hear, O Israel." Everyone puts on the Tefillin of Rashi. Some people, in order to fulfill the obligation of Tefillin according to both views, also put on the Tefillin of Rabbenu Tam at the end of the Shacharit service, without reciting an additional blessing.

Laying tefillin is mentioned in four verses from the Torah: Here O Israel; And if you hearken; Sanctify; and When He brings you..

These four verses are written in a special script, with a feather dipped in ink, on parchment processed from the skin of ritually-clean animals. This law has been handed down from generation to generation, from Moses our Teacher up to this present day.

A small scroll containing these four Biblical passages is rolled and inserted into the "bayit" of the hand-tefillin.

In the head-tefillin, the verses are written on four separate slips of parchments and deposited into four perpendicular "houses" — each slip in its own "house."

The parchments are tied with the hair of a calf. When the bayit is closed, it is sewn with a tendon. The bayit of the tefillin, as well as the straps, are also made from the skin of ritually-clean animals.

For a detailed pictorial description of how Tefillin are made, click here. You can purchase top-quality tefillin from Tefillin Beit-El in Israel — their website is here.

Image header © Jonathan Hirshon, text © from cited sources and additional edits by Jonathan Hirshon.

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