Teffilin
Our responsa on the matter of teffilin is written by R G Green of Bet Yaakov in New Zealand.
Tefillin YES!
"So it shall serve as a sign (ot) on your hand and as Jewel (phylacteries) on your forehead, for by the might of His hand YHWH brought us out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:16).
"You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead" (Deuteronomy 6:8).
There are groups today like the Karaites and some Nazarene groups which do not support the wearing of Tefillin. But as far as the Gospels go we have at least one verse in the Brit which says too, although indirectly.
Matthew 23:5 This is a passage which condemns having large Tefillin and long Tzitzit as to show how pious you are! It is not condemning the usage of Tefillin in fact the reverse saying ‘yours’ should be smaller and shorter. Humble is the word that springs to mind when using Tallit or Tefillin
Hisory at Qumran says yes to first century usage!
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Thus both the head and hand phylacteries contain four passages from Scripture which include these verses: Exo.13:1-10, 11-16; Deut. 6:4- 9; 11:13-21. The head phylactery consists of four compartments, each containing one section of Scripture, while the hand phylactery has one compartment containing all four passages on one parchment. The boxes of the phylacteries must be exactly square made from the hide of a kasher animal, and both the boxes and the straps which hold them firm must be painted black. The head phylactery is imprinted twice with the Hebrew letter shin: once on the side which is to the left of the wearer, and once on the opposite side. The shin on the right has four rather than the usual three prongs, as a reminder of the four scriptural passages contained in the phylacteries (b. Menah. 35a). Each box is sewn to a base of thick leather with twelve stitches, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel (b. Shabb. 8b). The phylacteries are not worn at night, but not on festivals or the Shabbath (b. Menah. 36a-b). The hand phylactery is donned first: the box is placed on the inner side of the upper arm (facing the heart) and the strap is wound seven times around the arm. The head phylactery is placed in the middle of the forehead, with the two ends of the strap hanging over the shoulders. The placing of each phylactery is accompanied by certain blessings. They are worn during the Morning Prayer and removed in the reverse order in which they were placed on the body.
Sephardic is to put on hand while sitting then stand to put on head.
Any questions email me. <richardgg.nz@gmail.com>
Here also is a recent article on our Forum at Bet Ya’akov that may help:
Tefillin
January 2, 2006
Kathy Ann Prell Martonosi
What is Tefillin?
The Tefillin are Leather boxes (batim -casements) containing Torah Scriptures, Shemot 13:1-10, Shemot 13:11-16, Devarim 6:4-9, Devarim 11:13-21. The one for the arm tefillin shel yad) contain these Torah portions on one single parchment that are placed in one compartment, while the one for the head (tefillin shel rosh) each portion is one a single parchment that are placed in its own compartment. They are having leather straps which are knotted and are attached to the boxes. There is one for the arm, and one for the head. The one for the arm goes on the weaker arm. The are only used during the day, and not on the Shabbat. They are never to go into the bathroom.
Mitzvot
The precept of the Tefillin of the head (Deuteronomy 6:8) To bind Tefillin on the arm (Deuteronomy 6:8) Deuteronomy 6:8; "Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes."
"The Torah commands that this passage be written and inserted into tefillin that are to be placed on the upper arm and on the head, above the hairline, directly above the space between the eyes. It may be that the tefillin of the head is called an ornament because it displays for all to see that the Jew considers this sign of devotion to G-d to be his adornment." (Stone Chumash Torah notes) "Of the 613 mitzvot, only 3 are referred to as "ot". As sign representing the eternal bond of HaShem and the Jewish people.
Those mitzvot are:
1. Milah (circumcision)
2. Shabbat
3. Tefillin
These signs are witnesses which bear constant testimony to the love that G-d for Israel, and the miracles which He has wrought on their behalf, and just as there is a need for two witness to give any matter legal matter legal credence, so too, it is necessary to be involved with two of these "signs" constantly to remind us of our responsibilities. Therefore, on the weekday we have the tefillin and the sign of Milah. On Shabbat, the day itself is sign, so all that is needed is the sign of Milah, and there is no need for the third sign, tefillin. In fact, according to some opinions, it is forbidden to don tefillin on Shabbat because the sing of tefillin detracts from the sanctity of the sign of Shabbat." (Killian file, ‘The Mark of HaShem’)
Exodus 13:9, 16-22; "And it shall be for you a sign on your arm and a reminder between your eyes - so that HASHEM’S Torah maybe in your mouth - for with a strong hand HASHEM removed you from Egypt. And it shall be a sign upon your arm, and an ornament between your eyes, for with a strong hand HASHEM removed us from Egypt.’"
It happened when Pharaoh sent out the people that G-d did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, because it was near, for G-d said, "Perhaps the people will reconsider when they see a war, and they will return to Egypt." So G-d turned the people toward the way of the Wilderness to the Sea of Reeds. The Children of Israel were armed when they went up from the land of Egypt. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had firmly adjured the Children of Israel, saying, "G-d will surely remember you, and you shall bring up my bones from here with you. They journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, at the edge of the Wilderness. HASHEM went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel day and night. He did not remove the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night from before the people." (Stone Chumash Torah)
"From these verses we learn that the sign of tefillin is given to those who are protected and sheltered by HaShem, to those who will never return to Egypt (v.17). Tefillin is related to the bones of Yosef and the carrying up of those bones from Egypt (v.19). Tefillin are related to the manifested Presence of HaShem and His protection (v.21-22)." (Killian file, ‘The Mark of HaShem’) ""It" is the remembrance of the Exodus, which is recorded in this passage, and which is placed in the tefillin that are placed on the arm and head (Rashi). According to Ramban, the flow of the verse is as follows: In the passage that will be placed in the tefillin upon your arm and upon your head, you should record that G-d took you out of Egypt. Do this in order that G-d’s teachings and His commandments will always be in your mouth, i.e., that you will always remember them. For Ramban’s explanation of the commandment of tefillin in the context of the lessons to be learned from the Exodus, see comm. to verse 16." (Stone Chumash Torah notes)
"Your arm. The suffix of this word, ‘your arm,’ alludes to the word, kehah, ‘weak.’ This teaches that the tefillin should be worn on the weaker arm, i.e., the left (Menachos 37a)." (Stone Chumash Torah notes)
"And an ornament. The word appears in Shabbos 57a-b, where the Talmud explains it to be a golden head ornament that is worn from ear to ear. It is in the plural because the head-tefillin consists of four separate compartments (Ramban). Rashi cites Sanhedrin 4b that the name totafos was chosen because it alludes to four, the number of the head-tefillin’s compartments, since the word ‘tat’, means two in Katpi and fas, means two in Afriki, two ancient languages." (Stone Chumash Torah notes)
"Tefillin and the Exodus"
In a lengthy exposition that is basic to an understanding of major concepts of Judaism, and that should be studied in its entirety, Ramban discusses tefillin and the Exodus. The following is a summary: The four Scriptural passages that are contained in tefillin - the first two passages of the Shema and the two passages of this chapter - are basic to Judaism. The two passages in this chapter speak of Exodus, which is basic to the Jew’s awareness of his responsibilities to G-d, Who liberated him and made Israel a nation. The first two passages of Shema express the concept that G-d is One and that we accept His Kingship, the concept of reward and punishment, and the responsibility to observe all the commandments. These principles must always be with us - upon the arm that symbolizes our capacity for action and is opposite the heart, the seat of emotion; and upon the head, and abode of the intellectual soul and the power of memory which enable us to be conscious of our antecedents and obligations to do His will." (Stone Chumash Torah notes)
Deuteronomy 6:8; "Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes." (Stone Chumash Torah) "This pasuk (verse) is part of the Shema which we say twice a day. We are reminding ourselves of HaShem and His mitzvot which are our intimate connection with Him. Tefillin being a mark of HaShem is also mentioned in the Talmud:
Shabbath 12a The School of R. Ishmael taught: A man may go out with his tefillin on the eve of Sabbath near nightfall. What’s the reason? Because Rabbah son of Huna said: One must feel his tefillin every now and then, [inferring] a minori from [the High Priest’s] Headplate. If in the case of the Headplate, which contained the Divine Name only once, yet the Torah said, and it shall always be on his forehead, [i.e.,] his mind must not be diverted from it; then with the tefillin, which contain the Divine Name many times, how much more so! Therefore he is fully cognizant thereof." (Killian’s file, ‘The Mark of HaShem’)
Berachoth 6a "And how do you know that the tefillin are a strength to Israel? For it is written: "And all the peoples of the earth shall see the name of the L-rd is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee."
Menachoth 35a "It is written, ‘And all the peoples of the earth shall see the name of the L-rd is called upon thee; and they shall be afraid of thee. It was taught: R. Eliezar the Great says, This refers to the Tefillah of the head."
In the Talmud we read that "Mikhal the daughter of King Saul wore Tefillin and the sages did not protest." [Eruvin 96a.]
Deuteronomy 11:18; "You shall place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon thy soul; you shall bind them for a sign upon your arm and let them be an ornament between your eyes." Proverbs 3:3; "Let not loyal love and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them on the table of thy heart." Proverbs 6:20-21; "My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the Torah of thy mother: bind them continually upon thy heart, and tie them about thy neck." Proverbs 7:1-3; ""My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my Torah as the apple of thy eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart." Matthew 23:2; "Saying the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:" Matthew 23:3; "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." Matthew 23:4; "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." Matthew 23:5; "But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments."
Phylacteries, Tefillin, Bordered of garments, Tzitzit. Yeshua said do not do their works like them, Yeshua did not say anything against the Tzitzit and Tefillin obedience, but just do not make them too big, to be seen of men. If we are not to make them to big to be seen of men, then indeed we are to obey.
If a Gentile is not a believer you do not have to do this, but as a Believer and follower of Messiah if you do not convert to be a disciple, you will be blessed for doing so. "Being sealed with TAV on the foreheads; Yehezqel 9:4, and in the Soncino, Bereshith, Sec. 1, pag.2b… "Since thou are destined to serve as a mark on the foreheads of the faithful ones who have kept the Law from Aleph to Tav, and through the absence of this mark the rest will be killed…" The Yehezqel reference:" And the L-rd said unto him, Go through the midst of the men of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Note that the response from G-d in here complements that found in Revelation. The mark on their heads is the TAV. In both cases, those who receive this mark (or seal) are the ones who keep TORAH (the Law-teaching) and can enter into heavenly wedding feast of the commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua Messiah!"(Quoted from ‘The Torah Fire’ article, Kathy Ann Prell Martonosi) In the Nazarean Codicil (N.T.) also speaks of a mystical seal (mark): Revelation 9:4; "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of G-d in their foreheads." (This points us to Revelation 7:4, where the 144,000 are sealed with "the seal of the living HaShem." In Revelation 14:1, we read that these 144,000 have "his [the Lamb’s] Father’s name written on their foreheads." They are also described as "being firstfruits unto HaShem and to the Lamb."
Tefillin is a mitzvah, which signifying betrothing the Word (Torah-Yeshua) unto one’s self. This is how we connect and become a part of the body.
Betrothal
How are tefillin like a wedding ring, expressing mutual commitment between two parties?
When two people married, they "seal" their commitment with a sign the wedding ring. By laying tefillin each day, we bind ourselves anew to HaShem. In fact in the Tefillah that one recites when laying tefillin, one says: "I will betroth you to Me with fidelity and you shall know HaShem." (Hoshea 2:21-2)
[One of the things symbolized by tefillin is the devotion and affection between HaShem and Israel, which are frequently spoken of in terms of betrothal. Hence the coils around the finger are symbolic of the wedding ring, and one of the explanations of the triple coil is the triple reference to the betrothal between HaShem and Israel in Hosea 2:21-22. In fact, it is customary in many Jewish communities to quote this Scriptural text as one winds the straps around the finger, after having put on the head tefillin.]
As you do this, say:
I will wed You to me forever.
I will wed You to me with right and justice, with love and mercy. I will wed You to me with faith … and you shall know G-d. This experience represents our placing the wedding ring of HaShem on our finger, portraying our perfect relationship with Him. This experience represents our placing the wedding ring of HaShem on our finger, portraying our perfect relationship with Him. We are informed that HaShem also wears tefillin, as stated below: Isaiah 62:8-9; "HASHEM has sworn by His right hand and by His powerful arm: ‘I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; and the sons of strangers will not drink your wine for which you have toiled. For those who have harvested it will eat it, and will praise HASHEM; and those who have gathered it in will drink it in My holy courtyards.’" (Stone Tanach)
The words, "the strength of His arm" refers to the tefillin worn on the left arm. The Maharsha expounds upon this concept and explains that HaShem actually binds Himself to the Jewish people. HaShem cherishes His relationship with us and as an expression of His commitment to us, He also wears a betrothal band. Eventually our boundless love for HaShem will find its expression together with HaShem’s boundless love for us and together we will enjoy this indescribable relationship forever and forever.
HaShem’s Tefillin Berachoth 6a R. Abin son of R. Ada in the name of R. Isaac says [further]: How do you know that the Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin? For it is said: The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength. ‘By His right hand’: this is the Torah; for it is said: At His right hand was a fiery law unto them. ‘And by the arm of his strength’: this is the tefillin; as it is said: The Lord will give strength unto His people. And how do you know that the tefillin are a strength to Israel? For it is written: And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the L-rd is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee, and it has been taught: R. Eliezer the Great says: This refers to the tefillin of the head. R. Nahman b. Isaac said to R. Hiyya b. Abin: What is written in the tefillin of the Lord of the Universe? - He replied to him: And who is like Thy people Israel, a nation one in the earth. Does, then, the Holy One, blessed be He, sing the praises of Israel? - Yes, for it is written: Thou hast avouched the L-rd this day . . . and the L-rd hath avouched thee this day. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: You have made me a unique entity in the world, and I shall make you a unique entity in the world. ‘You have made me a unique entity in the world’, as it is said: Hear, O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is one. ‘And I shall make you a unique entity in the world’, as it is said: And who is like Thy people Israel, a nation one in the earth. R. Aha b. Raba said to R. Ashi: This accounts for one case, what about the other cases? - He replied to him: [They contain the following verses]: For what great nation is there, etc.; And what great nation is there, etc.; Happy art thou, O Israel, etc.; Or hath G-d assayed, etc.; and To make thee high above all nations. If so, there would be too many cases? - Hence [you must say]: For what great nation is there, and what great nation is there, which are similar, are in one case; Happy art thou, O Israel, and Who is like Thy people, in one case; Or hath G-d assayed, in one case; and To make thee high, in one case. Finally keep in mind that the betrothal is not the end of the process. The goal is the marriage, which comes at Yom HaKippurim. (Killian file, ‘The Mark of HaShem’)