B"H
Shalom Kip,
It is a great question. I have moved this thread to a different part of the forum. I apologize for the lengthy response. Although we usually discourage exceedingly long posts on the forum, from time to time exceptions are made for the Admin. of the forum.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:8 states, "Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead". In Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:18 Adonai tells us, “…tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead”. Some versions translate the Hebrew "v'ha-yu l'totafot bein ayneycha / ayneychem" as "...and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes".
The overwhelming majority of Judaism takes this command literally, and as a result, they bind what is called “tefillin” each morning during shacharit prayer and study. The word "tefillin" is usually translated in the Apostolic scriptures as "phylacteries". It comes from the Greek word “phulakterion”, which Strong's concordance defines as, “a guard case (for wearing slips of Scripture texts)”. This Greek word comes from the Greek word, “phulasso”, which means, “to watch, that is, be on guard (literally or figuratively); by implication to preserve. obey, keep (self), observe”.
Therefore, it seems that the word “phulakterion”, or “phylacteries” as we have it, in English was a good Greek word to use for the tefillin as their purpose was to reinforce the guarding, preserving, keeping, and observing of Adonai’s
. The word "tefillin" is etymologically related to the word "tefillah" (prayer) and the Hebrew root “Pe-Lamed-Lamed” (palal). This Hebrew root “palal” means "to think, entreat, judge, or to intercede" and the reflective understanding of this root means "to judge oneself" and "to pray.".
Tefillin consist of small, hollow, black leather boxes that contain several parchments of covenant Scripture passages. The passages of scripture are: Shemot (Exodus) 13:1–10; 13:11–16; Devarim (Deut.) 6:4–9; 11:13–21. It is a way to express that we are to store His words in our heart. The small black boxes are bound on the arm (near the heart) and forehead (mind/heart) using long black leather straps, thus literally fulfilling the commandment of binding the
on the hand and the forehead, a practice that teaches us not just to think about the
, but to carry it out physically in our life and world.
The Hebrew letter "shin" is embossed upon the tefillin shel rosh (the tefillin that is for the head), and in Chabad Judaism the letter "shin" is also made with the straps of the tefillin on the arm near the heart (this is the way I tie my tefillin each morning). The shin is also found on most of the mezuzot of Yisra'el. The letter shin represents one of God's names; "Shaddai". Each letter of "Shaddai"; shin, dalet, yod, is said to represent three words make the Hebrew phrase; "Shomer Daltot Yisra'el", which means, "The Guardian of the doors of Yisra'el". This not only means that Adonai protects the doors and homes of those who store up his word, but it means the same for those who take on this sign each day when they bind tefillin upon their foreheads and arms. One aspect of this physical act is symbolic of the spiritual truth that Adonai guards the doors of our hearts and minds with His Word, especially when we keep it and live it out.
It is interesting to note that amongst those of the Near East, it was once common practice for blood covenant partners to exchange amulet-like pouches containing tokens and/or full copies of their covenant obligations to one another. These were worn as bracelets bound upon their arms and hands or necklaces. The practice of the tefillin, which has a copy of the covenant responsibilities bound upon the arm and hand, and upon the forehead is consistent with that ancient ritual, but I believe that they ultimately learned of this practice from God's revelation. This is especially interesting when we consider the rabbinic tradition that teaches God Himself wears a form of tefillin with Yisra'el’s name on them with His covenant responsibilities. In Berachot 6a of Babylonian Talmud Rabbi Nachman ben Yitz'chak said to Rabbi Chiyya ben Abin, “What is written in the tefillin of The Lord of the Universe? — He replied to him: “And who is like your people Yisra'el, one nation in the earth.” (Devarim/Deut. 33:29).
It has been said that in this sense the tefillin are similar to wedding rings, which are a sign of the covenant vows. Indeed, this sign (wedding ring) is taken upon each other when the covenant vows are mutually accepted. One of the traditions connected to the binding of the tefillin is that while a Jew winds the black leather straps of the tefillin, which is for the hand, he wraps the strap around his middle finger like a ring. While he does this he recites the betrothal passage from the book of Hoshea 2:19-20 which states, “I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in grace and in compassion; I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will know HaShem.”. The binding on of tefillin is a tangible, regular reminder of our covenant responsibilities to bind God’s commandments and words upon our lives each and every day, which should lead us to the daily study and living out of His words.
As we take Adonai's covenant sign and name each day upon our forehead and hand each day it also reminds me of what the book of Revelation says about Adonai's tzeddukim (holy ones) in several places. One example would be in Revelation 9:4 where it says, "They were instructed not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant or any tree, but only the people
who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads". Each day that we lay tefillin it is a physical reminder that there is no other room for any other sign or mark (which represents a covenant), other than the sign, mark, or covenant of the God of Yisra'el. It reminds us that we are totally sold-out for Him.
Some interpret the command in question to be figurative as apposed to taking the passage literally, like most of Judaism does. It could be taught that this passage only teaches us that we are to have God’s word bound to our hand and it is to guide everything that we put our hand to. It is also taught that God’s word should always be on our mind (for when the “heart” is spoken of it is an idiom for the “mind”) and that it should direct our thoughts. These of course are valid and wonderful teachings, but this doesn’t mean that the passage shouldn’t be taken literally. As mentioned before, one of the purposes of the mitzvah is to teach us that we should physically and literally keep the words and commandments of God and not just think they are all spiritual concepts that we can just allegorize away, resulting in non-action, and in turn...a life of lawlessness. This is what HaSatan has been trying to do amongst "believers" for thousands of years. And, as far as I am concerned, any doctrine that tries to explain a mitzvah (command) in such a way that results in a person not to actually carry mitzvah out...is a doctrine of demons. I would say that in many cases, if not most, there is usually some type of real/physical representative to the spiritual truth (or idiom, if you will). For example, although God is Ruach (Spirit), he also manifested himself physically in the form of Yeshua The Messiah. At any rate, perhaps that particular point is a subject for another thread that we can discuss. In any case, we can have the best of the both the spiritual understanding with the physical representation of the spiritual truth.
Furthermore, the immediate context of the passage regarding tefillin is embedded in literal instructions, which further supports a literal understanding of the mitzvah. For example, most believe that the instruction to “write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates” to be a literal command. Most also take the instructions to teach God’s commandments to our children and to speak of them as we lie down, rise up, while we are sitting in our home and while we travel to be literal. These are all things we do to establish Adonai's words in our homes and in our lives. Therefore, if we consider everything else in the passage to be literal...than why wouldn’t we consider the instructions to bind God’s word upon our hand and forehead to be literal as well? As silly as that may sound to some...God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and He has a purpose in us doing this, and that purpose is that it leads to the storing up of His words in our lives. Indeed, it is catalyst that propels us in His direction.
During Yeshua The Messiah’s first coming it was universally accepted that the command in question was to be interpreted literally. Both the P’rushim (Pharisees) and Tzedukim (Sadducees), the two major branches of Judaism in Yeshua’s day, bound tefillin. Therefore, it shouldn’t be any surprise to see Yeshua address this practice in some of his teachings. In Mattityahu (Matthew) 23:1-5 Yeshua sees the tying of tefillin as a valid Biblical practice, as he lumps them in with his teachings on the wearing of the Biblical fringes, which in Hebrew is called a “tzitzit”. The passage states, “Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his disciples: "The
-teachers and the P'rushim," he said, "sit in the seat of Moshe. So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don't do what they do, because they talk but don't act! They tie heavy loads onto people's shoulders but won't lift a finger to help carry them. Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t'fillin broad and their tzitziyot long…”.
It is and was also universally accepted that the practice of wearing tzitziyot comes from a literal command in the
. Yeshua legitimizes the literal interpretation of binding tefillin as he addresses its observance along with the other valid Biblical practice of wearing tzitzityot. If he was in disagreement with the literal understanding of wearing tefillin - instead of giving constructive criticism on their use, he would have corrected their misunderstanding and told them that they were in error for even wearing them at all. But, Messiah simply warns us about being too flashy with our tzitziyot and tefillin. He simply gives his own halachah (the way it is to be done) on the practice. Being a Rabbi, Yeshua likely had his own halachah that governed how one was to make a kosher set of tefillin and he no-doubt taught his disciples how this was to be carried out. Apparently, during Yeshua’s time some where making their tefillin and tzitziyot exceedingly large.
I don’t think that there should be any doubt that Yeshua’s disciples kept the command according to the literal understanding of their day. Likewise, there also should be no doubt that Yeshua himself bound tefillin each day. It was simply the universally accepted fulfillment of the command that says, “tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead”, and again Yeshua makes no objection to this, as he only objects to making them too big.
Therefore, if our Master Yeshua interpreted these things on a literal level, than as His disciples we should follow in his actions and footsteps, especially if we claim to have accepted the covenant and Adonai’s
in our lives. If someone has accepted a
life and has been pursuing a
observant lifestyle for a while, especially if you are a male, you shouldn’t hesitate to invest in a set of tefillin.
Traditionally the duty of laying tefillin is obligatory for Jewish men and women are exempt. Nevertheless early Jewish traditions allowed women to lay tefillin. There is a legend that Rashi's daughters wore tefillin, and so did Michal, the daughter of King Saul and the wife of King David (see Eruvin 96a), but this custom was generally discouraged. Amongst the non-Orthodox (Reform and Conservative) women are encouraged to lay tefillin just as men are. In some Modern Orthodox circles, there is a small but growing group of women who are assuming the obligation of tefillin.
The way that a
observant Jewish man observes this physical representation of the spiritual truth today is to bind tefillin each morning when he awakes for shacharit prayer in the morning. According to Jewish tradition, tefillin are not worn on Sabbaths and the major festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh-Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot; for the logic is that these, being in themselves “signs” render the tefillin, which are to serve as signs themselves (Shemot/Exodus Chapter 13:9, 16), unnecessary.
When we bind tefillin it is not only a fulfillment of the commandment, but it sets the tone and direction for the rest of the day, which helps to fulfill the underlying spiritual intent. If kept, this is wonderful scripture based custom that will help to establish a path in our life in which we find ourselves walking on the trail that Adonai’s has blazed for us, and indeed we will find ourselves walking with Him more and more. Adonai knows how we are made and knows that we need to develop healthy habits and rituals. For we are indeed creatures of habit. He wants us to develop Godly habits according to His word. Therefore, we need a little instruction for good lifestyle management.
L'chaim b'Yeshua!
R' Reuel