Cross Roads
Just before Jacob left his father-in-law Laban's home, he fulfilled the mitzvah of tefilin, phylacteries.(1)
That Jacob knew about tefilin does not surprise us, as our sages taught that our patriarchs and matriarchs studied the Torah and observed its commandments.(2)(3)
What is surprising is the context. The Torah does not tell us that Jacob donned tefilin throughout his life, which he probably did. The Torah only mentions it this one time, just before he left Laban's home. What is the connection between leaving Laban's home and tefilin?
Abraham fathered two sons, Isaac fathered two sons, but Jacob didn't father sons, he gave birth to a nation. Jacob's sons are often described in the Torah as tribes, rather than as sons. When did Jacob's family become a nation? When Jacob left his father-in-law's home and returned to the land of Israel.
As Jacob prepared to leave Laban's home, he laid the groundwork for the birth of the Jewish nation. This was a crucial moment. It was a crossroads between failure and success. The mitzvah of tefilin was crucial to his success in establishing the Jewish nation.
Tefilin
Our sages teach that every time we perform a mitzvah here in this world, G-d mirrors our action by performing a parallel mitzvah in the higher realm. Accordingly, when a Jew dons tefilin, G-d too dons tefilin.(4)
It would be ludicrous to suggest that G-d dons an actual pair of tefilin, for G-d is incorporeal. When we say that G-d "dons tefilin" we mean that G-d activates the spiritual flow that is released through tefilin.
Tefilin are two leather boxes, one wrapped around the bicep and arm, the other wrapped around the head. Parchment scrolls on which select portions of the Torah are inscribed are inserted into the boxes. The first verse inscribed on these scrolls is the immutable proclamation of Jewish faith: "Hear O' Israel, G-d is the Lord, G-d is one."
The binding gives external expression to our internal convictions. Our hearts and minds are devoted to G-d during prayer, and tefilin expresses this attachment in a physical sense. The tefilin are wrapped around the upper bicep, opposite the heart, to symbolize devotion of the heart. Tefilin are also wrapped around the head to symbolize devotion of our minds.(5)
When we say that "G-d dons tefilin," we mean that he stimulates his love for and attachment to us. When we stimulate our love for and attachment to G-d, he responds in kind. When we bind ourselves to G-d, he binds himself to us.(6)
This explains why the Talmud declares that the divine tefilin contain the verse, "Who is like Your people Israel, a single nation on earth." Our sages were not suggesting that G-d wraps himself with a physical scroll upon which these words are inscribed. They were simply referring to the Divine flow of love from a single G-d to a single nation.(7)
Jacob
We now understand why we are told that Jacob observed the mitzvah of tefilin at a critical juncture in the formation of our nation. By teaching us of Jacob's timing, the Torah underscores the bond between G-d and the Jewish people that is cemented through tefilin.
The transformation of his family into a nation was a complex and difficult undertaking, and Jacob knew he was in need of critical Divine assistance. At this point, it was appropriate to emphasize his own bond with G-d through the mitzvah of tefilin, knowing that this would in turn stimulate Divine love and blessing for his children.
Every Jew
Our sages taught that when a Jewish criminal is executed G-d cries for the ache in His head and arm. Why does G-d specify the pain in His arm and head, why not His heart? Furthermore, how can an incorporeal G-d experience pain in a corporeal limb?(8)
G-d is clearly not talking about his limbs, but about the concept of tefilin that these limbs represent. The tefilin stimulate a flow of Divine love for the Jewish people. When a Jew is put to death, G-d feels the pain of His beloved and cries out.
This underscores the incredible value of every single Jew. We are each a proverbial letter in G-d's tefilin. Tefilin can only be kosher when every letter is intact. When even one letter is missing, even if it is not entirely missing, but is merely faded or cracked, the tefilin are invalid.
Our Father in Heaven loves every one of his children. He loves the wise as He does the simple. He loves the righteous as He does the wicked. We are all His children. If even one child goes missing, then our Father feels the pain. If even one letter begins to fade, then our Father's tefilin feels the effect.
If G-d cries for our physical ailments, then we can assume that He also cries for our spiritual ailments. It is incumbent upon us to consider His pain before we transgress His will. It is incumbent upon us to consider His tears before we detach ourselves from Him.
On the other hand, consider His gratitude and love when we return to the fold and embrace Him. Furthermore, consider the gratitude and love He has for us when we inspire other Jews to return to the fold and to embrace the Torah.(9)
Footnotes
1) Zohar p.162a.
2) Vayikrah Rabbah 2:10 and Babylonian Talmud, Yuma 28b.
3) That Jacob's tefilin took on a different guise than the one we are familiar with is also not surprising. The commandments before Sinai were intended as ideas to be expressed by any action or object that would properly express the idea. Jacob accomplished the mitzvah by peeling pieces of bark off of four types of sticks to create a spotted appearance. The similarity to tefilin is expressed in the number four, the total number of Torah portions inscribed in the tefilin, and in the intermittent black and while color pattern.
4) Shemos Rabbah 30:9.
5) See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, ch. 25:5.
6) Torah Ohr p. 68a (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chassidus Chabad, 1745-1813). See also the 1893 Chassidic discourse set forth by Rabbi Sholom Ber Schneerson (Fifth Rebbe of Lubavitch 1861?1920) on the occasion of his son's Bar Mitzvah.
7) Babylonian Talmud, Brachos 6a.
8) ibid., Sanhedrin 64.
9) The present author heard this from Rabbi Dishon, Mashgiach of the yeshiva of Stolin, in the name of Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky.
Just before Jacob left his father-in-law Laban's home, he fulfilled the mitzvah of tefilin, phylacteries.(1)
That Jacob knew about tefilin does not surprise us, as our sages taught that our patriarchs and matriarchs studied the Torah and observed its commandments.(2)(3)
What is surprising is the context. The Torah does not tell us that Jacob donned tefilin throughout his life, which he probably did. The Torah only mentions it this one time, just before he left Laban's home. What is the connection between leaving Laban's home and tefilin?
Abraham fathered two sons, Isaac fathered two sons, but Jacob didn't father sons, he gave birth to a nation. Jacob's sons are often described in the Torah as tribes, rather than as sons. When did Jacob's family become a nation? When Jacob left his father-in-law's home and returned to the land of Israel.
As Jacob prepared to leave Laban's home, he laid the groundwork for the birth of the Jewish nation. This was a crucial moment. It was a crossroads between failure and success. The mitzvah of tefilin was crucial to his success in establishing the Jewish nation.
Tefilin
Our sages teach that every time we perform a mitzvah here in this world, G-d mirrors our action by performing a parallel mitzvah in the higher realm. Accordingly, when a Jew dons tefilin, G-d too dons tefilin.(4)
It would be ludicrous to suggest that G-d dons an actual pair of tefilin, for G-d is incorporeal. When we say that G-d "dons tefilin" we mean that G-d activates the spiritual flow that is released through tefilin.
Tefilin are two leather boxes, one wrapped around the bicep and arm, the other wrapped around the head. Parchment scrolls on which select portions of the Torah are inscribed are inserted into the boxes. The first verse inscribed on these scrolls is the immutable proclamation of Jewish faith: "Hear O' Israel, G-d is the Lord, G-d is one."
The binding gives external expression to our internal convictions. Our hearts and minds are devoted to G-d during prayer, and tefilin expresses this attachment in a physical sense. The tefilin are wrapped around the upper bicep, opposite the heart, to symbolize devotion of the heart. Tefilin are also wrapped around the head to symbolize devotion of our minds.(5)
When we say that "G-d dons tefilin," we mean that he stimulates his love for and attachment to us. When we stimulate our love for and attachment to G-d, he responds in kind. When we bind ourselves to G-d, he binds himself to us.(6)
This explains why the Talmud declares that the divine tefilin contain the verse, "Who is like Your people Israel, a single nation on earth." Our sages were not suggesting that G-d wraps himself with a physical scroll upon which these words are inscribed. They were simply referring to the Divine flow of love from a single G-d to a single nation.(7)
Jacob
We now understand why we are told that Jacob observed the mitzvah of tefilin at a critical juncture in the formation of our nation. By teaching us of Jacob's timing, the Torah underscores the bond between G-d and the Jewish people that is cemented through tefilin.
The transformation of his family into a nation was a complex and difficult undertaking, and Jacob knew he was in need of critical Divine assistance. At this point, it was appropriate to emphasize his own bond with G-d through the mitzvah of tefilin, knowing that this would in turn stimulate Divine love and blessing for his children.
Every Jew
Our sages taught that when a Jewish criminal is executed G-d cries for the ache in His head and arm. Why does G-d specify the pain in His arm and head, why not His heart? Furthermore, how can an incorporeal G-d experience pain in a corporeal limb?(8)
G-d is clearly not talking about his limbs, but about the concept of tefilin that these limbs represent. The tefilin stimulate a flow of Divine love for the Jewish people. When a Jew is put to death, G-d feels the pain of His beloved and cries out.
This underscores the incredible value of every single Jew. We are each a proverbial letter in G-d's tefilin. Tefilin can only be kosher when every letter is intact. When even one letter is missing, even if it is not entirely missing, but is merely faded or cracked, the tefilin are invalid.
Our Father in Heaven loves every one of his children. He loves the wise as He does the simple. He loves the righteous as He does the wicked. We are all His children. If even one child goes missing, then our Father feels the pain. If even one letter begins to fade, then our Father's tefilin feels the effect.
If G-d cries for our physical ailments, then we can assume that He also cries for our spiritual ailments. It is incumbent upon us to consider His pain before we transgress His will. It is incumbent upon us to consider His tears before we detach ourselves from Him.
On the other hand, consider His gratitude and love when we return to the fold and embrace Him. Furthermore, consider the gratitude and love He has for us when we inspire other Jews to return to the fold and to embrace the Torah.(9)
Footnotes
1) Zohar p.162a.
2) Vayikrah Rabbah 2:10 and Babylonian Talmud, Yuma 28b.
3) That Jacob's tefilin took on a different guise than the one we are familiar with is also not surprising. The commandments before Sinai were intended as ideas to be expressed by any action or object that would properly express the idea. Jacob accomplished the mitzvah by peeling pieces of bark off of four types of sticks to create a spotted appearance. The similarity to tefilin is expressed in the number four, the total number of Torah portions inscribed in the tefilin, and in the intermittent black and while color pattern.
4) Shemos Rabbah 30:9.
5) See Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, ch. 25:5.
6) Torah Ohr p. 68a (Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chassidus Chabad, 1745-1813). See also the 1893 Chassidic discourse set forth by Rabbi Sholom Ber Schneerson (Fifth Rebbe of Lubavitch 1861?1920) on the occasion of his son's Bar Mitzvah.
7) Babylonian Talmud, Brachos 6a.
8) ibid., Sanhedrin 64.
9) The present author heard this from Rabbi Dishon, Mashgiach of the yeshiva of Stolin, in the name of Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky.