The Secret's Out of the Bag

We read about the Mitzvah of Tefilin in the “Shma Yisroel:” “You shall bind them as a sign upon you hand, and between your eyes.” This same verse also describes the Mitzvah of Mezuzah on the doorpost, which has become far more popular and ubiquitous than Tefilin.

During the ’67 Six Day War, the Lubavitcher Rebbe launched the international "Tefilin Mitzvah Campaign," encouraging all Jews to wear Tefilin.

Until the Rebbe’s campaign, Tefillin was usually restricted to religious Jews participating in the full morning prayers in the synagogue.

But the Re

bbe’s campaign took the secluded Tefilin out of the closet. It promoted wearing Tefilin per se, for everyone, religious or not, and expanded the Tefilin’s venue beyond the synagogue, to the home, campus, and airport. The Rebbe imbued Tefilin with a sense of urgency that provided spiritual and physical protection and security for our brethren in Israel and around the world.

Later that year, I was on a business trip in New York, and had the unique privilege of a private audience with the Rebbe. The Rebbe then told me:

"The Talmud states that someone who put on Tefilin even just once in his lifetime is spared and raised from a denigrating category in the World-to-Come. Tefilin also strengthens Jewish identity and solidarity. When a Jew in Miami sees a picture of a Jew wearing Tefilin at the Western Wall, he feels like putting on Tefilin himself wherever he is."

Several years later in 1974, I received a call from a former client. Now in Miami, he asked me to fly in so I could meet and advise his current accountant about his business matters.

I arrived late at night in Miami. Early next morning, my former client's partner came to get me for the meeting. He knocked on my door but, hearing no response, entered the room and saw me praying in Tallit and Tefilin. He left the room.

We later sat down to a breakfast meeting. The accountant inquired why I wasn't eating to which my ex-client explained that I eat only kosher. The partner who had seen me praying added, "When I called on him he was praying in a shawl with 'black things' on his head and hand.

The accountant asked, "You put on Tefilin?" I responded “Yes, don't you, too?"

"I haven't had Tefilin since my Bar Mitzvah 50 years ago, but I recently saw a photo of Jews at the Western Wall wearing Tefilin, and I felt like putting on Tefilin myself."

The following year, I returned to the U.S. for business in Detroit. Busy all day, I visited an acquaintance in the evening. My host had invited friends over. Somehow, the conversation turned to religion and one man kept asking questions about Tefilin: Why are they square, not round? Why must they be black, etc. As we were saying goodbye, I said to the fellow who’d been asking questions: "It seems you have an interest in Tefilin."

He replied, "Actually, I haven't put on Tefilin for over 20 years! I own a bakery and we work through the night. If you want me to put on Tefilin, come to my bakery at 6:30 a.m. when we have a break."

Early that morning I helped him don Tefilin among piles of flour sacks. The man knew exactly how to wrap them and which prayers to say. "You obviously know how to put on Tefilin, so why not do it regularly?" I asked.

He admitted that Tefilin weren’t his priority, but he’d wear them regularly if someone would get him a set. I offered to bring him Tefilin on my return to Detroit in six weeks.

I flew into New York and stayed overnight in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The next morning, I wrote a letter to the Rebbe and mentioned the Tefilin episode, concluding that I was returning to London and that this Shabbat was to be the first time

all my children and grandchildren would be together.

In his reply, the Rebbe gave his blessing for my business venture, but added: "Do you think it is right that a Jew who put on Tefilin yesterday for the first time in 20 years should have to wait another six weeks until you buy him a pair of Tefilin? Buy the Tefilin today and deliver them to him in Detroit in time for him to put them on tomorrow. If not, you should personally return to Detroit today with the Tefilin so he can put them on tomorrow. You should do this even if it means not being with your family for Shabbat." The Rebbe added: "When he sees how important it is not to miss even a day, Tefilin will be more meaningful to him."

I had obstacles to overcome. But within a few hours I bought a pair of Tefilin, took them to La Guardia and sent them by American Airlines to Detroit. I asked my host to pick up the Tefilin from the airport and hand-deliver them to the baker. Once I received confirmation that the Tefilin had been delivered, I left for London.

I visited the baker on my next trip to Detroit. He told me that he hadn’t missed a day of Tefilin - even walking home one day in the snow when his car broke down so he could put on the Tefilin before sundown. "From the trouble you went through to get me the Tefilin the next day, they are especially meaningful to me."

Let’s first come to terms with the mysterious Tefilin, which are often translated as “Phylacteries.” That sounds like Greek or Latin to me, which only adds to their ambiguity, as if they were some ancient, archaic relics.

Contained inside the perfectly square twin boxes designed by expert craftsmen are small compartments containing scrolls written by highly trained and skilled scribes.

These scrolls are inscribed with four Torah chapters, including the most critical Jewish prayer that declares our monotheistic belief: ‘Shema Yisroel’— ‘Hear O Israel, the Eternal is our G-d, the Eternal is One.’ (Deut. 6:4-10)

The boxes come with shiny black straps that are wound around the left (right arm for lefties) arm (pointing to the heart). In a humorous vein, when wearing them, it looks like you’re taking your “Jewish blood pressure.”

The second box, nicely engraved with a Hebrew letter “Shin” on either side, fits right on the head, crowning the forehead.
Strategically placed near the vital organs of the heart and brain, Tefilin help connect our thoughts and emotions to G-d.

Some may remember the Tefilin only from when they posed for the photographer on their Bar Miztvah day. It’s nice, but that relegates them to just a once-in-a-lifetime ceremony, rather than the ongoing practice that the Tefilin really are.

As a frequent flyer, it once occurred to me that the Tefilin’s physical appearance is a metaphor to the plane’s “Black box” flight recorder that tracks where we came from, where we’re headed, and all points between. So does the Tefilin record our flight from Egypt, and guides us all along the way on life’s travels and journeys.