Rabbi Howard Morrison

Before there was sensitivity to left-handed people, the world had a right-handed bias. Some of us remember when school desks and scissors were always made for right-handed people, and everyone was forced into that reality. Similarly, instructions in old Siddurim advised one to don Tefillin on the left arm. However, these myths and assumptions would be correctly challenged.

All of my life, I have written left-handed but done almost everything else right-handed. When I was near Bar Mitzvah age, my mother asked Rav Joseph Soloveitchik about Tefillin for me. The Rav explained that the hand you write with is the hand you bind with. This ritual practice is based on the juxtaposition between "you shall bind" and "you shall inscribe" in the first paragraph of the Shma. At least twice daily, we recite two paragraphs of the Shma (from Devarim and B'Midbar) which contain two Biblical references to Tefillin.

The first two references (there are four in total) appear at the end of Parshat Bo (Exodus 13:9 and 13:16). The Tefillin remind us that God liberated us from Egypt with a "Strong hand." 

On weekdays, observant Jews don Tefillin every morning whether praying in private or public. The boxes on the arm and head are called "Batim," houses, for they house four hand written parchments containing the four references to Tefillin in the Torah.  The house for the hand is angled to the heart to show that we serve God whole-heartedly. The seven wrappings around the arm signify the seven days of creation, including Shabbat. Since both, Shabbat and Tefillin, are called "Oht-Sign," it is unnecessary to don Tefillin on Shabbat and Festivals. While there are many customs on the actual donning of Tefillin, all end up wearing the letters Shin, Dalet, and Yud. These letters spell "Shadai," a Biblical reference to a name of God. In addition, one makes three rings around the middle finger, the origin of wedding bands, and recites Biblical words of betrothal between God and the Jewish people. 

With the Tefillin on the hand, head, and angled to the heart, we serve God with intellect, faith, action, and passion, symbolized by the three H's of hand, head, and heart. While the daily Mitzvah of Tefillin is incumbent on men and exempt for women, I do know a number of women who choose to accept the daily obligation of donning Tefillin. The two sets of leather straps are akin to jumper cables, warming us up spiritually on an ordinary weekday.

The four parchments in the hand box are all housed in one chamber, teaching us to be unified as a people in terms of ritual practice. The four parchments in the head box are each housed in a different chamber, teaching us to study and comprehend Torah in diverse and meaningful ways. The two shins on the head box remind us of the 613 Mitzvot. Each shin is numerically 300, four branches on one shin, three branches on one shin, and the two shins combined spell "shesh," meaning six.

It is appropriate that during the Superbowl season which often falls out around Parshat Bo, the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (FJMC) designates Superbowl Sunday as a time to appreciate the Mitzvah of Tefillin. This year, Parshat Bo occurs during the weekend of the divisional playoffs. Let us make Tefillin a super Mitzvah in our lives.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard Morrison