01 Aug EKEV: G-D’S ETERNAL LOVE FOR HIS NATION

In the prophecy read
as the Haftara for
Parashat Ekeb, G-d
assures Beneh Yisrael
that despite the Hurban
(destruction), and His having banished
them into exile, He has not forgotten them
and will never forsake them.
He proclaims, “Hen Al Kapayim
Hakotich, Homotayich Negdi Tamid” –
“Indeed, I have engraved you upon the
hand; your walls are opposite Me, always”
(Yeshayahu 49:16). G-d says that the
fallen walls of Jerusalem are in front of
Him at all times, as though their picture is
engraved upon His hands, such that they
never leave His view.
The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of
Baghdad, 1833-1909), in his Birkat
Haim commentary to the Haftarot, cites a
Kabbalistic tradition explaining this verse
as an allusion to the Misva of Tefillin. As
we know, we wear both the Tefillin Shel
Rosh on the head, and the Tefillin Shel
Yad on the arm. The Tefillin Shel Rosh
is left exposed on the head, where it can
be seen by all, whereas the Tefillin Shel

Yad is generally concealed, and covered
by a shirt sleeve. Symbolically, these two
Tefillin represent two different conditions
of our relationship with Hashem. The
visible Tefillin Shel Rosh signifies the state
of what is called “Shechina Be’galya”
– when G-d’s presence is revealed and
readily visible. In the times of the Bet
Ha’mikdash, the Shechina resided there
and was palpably felt, and this reality is
represented by the exposed Tefillin Shel
Rosh. The Tefillin Shel Yad, by contrast,
expresses our nation’s experience in exile,
when we do not feel G-d’s presence, when
He is distant and concealed.
However, the Kabbalists teach, there is
one part of the Tefillin Shel Yad which is
left exposed – the wrappings around the
hand and finger. These wrappings signify
the close bond between us and Hashem
which remains even in our state of exile.
Even when G-d seems distant, when we
do not feel His closeness and love, we still
know with certainty that He accompanies
us and that our special bond with Him
endures. And so even the Tefillin Shel Yad,
which symbolizes our state of exile and

the concealment of our relationship with
Hashem, has an element of “revelation,”
representing our firm belief that G-d loves
us even in our current condition.
This is why it is customary when wrapping
the Tefillin Shel Yad around the finger to
recite the verses of “Ve’erastich” (Hoshea
2:21-22), which compare the relationship
between us and G-d to the bond between
a bride and groom. These wrappings
signify our eternal, unbreakable bond with
Hashem which remains intact even in our
state of exile, just as a bride and groom
make a commitment to remain devoted
to one another under all circumstances.
Appropriately, as we wrap the Tefillin
Shel Yad around our finger, we recite these
verses and reflect upon the special nature
of this relationship.
This, then, is the meaning of the verse in
our Haftara – “Indeed, I have engraved
you upon the hand.” Hashem refers here
to the wrappings of the Tefillin Shel Yad
on the hand, which express His everlasting
bond with Am Yisrael, which remains
intact even in periods of exile.

The Ben Ish Hai adds that the word
“Hakotich” (“I have engraved you”) is
used in this verse as a reference to the
verse in the Book of Shemot (13:10) which
says in regard to the Misva of Tefillin,
“Ve’shamarta Et Ha’huka Ha’zot” – “You
shall observe this statute.” The obligation
of Tefillin there is called a “Huka,” and
so here, in this prophecy, G-d proclaims,
“Hen Al Kapayim Hakotich” – that the
“Huka” of Tefillin is upon the hand,
signifying His everlasting bond with us
which will never be broken, and which
will eventually be once again revealed and
readily visible to the entire world in the
rebuilt Bet Ha’mikdash, speedily and in
our days, Amen.