04 Jan PARSHAS BO

Tefillin 

The end of this week’s parashah discusses the mitzvah of tefillin. The Yid HaKadosh of Peshischa zt’l said, “If I would think that it would be good for simple people to see Eliyahu HaNavi, I would ask Eliyahu HaNavi to reveal himself to them.” The Chidushei HaRim zt’l repeated this, and added, “If it would be good for the simple people to see Eliyahu HaNavi, Eliyahu HaNavi would reveal himself to them on his own because of his love to Bnei Yisrael… But Eliyahu doesn’t reveal himself to simple people because he knows that the Jewish nation receive the very same goodness every day when they wear tefillin.” In Warsaw there was a baker who began baking at 3:00 a.m. every morning, so people could buy fresh bread for breakfast. By the time he finished working, it was late in the morning, and that’s when he would put on tefillin and daven Shacharis. His son was becoming bar-mitzvah, and he asked his father, “When will you put tefillin on me?” The father said, “Wait for me at 7:10 in the beis medresh. I’ll meet you there and I’ll teach you how to put on tefillin.” 7:10 passed, and also 7:30, and the father didn’t show up. The Imrei Emes zt’l found the boy crying. “What’s the matter?” “Today is the first day I’m wearing tefillin and my father isn’t here to help me.” “I will help you put them on,” the Rebbe said. The Rebbe brought him to his room and explained the concept of tefillin: “In the tefillin, Hashem’s holy name is written several times. When one puts on tefillin, he draws all that holiness onto oneself.” Pointing to the light fixture hanging from the ceiling, the Rebbe said, “How does the bulb give light? There are wires connecting the bulb to the electricity. The straps on the tefillin, serve a similar purpose. They bring the holiness of the tefillin inside the person.”2 The holy sefarim teach that the tefillin worn on the arm and head accomplish two different matters. The tefillin worn on the arm, near the heart, is for overcoming temptations. The tefillin worn on the head indicates accepting the yoke of Heaven. The Chasam Sofer zt’l (Likutim end of Devarim) writes, “First we put on the “tefillin shel yad” near the heart, and make the brachah “l’haniach tefillin” and then we put on the “tefillin shel rosh” and say the brachah “al mitzvat tefillin” to complete the mitzvah. This can be explained with a mashal of a country that was looking for a king. The person [they chose] said, ‘First place Ploni, who’s contesting my kingship, in chains, and then you can accept me as your king.’” Similarly, before one puts tefillin on his head, which represents to accept Hashem as King, one wears tefillin near the heart, to restrain the heart from rebelling against Hashem. One can’t wholly accept the yoke of Heaven and proclaim Hashem King when he is still under the influence of the Sitra Achara, with desires, middos, and deeds that are contrary to Hashem’s will. As the Zohar states “Whoever is bound to the Sitra Achara isn’t able to accept the yoke of Heaven.” Therefore, before putting on the tefillin shel rosh, one wears the tefillin shel yad to limit and to control the call of the rebellious heart. The Aseres HaDibros begins with “anochi hashem elokecha asher hotzeticha m’eretz mitzrayim” associating the mitzvah of believing in Hashem with leaving Mitzrayim. The Sfas Emes zt’l (Bo 5650) explains that one must first leave Mitzrayim (the Sitra Achara) and then he can attain emunah. As the Zohar states, “Whoever is bound to the Sitra Achara isn’t able to accept the yoke of Heaven.” Tefillin have four parshiyos written in them: 1) Kadish, 2) V’haya ki yviecha 3) shma 4) vhaya im shamoa. The Sfas Emes notes that the first two parshiyos discuss yetzias Mitzrayim. The last two parshiyos are about accepting Hashem’s Kingship and His mitzvos. This once again implies that before we can accept Hashem’s kingship and His mitzvos, we must disconnect from the Sitra Achara (signified by yetzias Mitzrayim). The final passuk of the parashah calls tefillin, Rashi writes, “It is called “tetaphot” because tefillin has four sections, and “tet” in “Katfi” [the Katfi language] means two, and “pat” in “Afriki” means two.” The parshiyos of the tefillin are divided into two groups because, as we explained, the tefillin addresses two issues. The Sfas Emes writes that Afriki comes from the word “Frok”, which means to redeem, and “Katfi”, which literally means shoulders, hints to accepting the yoke of Heaven. These are the two things that the tefillin accomplish. First, it redeems the person from the grip of the Sitra Achara, and then he can accept the yoke of Heaven. Hashem also wears tefillin, and his tefillin also has four parshiyos (see Brachos 6). Two of the parshiyos discuss the greatness of the Jewish nation.3 The other two parshiyos discuss how Hashem elevates them above the nations of the world.FThe Sfas Emes explains that Hashem’s tefillin accomplish a similar purpose as ours. Our tefillin redeem us from the Sitra Achara and connect us to Hashem; Hashem’s tefillin do the same. The parshiyos that discuss how Hashem elevates us from the nations of the world is Hashem saving us from the Sitra Achara. The two parshiyos that discuss the specialness of the Jewish nation is Hashem uniting with us. The Sfas Emes writes, “When Bnei Yisrael wear tefillin below, in this world, and they free themselves from the yoke of the Sitra Achara and they accept the yoke of Hashem’s kingship, Hakadosh Baruch Hu wears tefillin in heaven. He binds Bnei Yisrael to Him, and He frees them from the Sitra Achara. Therefore, Hashem’s tefillin has two parshiyos that discuss the praises of the Jewish nation. And…two parshiyos [about being] redeeming them from the Sitra Achara”.