11 Feb THE WONDROUS MITZVAH OF TEFILLIN – PART ONE

The Rabbeinu Efraim
teaches us that the
letter shin embedded
on the tefillin shel
rosh, the tefillin that
goes upon the head,
has a numerical value
of 300. This number
corresponds to the 300
days of the solar year that we are able to
perform the glorious mitzvah of tefillin. He
breaks this down as follows. We do not put
on the tefillin on any of the 52 Shabbasos
of the year, nor on the four days of Sukkos,
the four days of Pesach, the two days of
Shavuos, the two days of Rosh Hashannah,
or the one day of Yom Kippur. This leaves
us 300 days annually that we do put on the
tefillin. (His calculations are of course
for the diaspora where we have a two-day
yomtov, and it assumes that a person does
wear the tefillin during Chol HaMoed.)
The Panei’ach Razah sweetens this idea
citing the posuk, “Ki Sheim Hashem nikra
alecha, v’yaru mimeka – The Name of
Hashem is called upon you, and people

will fear you.” The Gemora says this refers
specifically to the tefillin shel rosh. He
points out that the word sheim, which is
spelled shin-mem, is an acronym for “shin
manichon,” meaning, “We put it on for
300 days.”
The rewards of tefillin are great. It promises
longevity, as the Gemora in Masechtas
Menachos reveals to us from the verse,
“Hashem aleihem yich’yu –Hashem [is
placed] upon you, you will live.” “Upon
you” is said to refer to the tefillin. In a
similar way, every day in Krias Shema, we
say the reward multiple times: “L’ma’an
yirbu yemeichem vimei v’neichem – In
order that you should increase your days
and the days of your children.” This is a
promise for donning the tefillin (in addition
to the mitzvahs of teaching our children
Torah and having a mezuzah).
The Chiddushei Harim demonstrates
powerfully how tefillin is a sure way to
infuse our hearts and minds with holiness.
He explains that if we need to throw out an
old pair of tzitzis, we can put it in a separate

bag (not combined with the chicken bones)
and throw it away. This is because tzitzis
is ‘only’ considered tashmishei mitzvah, an
accessory of a mitzvah. But, he points out
a tefillin bag, if it becomes tattered, needs
genizah, to be placed in sheimos, because
it is considered a tashmishei kiddushah,
an accessory of holiness. Concludes the
Chiddushei Harim, if a tefillin bag becomes
holy because we put our tefillin in it, if we
earnestly put the holy messages of tefillin
into our hearts and minds, they will surely
become tashmishei kiddushah, infused and
saturated in holiness.
So, what are the messages of tefillin?
The posuk says that you should put on
the tefillin, “L’ma’an tihye Toras Hashem
b’ficha – In order that the Torah of Hashem
should be in your mouth.” Rav Avigdor
Miller, zt”l, zy”a, explains that one of the
basic kavonos, thoughts of the tefillin is that
as we wear them, we should ask ourselves,
“When will I be learning Torah today?” or
“When will I be studying Torah tonight?”
This, says Rav Miller, is the meaning of, “In
order that the Torah of Hashem should
be in your mouth.”
The posuk says, “V’hayu l’totafos bein
einecha – They should be frontlets
between your eyes.” The etymology of
the word totafos is mysterious. Rashi
separates the word totafos into two
parts, and tells us that tot in the Coptic
language is two, and fos in African is
two. Together, this gives us a total of
four, alluding to the four compartments
within the tefillin shel rosh. The
prestigious sefer Tzror Hamor says that
in Egyptian totafos were glasses to help
people read better. He continues that the
meaning of totafos bein einecha is that
the tefillin are to help us see the world
more clearly by infusing Hashem into
our hearts, by following the dictates of
the Torah not to have jealous hearts or
stingy hearts, but rather to have a heart
of generosity and giving, to see more
clearly with our heads, not to harbor
hatred or grudges against our fellow
man, that our heads should not be filled
with immoral thoughts and images, but
filled instead with contemplations of
Hashem’s Torah, with prayer to Him,
and with plans of kindness and goodness
for all our relationships.
The posuk says, “V’haya l’os al yadchah
ul’totafos bein einecha, ki b’chozeik yad
hotzi’anu Hashem miMitzrayim – You
should have the tefillin upon your hand
and between your eyes, for Hashem took

us out from Egypt with a strong arm.” The
Tzror Hamor says that our ‘tefillin glasses’
are to help us clearly see the lessons of
the Exodus. As the Ramban teaches us,
when we recall the Exodus from Egypt,
we remember the powerful lesson of schar
v’onesh, reward and punishment: How
Hashem punished the Egyptians with the
ten plagues, and the drowning at the Red
Sea, and how He rewarded the Bnei Yisroel
for doing the circumcision and the korban
pesach, for eschewing the idolatry of Egypt,
and for our trusting in Him by venturing
into the desert without proper provisions,
with their freedom and great wealth, and
most of all with the Torah HaKadosha,
the Holy Torah. Thus, tefillin is a daily
reminder to avoid sin which would result
in punishment and to do mitzvahs which
earn us great reward.
In the merit of our tefillin, may Hashem
bless us with long life, good health, and
everything wonderful.
To be continued.