ברכת הרי"ח - 13:9
“והיה לך לאות על ידך ולזכרון ביו עיניך למען תהיה תורת ד' בפיך, כי ביד חזקה הוציאך ד' ממצרים” – “And this shall be for you a sign upon your hand and a memorial between your eyes – so that the Teaching of Hashem shall be the content of your mouth – that with a strong hand Hashem brought you out Mitzrayim.” There is a story brought down in the Sefer בעתונים ואביאנה which has great revelations about the Mitzvah of Tefillin. There was a boy who was turning thirteen years old, and that very night, he had a dream that he was laying on a bed and a Malach came and placed his wing on his head and said to him, “שלום האיש גדול, הנה הבאתי לך תשורה” – Sholom great man, behold I brought you a present. The child responded, “Am I a great man, am I not only a child?” The Malach did not answer the child, but gazed at him and gave a pleasant chuckle. The child began to laugh as well, and inhaled and inhaled, and as he was inhaling, he became bigger and bigger. The child looked at himself and said, “Indeed I am now an איש גדול.” The Malach told the child that he had brought a gift for him, and if he wanted the gift, he would need to Tovel his flesh. The child asked him with what is he to Tovel in? The Malach showed that child that in his right wing he had a small cup of balsam oil, and he told the child that he needs to Tovel in that cup. The child laughed and proclaimed that he, an איש גדול, could not possibly fit into that small cup. The Malach told him that he can fit in it, and the child argued that he could not. The Malach responded – “You can fit, but you don’t want to fit.” The child argued that if he does not want to, then he in fact cannot do so. The Malach told him to look into the cup of oil, and the child saw his father and mother drowning in the cup. The child quickly made himself very small, and dove into the cup to save his parents. When he got into the cup, he saw that his parents were floating on top of the oil, and they told him that they had Toiveled themselves in this oil, and he should as well. The child Toiveled himself three times, and lifted himself out of the up, onto the wing of the Malach. The Malach told him that now that he had Toiveled himself, he could give him his gift, and handed him two beautiful doves. On one of the doves, each wing only had one feather. The second dove had 248 feathers on one wing, with each feather having a number from 1 till 248, and the other wing had 365 feathers, with each feather having a number from 1 till 365. One Yonah flew on the boy’s head, while the other sat on his left arm. The birds started to press into his head and his arm, but he did not feel any pain from it, rather he felt joy. The birds were speaking gently to the boy, and they told the boy that he can ask for anything, and they would give it to him. The boy requested long life and wealth for his father and mother. One Yonah responded: If you build for me a nest upon your head, for me to be there all the time, then I will give long life. The other Yonah responded: If you build for me a nest upon your arm to be there all the time, I will give wealth. The boy woke up, opened his eyes and saw the light of day. The Malach represented the Yetzer HaTov, that which a Bar Mitzvah boy gets when he turns Bar Mitzvah. His Toiveling in the oil represented that due to his coming Bar Mitzvah, he received a new Ruach and Nefesh; he was a new person – like a Ger who goes into the Mikvah and becomes a new person. Toiveling in oil specifically, represents a purifying of one’s Machshavos – in order to truly connect to the Torah Hakdosha, one needs to purify his mind and thoughts. The wings of one bird represented the Torah Shebiksav and the Torah Shebal Peh. The wings of the other bird represented the 248 Mitzvos Aseh and the 365 Mitzvos Lo Saseh. The birds were telling him that if he keeps the Torah and the Mitzvos, he would be Zoche to Arichas Yomim, that which comes with Limud Hatorah, and he would be Zoche to wealth, that which comes with the performance of Mitzvos. This is what the Posuk is telling us here, “והיה לך לאות על ידך ולזכרון ביו עיניך ” – you shall wear your Tefillin on your head and on your arm – “למען תהיה תורת ד' בפיך” – so that you should have Torah in your mouth at all times – which will bring Arichas Yomim, “כי ביד חזקה הוציאך ד' ממצרים” – And you shall wear the Tefillin on your arm, and perform the Mitzvos of the Torah, and then you will be Zoche to what Klal Yisroel were Zoche to when they left Mitzrayim – רכוש גדול – great wealth.
