Tefillin is a precious sign between Hashem and klal Yisroel, as the pasuk says 13:16 “V’haya l’os al yadcha”. On which hand do we put our tefillin? The gemara tells us in Menachos 37 that we wear tefillin on our left hand, as the word yadcha refers to “yad ke’ha” – the weak hand.
Rav Moshe Feinstein asks: We know that avodas Hashem has to be done with strength and vigor, so shouldn’t we put tefillin on the stronger hand? Tefillin is a bris between Hashem and klal Yisroel, so shouldn’t we connect to Hashem with our strong hand?
Says Rav Moshe, when everything goes easy without any hardships, then serving Hashem is relatively easy and there’s no indication of your strength. To truly show strength, one has to demonstrate his might while going through tests and tribulations. When things are difficult and you persevere, that’s a sign of true strength in your avodas Hashem. That’s why we put on tefillin on our left hand, our weaker hand, to show that we’re connecting to Hashem specifically with our weaker side. Even when circumstances are difficult, we strengthen ourselves and do the will of Hashem. That’s true strength.
On which tefillin do we make a bracha? We pasken that we make two brachos. However, Rashi holds and the custom of the Sefardim is that you only make one bracha on the tefillin shel yad and that will exempt the tefillin shel rosh. Again, we see that brocha rests on the weaker hand. That’s what indicates that we are true ovdei Hashem, when we serve Hashem when we feel weak.
The sefer Li’lamdecha brings an amazing story about someone who connected to Hashem by putting on tefillin every day. In one of the secular cities in Eretz Yisroel there was a store that sold tefillin. One day a young secular man walks in holding a bag of tefillin. He turns to the seller and says “These tefillin are from my grandfather from before the holocaust. He was a Rav at that time and the only thing we have left from him are these tefillin. I am not religious, so I don’t put on tefillin and I have no use from them. Would you be interested in purchasing them?” The store owner tried to convince the young man to keep the holy tefillin, and perhaps to begin wearing them as well, but the young man was not interested. He only wanted to know how much money he would get for them. So the owner checks out the tefillin and says, “Wow, these are beautiful! They are worth a lot of money!” As he was talking to the man, a secular woman walks into the shop and says, “I would like to buy tefillin, but my budget is limited. What can you offer me?” The store owner was intrigued; why would a secular woman want tefillin? And so she tells her story.
“I come from a secular home”, the woman began, “and raised a completely secular family. In fact, my son never put on tefillin, not even by his bar mitzva. Now he’s in the army and there’s a frum soldier in his unit who persuaded him to put on tefillin every day. My son actually puts on tefillin every day for a few seconds and then he continues his day in the military unit. Last week, my son’s unit ambushed an area which was infested with terrorists. The troops operated in difficult field conditions. While his friends advanced into the field, he was forced to stop because of barbwire that got stuck to his military equipment. He tried to loosen the barbwire but the thread was tied around him and held him back from advancing together with the rest of his unit. All too soon, his comrades were ambushed by the terrorists and they all got shot. Some were killed and some were injured; only he was totally saved. He thought about what just happened and remembered the tefillin that he puts on every day. He concluded that in the merit that he ties tefillin around his hand every day, Hashem tied to his body barbwire so he should be saved from these terrorists”.
The woman continued, “That very night my son called me and asked me to please go buy him a pair of tefillin. So now you understand why I’m here asking you for tefillin”.
The young man who was waiting to sell his grandfather’s tefillin was listening in awe to the woman’s story. He was shaken up and told the store owner, “I’ve changed my mind. Please return my grandfather’s tefillin to me. I don’t want to sell them; in fact, I think I will start to put them on every day.”
Indeed, tefillin is a precious and priceless os between us and our Father in Heaven. Let’s appreciate this beautiful mitzvah and use this daily opportunity to connect to Hashem in such a glorious way.
