The Tefillin she Yad and Tefillin shel Rosh Sanctify a Man’s Body to Serve as a Parchment for Torah She’b’al Peh
Rabbi Pinches Friedman
Parshas Bo 5785
Translation by Dr. Baruch Fox
This week’s parsha is parshas Bo. Hence, it is fitting, and gives us great pleasure, to focus on the mitzvah of tefillin shel yad and tefillin shel rosh, which are mentioned at the end of the parsha (Shemos 13, 9): "והיה לך לאות על ידך ולזכרון בין עיניך למען תהיה תורת ה' בפיך כי ביד חזקה הוציאך ה' ממצרים"—and it will be for you a sign on your hand and for a remembrance between your eyes, so that Hashem’s Torah may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand Hashem took you out of Egypt. This passuk implies that we are able to study Torah with our mouths, orally, in the merit of the mitzvah of tefillin. Furthermore, they deduce in the Gemara (Kiddushin 35a, Makkos 11a) that the entire Torah is compared to the mitzvah of tefillin from the words: "למען תהיה תורת ה' בפיך". Hence, it behooves us to examine the deeper relationship between the mitzvah of tefillin, the entire Torah, and “yetzias Mitzrayim.”
We will begin to shed some light on the subject by introducing the profound remarks of the Rambam concerning the kedushah of tefillin. It befits every Jew to study them and review them regularly, especially prior to performing the mitzvah of donning the tefillin shel yad and shel rosh. Here is a translation of the pertinent passage (Hilchos Tefillin 4, 25):
The sanctity of tefillin is very great. As long as a person is wearing tefillin on his head and arm, he will be humble and God-fearing and will not be drawn to frivolity or meaningless chatter. He will not contemplate evil thoughts, but rather he will focus his heart on worthwhile and righteous endeavors. Therefore, one should strive to keep them on all day long—that is the proper way to perform this mitzvah. It was said of Rav, the disciple of Rabeinu Hakadosh, that he was never seen walking four cubits without Torah, or without Tzitzis, or without tefillin.
The Shel Yad Aligns with the Heart and the Shel Rosh with the Brain to Sanctify the Two Sovereign Powers that Rule the Entire Body
Where did the Rambam learn this incredible chiddush from:
As long as a person is wearing tefillin on his head and arm, he will be humble and God-fearing, etc.? I would like to propose a straightforward explanation based on what the michaber writes in the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 25, 5):
When donning them, one should focus on the fact that HKB”H commanded us to place these four passages—that discuss the uniqueness of His name and the exodus from Mitzrayim—on the arm opposite the heart and on the head opposite the brain, so that we will remember the miracles and wonders that He performed on our behalf. They demonstrate His oneness and the fact that He possesses the power and dominion in the upper realms and in the lower realms to do with them as He pleases. Furthermore, we should subjugate to HKB”H the neshamah in the brain and, also, the heart, which is the main source of desires and thoughts. Thus, one will have the Creator in mind and will minimize his earthly pleasures.
It is evident from the above that the purpose on donning the tefillin shel yad opposite the heart and the shel rosh opposite the brain is to refine and sanctify these two sovereigns that rule our bodies. This then is the lesson the Rambam is teaching us:
The sanctity of tefillin is very great. As long as a person is wearing tefillin on his head and arm, he will be humble and God-fearing. The placement of the two types of tefillin opposite the heart and the brain is very strategic. In these locations, they make all of the desires and whims of our heart and the neshamah in our brains, and all of our senses and powers subservient to the Almighty blessed One—to serve Him and fulfill His will. In other words, the mitzvah of tefillin sanctifies all 248 limbs and 365 sinews in a man’s body to cling to and attach to Hashem.
The 21 Mentions of the Holy Name in the Tefillin shel Yad Sanctify the Heart and the 21 Mentions of the Holy Name in the Tefillin shel Rosh Sanctify the Brain
In truth, we can also suggest that the Rambam derived this profound chiddush from the following Gemara (Menachos 36b): "חייב אדם למשמש בתפילין בכל שעה קל וחומר מציץ, ומה ציץ שאין בו אלא אזכרה אחת, אמרה תורה והיה על מצחו תמיד, שלא תסיח דעתו ממנו, תפילין שיש בהן אזכרות הרבה על אחת כמה וכמה".
A person is obligated to touch the tefillin constantly (while he is wearing them). This is derived from a “kal va’chomer” (an a fortiori inference) from the Tzitz (worn by the Kohen Gadol), as follows: And if with regard to the Tzitz, which has only one mention of God’s name, the Torah states (ibid. 28, 37): “And it shall be on his forehead always,” so that his attention should not be diverted from it, then with regard to tefillin, which have numerous mentions of God’s name, all the more so.
In fact, the Rambam (ibid. 14) cites this halachah and proposes an amazing chiddush—that the kedushah of the tefillin surpasses the kedushah of the Tzitz. For, as mentioned, the name Havaya only appears once on the Tzitz (the words"קדש לה'" were engraved on it), whereas the name Havaya appears twenty-one times in the tefillin shel yad and another twenty-one times in the tefillin shel rosh.
Based on the Rambam’s incredible chiddush—that the kedushah of the tefillin exceeds the kedushah of the Tzitz— we should be overwhelmed with fear and awe when we consider the amazing gift that HKB”H has bestowed upon us with the mitzvah of tefillin. We are privileged to adorn ourselves daily with the tefillin shel yad and shel rosh whose kedushah surpasses that of the Tzitz worn by the Kohen Gadol on his forehead.
Let us suggest a plausible explanation as to why HKB”H gave us the mitzvah of tefillin with such an exalted level of kedushah that surpasses even the kedushah of the Tzitz. Now, the Tzitz was located on the forehead of the Kohen Gadol, who was endowed with many forms of kedushah. In their merit, he was appointed to preside over the entire congregation of Yisrael. In the words of the Rambam (Hilchos Klei HaMikdash 5, 1):
The Kohen Gadol must surpass all of his priestly brethren in beauty, power, wealth, wisdom, and appearance. As such, it was not necessary for the Tzitz to have more than one holy name engraved on it. The tefillin, however, serve a different purpose. They are designed to sanctify average, normal people like us. To accomplish this goal, they must contain many more holy names than the Tzitz.
The Mitzvah of Tefillin Is Related to the Mitzvah of “You shall make Me a Sanctuary”
I had a wonderful idea concerning the fact that Chazal compared the kedushah of the tefillin to the kedushah of the Tzitz and the Rambam’s assertion that the kedushah of the tefillin surpasses that of the Tzitz, because they contain numerous mentions of the sacred name rather than just one. In the sefer Mitzvas Tefillin (Chapter 1, 4), the Shela hakadosh cites a phenomenal idea taught by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Zohar hakadosh (Chayei Sarah 129a):
By fulfilling the mitzvah of tefillin—donning the shel yad opposite the heart and the shel rosh opposite the brain—a Jew is able to fulfill the mitzvah of (ibid. 25, 8): "ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם"—they shall make Me a sanctuary (Mikdash), so that I may dwell among them—even in galus; because he becomes a dwelling for the Shechinah like the Beis HaMikdash.
Along these lines, we can explain the significance of the number of times the name Havaya is mentioned in the tefillin. The Rambam specifies that the name Havaya appears twenty-one times in each of the tefillin. This relates to the teaching in the Tikunei Zohar (Intro. 3b) that these are alluded to by the phrase (ibid. 3, 14): "אהיה אשר אהיה"—HKB”H’s response when Moshe asks for His name. Now, the gematria of the word אהי"ה is twenty-one. Since this name is mentioned here twice, it alludes both to the twenty-one holy names in the tefillin shel yad and the twenty-one holy names in the tefillin shel rosh.
The connection between the phrase "אהיה אשר אהיה" and the mitzvah of tefillin can be explained based on the following Gemara (Berachos 9b): "אהיה אשר אהיה, אמר לו הקב"ה למשה לך אמור להם לישראל, אני הייתי עמכם בשעבוד זה, ואני אהיה עמכם בשעבוד מלכויות"—“I shall be as I shall be.” HKB”H said to Moshe, “Go and say to Yisrael, ‘I was with them during the subjugation (enslavement) in Mitzrayim, and I will be with them during the subjugation of the other kingdoms.’” In other words, the names "אהיה אשר אהיה" convey the fact that HKB”H rests His Shechinah upon us even in every galus.
Thus, every time we don the tefillin shel yad and shel rosh—which each contain the number of holy names equivalent to the name אהי"ה—we elicit the promise HKB”H made to Moshe Rabeinu: "אהיה אשר אהיה"—just as I was with you in this subjugation, so, too, will I be with you in all future subjugations. According to Rashbi, this implies that by performing the mitzvah of tefillin, which contains forty-two mentions of the name Havaya— corresponding to "אהיה אשר אהיה"—Yisrael themselves become the embodiment of the Beis HaMikdash, even in galus when the Beis HaMikdash no longer exists. In other words, we are fulfilling the directive of: “They shall make Me a Mikdash, so that I may dwell among them.”
We can now better appreciate why Chazal compared the kedushah of the tefillin to the kedushah of the Tzitz and the Rambam’s assertion that Chazal meant to inform us that the kedushah of the tefillin surpasses the kedushah of the Tzitz—on account of the forty-two times Havaya is mentioned in them. As explained, the purpose of the mitzvah of donning tefillin is for a man himself to serve as a Beis HaMikdash—a place where HKB”H can dwell His Shechinah. Thus, just as HKB”H dwelt His Shechinah on the Kohen Gadol via the Tzitz, which had one holy name engraved on it; in the same way, HKB”H dwells His Shechinah on every man wearing tefillin on account of the forty-two names of Havaya they house.
This explains very nicely HKB”H’s rationale for granting us the mitzvah of tefillin with their extreme kedushah. The Tzitz with its one Havaya adorned the head of the Kohen Gadol, whose status surpassed that of his brothers in most respects. The tefillin, however, were aimed at sanctifying every Jewish man, so that he would be like a mini-Beis HaMikdash. To accomplish this goal, HKB”H saw fit to endow the tefillin shel yad and shel rosh with a total of forty-two Havayas—equivalent to "אהיה אשר אהיה".
Now, we can also better understand the Rambam’s statement:
The sanctity of tefillin is very great. As long as a person is wearing tefillin on his head and arm, he will be humble and God-fearing. As stated, the Rambam was of the opinion that the kedushah of the tefillin surpassed the kedushah of the Tzitz, since their purpose was to imbue every Jew with the kedushah of the Beis HaMikdash. Therefore, with the power of their forty- two names that illuminate his being, a Jew truly becomes sanctified and embodies all the attributes enumerated by the Rambam.
