This week, we read the second of the Shiva DeNechemta (שבע דנחמתא), the special Haftarot recited during the seven weeks of consolation following Tisha B'Av. These Haftarot feature words of comfort from the navi Yeshayahu, and unlike the usual practice on Shabbat, during these weeks, there is generally no connection between the Parshiot and Haftarot. Sefer Ma Shehaya Hu Sheyihiyeh does, however, present an interesting idea that serves as a connection between this week’s Parsha and Haftarah. In Parshat Eikev, we read the second paragraph of Shema, that of וְ הָ יָה אִ ם־שׁ ָ מֹעַ. In both this paragraph, and the first parsha of Shema read last week – לֹהֶ יך- אֱ 'וְ אָ הַ בְ תָּ אֵ ת ה – we find the Mitzvah of Tefillin mentioned:
וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיך וּקְ שׁ ַרְ תָּם לְאוֹת עַל־יָדֶך . ..וְ שַׂ מְ תֶּ ם אֶ ת־דְּ בָרַ י ך עַל־לְבַבְכֶם וְעַל־נַפְשְׁכֶם וּקְ שׁ ַרְ תֶּם אֹתָם לְאוֹת עַל־יֶדְ כֶם וְהָיוּ לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם׃
You are to tie them as a sign on your arm and they are to be totafot between your eyes. ... You are to place these words of Mine on your mind and on your being and bind them as a sign on your hand and they will be totafot on your head.
The commentary of Tzafnat Pa’anech is referenced by the sefer in establishing the link. Knesset Yisrael complained to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that He forgot them and abandoned them. In response, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said He did not, as found at the opening of our Haftarah:
וֹן עֲזָבַנִי וַתֹּאמֶר צִיה' וַ ה' שׁ ְ כ ֵ ח ָ נ ִ י ׃ הֲתִשְׁכַּח אִשָּׁה עוּלָהּ מֵרַ חֵם בֶּן־בִּטְנָהּ גַם־אֵלֶּה תִשְׁכַּחְנָה וְאָנֹכִי לֹא אֶשְׁכָּחֵך׃
But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget thee.
In the continuation of the response in the Haftarah, we find another hint to Tefillin:
חַי־אָנִי נְאֻם־ה' שְׂאִי־סָבִיב עֵינַיִך וּרְ אִי כֻּלָּם נִקְ בְּצוּ בָאוּ־לָך כִּי כֻלָּם כָּעֲדִ י תִ לְבָּשׁ ִ י וּתְ קַ שׁ ְּ רִ ים כַּכַּלָּה׃
Lift up your eyes round about, and behold, all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, says the Lord, you shall surely clothe yourself with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on, like a bride.
The Tzafnat Pa’neach says, וּתְ קַ שׁ ּ ְ רִ ים כַּ כַּ ל refers to the Tefillin Shel Yad, wrapped around our arms, and כּ ָ ע ֲ דִ י תִ לְ בָּ שׁ ִ י refers to the Tefillin Shel Rosh, which is worn up front and visible. He is referring to the knots of these Tefillin, where the knot on the arm is generally hidden under a sleeve or in between the arm and body, whereas the knot on the Tefillin Shel Rosh is fully visible on the back of one’s head. This, he says, is the connection between our Parsha and Haftarah, and from this connection we can build a very nice idea that connects us back to that of last week’s shiur.
The topic of Tefillin is also mentioned elsewhere in the Torah, specifically in the section of קַ דֶּ שׁ ־לִי כָל־בְּ כוֹר, which appears at the end of Parshat Bo. This section is one of the four Parshiot placed within the Tefillin. In that context, it appears slightly differently:
לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת ה' בְּ פִ יך וּלְזִכָּרוֹן בֵּין עֵינֶיך לְאוֹת עַל־יָדְ ך וְהָיָה לְך לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיך כִּי בְּיָד חֲזָקָה הוֹצִאֲך ה' מִ מִּ צְ רָ יִ ם׃
These words shall be a sign on your hand and for totafot between your eyes, for with a strong hand Hashem brought us out of Egypt.
Some commentators suggest that the first set of Tefillin worn by Bnei Yisrael were made in Egypt. According to this view, they were written on parchment made from the skins of the Korban Pesach, and the text inscribed on them were the two Parshiot found in Parshat Bo: קַ דֶּ שׁ ־לִי כָל־בְּ כוֹר and וְ הָ יָה כִּ י־יְבִ אֲ ך. At that time, the two Parshiot of Shema, which are included in our Tefillin today, had not yet been revealed to Bnei Yisrael.
Rashi says, the word טוֹטָ פֹת represents Tefillin and its four houses (compartments), as the word טֹ טָ פֹת is a combination of two words: טט, which means the number two in Katpi, and פת, which means the number two in Afriki (Sanhedrin 4b).
