וראו כל עמי הארץ כי שם ד’ נקרא עליך ויראו ממך
“And all the nations of the world will see that the name of Hashem is called upon you, and they will fear you.” (Devorim 28:10)
There was once a gathering in the house of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik. While the assembled people waited for his arrival, one of the chassidic attendees related a story involving a dispute between two chassidic Rebbes. One of the Rebbes, exasperated at his inability to convince the other to agree to his position, remarked, “How can you disagree with me when I own the tefillin of the holy Baal Shem Tov?” The second Rebbe, unimpressed, retorted that this proved nothing, as the tefillin were missing a letter from one of Hashem’s Divine names, rendering them invalid. At that point, the two Rebbes went to check the tefillin and indeed found them to be missing a letter and invalid. The storyteller concluded by stressing the degree of Divine Inspiration possessed by chassidic Rebbes.
One of the non-chassidic attendees sharply pointed out that the story was far from impressive since it also demonstrated that the illustrious founder of the movement had worn invalid tefillin. To this challenge, the storyteller replied that the tefillin were completely intact until the time of this episode, at which point one of the letters miraculously disappeared to fulfill the prediction of the Rebbe. Not to be outdone, the cynical listener pointed out that if that was the case, the Rebbe had transgressed the prohibition (Rashi Devorim 12:4) against erasing one of Hashem’s Divine names. A dispute then broke out regarding whether it is permitted to cause the erasing of Hashem’s name through miraculous means.
At this point, Rav Chaim entered the room and was asked for his opinion about the story. He replied that he did not know if the story was accurate, but he did know that it is impossible to miraculously erase one of Hashem’s names. If the tefillin were deficient, they had always been so. He was then asked how the second Rebbe could have known that they were invalid before examining them. Rav Chaim replied that this ability is easily attained, and he already possessed it at the age of six or seven.
Rav Chaim explained that Moshe blessed the Jewish people that if they act properly and observe the commandments, the nations of the world will see that the name of Hashem is called upon them, and they will fear and revere them. The Gemora in Megillah (16b) understands the concept of the name of Hashem being called upon them as referring to the tefillin, which contain an allusion to one of Hashem’s Divine names (Tosfos Berachos 6a), which are worn upon our heads. Therefore, any tefillin that do not inspire the appropriate reverence must clearly be invalid. (R’ Ozer Alport)
