The Tefillin

The Tefillin

This and the next two commandments are Ot 'אות commandments, meaning they can only be fulfilled with a visible object (the meaning of Ot 'אות).

Berachot 6a) And how do you know that the tefillin are a strength to Israel? For it is written: And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of HASHEM is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee.
D’varim 6:7
⁷You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise.

D’varim 6:8
⁸Bind them as a sign upon your and let them be ornaments between your eyes.

The tefillin come in two forms; the Rosh (head) and Yad. Both are worn together, the boxes containing the verses of the Shema. Many Messianic believers don't wear them, considering them weird (I should add many Jews who have little problem wearing a tallit, balk at tefillin as well). If any of you out there remain unconvinced after this, pack up your old tefillin in a postal box and mail, mail, mail (them to me). But anyway, back to the column.

You stand to put tefillin on. Put the arm tefillin on the arm you do not write with, and tighten the strap around your biceps. They have a funny habit of sliding while you try to wrap them otherwise. Recite the following blessing,

Barukh ata HASHEM , Elohaynu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'haniakh tefillin.
Blessed are you, HASHEM our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin.

Tefila

Wind the strap seven times below the elbow in a counter clockwise fashion. Wrap the remaining portion around your hand for now (It's okay to tuck the end of the strap inside of the others for now, but you'll still have to hold it a little with your thumb while you do the next step).

Take out the Rosh Tefillin, and place it on your head just above the hairline. The knot should be just behind your head, near the base of the skull. Before you settle the strap, say this blessing:

Barukh ata HASHEM , Elohaynu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al mitzvah tefillin
Blessed are you, HASHEM our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us concerning the commandment of tefillin.

Barukh Shem Kavod Malkhuto, L'olam Vayed
Blessed be His name Forever and to eternity

This is the Punctuation of the Shema. Why are you saying it? You are now Wearing the Shema. This dedicates your mind to thinking of HASHEM and his Word during the day (You shall love HASHEM your God with all your soul) Now, take that end of the Yad Tefillin and wrap it around your hand three times, forming the letter ש. The base of the letter will be under your thumb. It pretty much becomes almost a habit to clamp the thumb down on the letter shin where the straps cross. This dedicates your hands to doing HASHEM 's work (Love HASHEM with all your might). Now, wrap the strap three times around the middle finger, once around the ring finger, then back under the palm. Tuck any excess back under the hand straps.

You conclude by saying the "I will's" from Sefer Hoshea Paraq Bet 21-22 (Hoshea 2:21-22).

Hoshea 2:23-24(21-22)
²³⁽²¹⁾And it shall be on that day that I will respond — the word of HASHEM — I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth. ²⁴⁽²²⁾And the earth will respond with the grain and the wine and the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel.

V'eyrshtikh Li L'olam

V'eyrshtikh Li b'tzedek uv'mishpat uv'chesed uv'rachamim

V'eyrshtikh Li b'emunah v'yadat et HASHEM

That's how, now why? Well, God commanded, isn't that good enough? It's enough for me. The word Ot, as mentioned in the Tallit column, refers to a visible sign. A "Spiritual State" as I've heard some argue, does not count as a visible sign. Then again, I've heard people say that the Mark of the Beast will be a "Spiritual State". Kind of hard to determine who can buy or sell, just by a spiritual state...How will that work in a Supermarket during the Tribulation? But let's look at the Mark of the False Messiah (anti-messiah)! It has stunning similarities to the Tefillin...

Cha’zon 13:15-18
¹⁵He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.¹⁶He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,¹⁷and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 616¹.

Ha-Satan has a counterfeit of the Tefillin, we find!

Scholars are convinced it is in opposition to the sealing of God's servants in the Tribulation (how will they be sealed, I wonder? It is a visible sign, to be sure, otherwise Ha-Satan would not need to counterfeit it! Perhaps by gathering at the coming Temple in Jerusalem, they will all one day put on Tefillin and begin shouting "Barukh Haba B'shem Adonai " (Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD. When taking off the tefillin, a golden mark can be seen. I admit. It's not inspired, but doesn't it sound good? Just nod, okay?). Ha-Satan does not need to counterfeit "Man-Made Laws" or "traditions". Very often, man-made traditions distract from the word of God, and Ha-Satan has little need to counterfeit that, when it's working for him all too well.

I encourage all Messianic Jews to wear the Tefillin in prayer, (prayer? I did mention you had to pray, didn't I?) according to the commandments. You'll find it rewarding spiritually. Anything that benefits us spiritually is to be encouraged, but not sought out. Do not seek the anointing, lest it become a God to you. Too many believers get caught up in feel-good experiences, and often lead themselves down side paths in pursuit of good-feelings. But that's for another column.

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¹ Not 666? Actually, all the very oldest manuscripts use 616.