[וכן היה] ר' מאיר אומר אין לך אדם מישראל שאין שבע מצות מקיפות אותו תפילין בראשו ותפילין בזרועו מזוזה [לפתחו] ארבע ציציות מקיפות אותו ועליהן אמר דוד (תהילים קיט) שבע ביום הללתיך
And also Rebbi Meir used to say, “There is not [even a] single person among the Jewish people whom mitzvot do not surround. Tefillin is on their head, and Tefillin is on their arm, and mezuzah (scroll on the doorpost) is on his door, and the four tzitzit (fringes) surround them.
And regarding those (i.e. these seven commandments) David said, ‘Seven times per day I praise You for the laws of Your righteousness.’ (Psalms 119:164).
Elie Wiesel, “The Three Times I Saw Jerusalem,” in Against Silence, vol. II, p. 5 (1970).
I don’t know how, but someone had managed to smuggle in a pair of tefillin by bribing a kapo with dozens of bread and margarine rations. I only know that every morning many of us rose before the call-up to perform this mitzvah. Jewish law would not have required it under the circumstances. One is not obligated to sacrifice his life for the sake of donning tefillin. And yet, Jews who did not know each other, who perhaps did not even speak the same language, met each morning at dawn, exposed themselves to nameless dangers for the sake of not interrupting a millennia-old tradition.
I do not understand it. I will never understand whence they derived so much courage and marshaled so much self-denial, even while the world was forsaking them and surrendered them to death.
Elie Wiesel, “Friendship,” in Against Silence: The Voice and Vision of Elie Wiesel (New York: Holocaust Library, 1985), vol. II, p. 37.
For me, performing ritual that’s not traditionally “female,” or that’s explicitly “male,” has never really felt like an expression of my relationship with my gender; coming from an egalitarian halakhic, or Jewish legal, perspective, I see myself as simply an adult Jew performing mitzvot that I am obligated in. Obviously, as a young woman who has spent most of my life through this point in Orthodox spaces, my femaleness has had a significant impact on the way I came to these mitzvot and the way others perceive my performance of them. Female role models and peers have been hugely important to me, and I actively work to create community for women who lay tefillin and wear tzitzit, with the dual goals of making each of us feel less isolated and redefining the image of the observant Jew in the public imagination.
While I am a tefillin-and-tzitzit wearing woman, though, and my femaleness has had a huge impact on the way I have experienced those mitzvot, the mitzvot themselves are not reflective of the way I experience my gender.
I once laid tefillin at school during spirit week while wearing a pink tutu, which totally delighted me. I didn’t need the tutu, however, to affirm my femininity contrasted with the tefillin; rather, the juxtaposition made me feel as though I was reclaiming the mitzvah for people of all gender identities. I’ve been asked several times if I wear tzitzit because I wished I was a boy, and while in Israel this year, strangers have loved to approach me and ask “at gever oh at ishah?” (“Are you a man or a woman?”) Given that I am a cis woman who presents in a feminine way—and that the askers always use the feminine Hebrew pronoun “at” —it’s clear that this question is not intended to open a discussion about my gender identity, but rather aggressively point out that my tzitzit are a challenge to the gender binary. However, I experience my observance of the mitzvot of tzitzit and tefillin not as an expression of my gender, but rather as an attempt to remove gender from the way the public conceives of these mitzvot.
"Two Egal Jews Talk About Gender and Ritual," Amram Altzman • November 17, 2014 • Fresh Torah, Gender Week, https://newvoices.org/2014/11/17/two-egal-jews-talk-about-gender-and-ritual/
(1) God spoke further to Moses, saying, (2) “Consecrate to Me every first-born; man and beast, the first issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine.” (3) And Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house of bondage, how God freed you from it with a mighty hand: no leavened bread shall be eaten. (4) You go free on this day, in the month of Abib. (5) So, when God has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which God swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall observe in this month the following practice: (6) “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival of God. (7) Throughout the seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten; no leavened bread shall be found with you, and no leaven shall be found in all your territory. (8) And you shall explain to your son on that day, ‘It is because of what God did for me when I went free from Egypt.’ (9) “And this shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead—in order that God's Teaching may be in your mouth—that with a mighty hand God freed you from Egypt. (10) You shall keep this institution at its set time from year to year.
(יא) וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יְבִֽאֲךָ֤ יקוק אֶל־אֶ֣רֶץ הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֔י כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְךָ֖ וְלַֽאֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וּנְתָנָ֖הּ לָֽךְ׃ (יב) וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ֥ כָל־פֶּֽטֶר־רֶ֖חֶם לַֽיקוק וְכָל־פֶּ֣טֶר ׀ שֶׁ֣גֶר בְּהֵמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֛ הַזְּכָרִ֖ים לַיקוק׃ (יג) וְכָל־פֶּ֤טֶר חֲמֹר֙ תִּפְדֶּ֣ה בְשֶׂ֔ה וְאִם־לֹ֥א תִפְדֶּ֖ה וַעֲרַפְתּ֑וֹ וְכֹ֨ל בְּכ֥וֹר אָדָ֛ם בְּבָנֶ֖יךָ תִּפְדֶּֽה׃ (יד) וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ בִנְךָ֛ מָחָ֖ר לֵאמֹ֣ר מַה־זֹּ֑את וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֔יו בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֗ד הוֹצִיאָ֧נוּ יקוק מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים׃ (טו) וַיְהִ֗י כִּֽי־הִקְשָׁ֣ה פַרְעֹה֮ לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ֒ וַיַּהֲרֹ֨ג יקוק כָּל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מִבְּכֹ֥ר אָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּכ֣וֹר בְּהֵמָ֑ה עַל־כֵּן֩ אֲנִ֨י זֹבֵ֜חַ לַֽיקוק כָּל־פֶּ֤טֶר רֶ֙חֶם֙ הַזְּכָרִ֔ים וְכָל־בְּכ֥וֹר בָּנַ֖י אֶפְדֶּֽה׃ (טז) וְהָיָ֤ה לְאוֹת֙ עַל־יָ֣דְכָ֔ה וּלְטוֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֣ין עֵינֶ֑יךָ כִּ֚י בְּחֹ֣זֶק יָ֔ד הוֹצִיאָ֥נוּ יקוק מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ (ס)
(11) “And when God has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and has given it to you, (12) you shall set apart for God every first issue of the womb: every male firstling that your cattle drop shall be God's. (13) But every firstling ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every first-born male among your children. (14) And when, in time to come, your son asks you, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘It was with a mighty hand that God brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage. (15) When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, God slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of both man and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to God every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every first-born among my sons.’ (16) “And so it shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol on your forehead that with a mighty hand God freed us from Egypt.”
(ד) שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יקוק אֱלֹקֵ֖ינוּ יקוק ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ (ה) וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יקוק אֱלֹקֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (ח) וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃ (ט) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּזֹ֥ת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ (ס)
(4) Hear, O Israel! Adonai is our God, Adonai alone. (5) You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; (9) inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(יג) וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺתַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־יקוק אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ וּלְעָבְד֔וֹ בְּכָל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁכֶֽם׃ (יד) וְנָתַתִּ֧י מְטַֽר־אַרְצְכֶ֛ם בְּעִתּ֖וֹ יוֹרֶ֣ה וּמַלְק֑וֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ֣ דְגָנֶ֔ךָ וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ֖ וְיִצְהָרֶֽךָ׃ (טו) וְנָתַתִּ֛י עֵ֥שֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ֖ לִבְהֶמְתֶּ֑ךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ וְשָׂבָֽעְתָּ׃ (טז) הִשָּֽׁמְר֣וּ לָכֶ֔ם פֶּ֥ן יִפְתֶּ֖ה לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וְסַרְתֶּ֗ם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם֙ אֱלֹקִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם לָהֶֽם׃ (יז) וְחָרָ֨ה אַף־יקוק בָּכֶ֗ם וְעָצַ֤ר אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה מָטָ֔ר וְהָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן אֶת־יְבוּלָ֑הּ וַאֲבַדְתֶּ֣ם מְהֵרָ֗ה מֵעַל֙ הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטֹּבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יקוק נֹתֵ֥ן לָכֶֽם׃ (יח) וְשַׂמְתֶּם֙ אֶת־דְּבָרַ֣י אֵ֔לֶּה עַל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם וְעַֽל־נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם וּקְשַׁרְתֶּ֨ם אֹתָ֤ם לְאוֹת֙ עַל־יֶדְכֶ֔ם וְהָי֥וּ לְטוֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֵיכֶֽם׃ (יט) וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥ם אֹתָ֛ם אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְדַבֵּ֣ר בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ (כ) וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ (כא) לְמַ֨עַן יִרְבּ֤וּ יְמֵיכֶם֙ וִימֵ֣י בְנֵיכֶ֔ם עַ֚ל הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יקוק לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם לָתֵ֣ת לָהֶ֑ם כִּימֵ֥י הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ס)
(13) If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the your God and serving God with all your heart and soul, (14) I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and the late. You shall gather in your new grain and wine and oil— (15) I will also provide grass in the fields for your cattle—and thus you shall eat your fill. (16) Take care not to be lured away to serve other gods and bow to them. (17) For God's anger will flare up against you, and He will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land that God is assigning to you. (18) Therefore impress these My words upon your very heart: bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, (19) and teach them to your children—reciting them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up; (20) and inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates— (21) to the end that you and your children may endure, in the land that God swore to your ancestors to assign to them, as long as there is a heaven over the earth.
שמונה הלכות יש במעשה התפילין כולן הלכה למשה מסיני ולפיכך כולן מעכבות ואם שינה באחת מהן פסל ואלו הם:
- שיהיו מרובעות וכן תפירתן ברבוע ואלכסונן ברבוע עד שיהיה להן ארבע זויות שוות
- ושיהיה בעור של ראש צורת שי"ן מימין ומשמאל
- ושיכרוך הפרשיות במטלית
- ושיכרוך אותן בשיער מעל המטלית ואח"כ מכניסן בבתיהן
- ושיהיו תופרין אותן בגידין
- ושעושין להן מעבורת מעור החפוי שתכנס בה הרצועה עד שתהא עוברת והולכת בתוך תובר שלה
- ושיהיו הרצועות שחורות
- ושיהיה הקשר שלהן קשר ידוע כצורת דל"ת.
There are eight halachot with regards to the making of tefillin that are halakhah from Moses at Sinai, and therefore each of them prevent tefillin from being fit, and if one changes but one of them, they are unfit, and they are:
1. They must be square, and they are sewn shut in a square, and they casing must be square on all sides.
2. In the leather of the headpiece is the shape of a shin on the right and on the left.
3. The parchments must be tied with a piece of parchment.
4. The parchments must then be tied with hair above the scrap, and then placed into the compartments.
5. They must be tied shut with sinew.
6. They must be made with a passage from leather covering that straps can pass through easily.
7. The straps must be black.
8. They knot must be in the shape of a dalet.
Rab Abin b. Rab Adda said in the name of R. Isaac: How do we know that the Holy One, Blessed be God, lays tefillin? As it is said, "God sworn by God's right hand, and by the arm of God's strength" (Is. 62:8).
... There is a teaching ... Rab Nahman b. Isaac asked Rab Hiyya b. Abin: What is written in the tefillin of the Ruler of the Universe? He answered, "And who is like Your people Israel, a nation one in the earth?" (I Chron. 17:21). Does, then, the Holy One, blessed be God, glory in the praises of Israel? Yes, for ... the Holy One, blessed be God, said to Israel, "You have made Me the only object of your love in the world, so I shall make you the only object of My love in the world."
This Tanna taught in a Baraita, "Michal bat Kushi wore Tefillin and the Sages did not protest"
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יקוק אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְהָנִיחַ תְּפִלִּין:
(ה) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יקוק אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל מִצְוַת תְּפִלִּין:
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:
וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי לְעוֹלָם, וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בְּצֶֽדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט וּבְחֶֽסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים: וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה, וְיָדַֽעַתְּ אֶת־יקוק:
Place the “tefillin of the arm” on the muscle of your left arm, and before tightening it, say:
Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with God's commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin.
Wrap the strap around your arm 7 times and then place the “tefillin of the head” on your head above the region between your eyes, and say:
Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with God's commandments, and commanded us concerning the mitzvoh of tefillin.
With the “tefillin of the head” in place, say:
Blessed is the name of God's glorious domain forever.
When wrapping the strap around the middle finger of your left hand, say:
And I will betrothe you to Me forever; and I will betrothe you to Me in righteousness, in justice, in kindliness and in mercy. And I will betrothe you to Me in faithfulness and you shall know God. Hosea 2:21-22.
