וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם.
Ve’asu li mikdash veshachanti betocham
And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
עיבוד מרבי אליעזר עזיקרי,
ספר חרדים
בלבבי משכן אבנה
להדר כבודו
ולמשכן מזבח אשיא
לקרני הודו
ולנר תמיד אקח לי
את אש העקדה
ולקרבן אקריב לו
את נפשי היחידה.
Adapted from Rabbi Eliezer Azikri,
Sefer Charedim
In my heart I will build a sanctuary
To God’s glorious splendour,
And in the sanctuary I will raise an altar
To the radiance of His majesty.
As fire I will take
The fire of the Binding,
And as a sacrifice I will offer Him
My undivided soul.
א"ר חייא בר אבא א"ר יוחנן כל הנפנה ונוטל ידיו ומניח תפילין וקורא ק"ש ומתפלל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו בנה מזבח והקריב עליו קרבן
On a similar note, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Anyone who relieves himself, washes his hands, dons phylacteries, recites Shema, and prays, the verse ascribes credit to him as if he built an altar and offered a sacrifice upon it.
The Holy One does not reside in the sanctuary on account of the sanctuary, but does so only on account of the people Israel, for they constitute the Temple of God
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.
(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.
[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).
(ה) ענין הקמת המשכן להשרות בו השכינה. גם האדם בצורת שיעור קומתו היא ציור המשכן כמו שכתבתי בפרשת תרומה, ויקים את עצמו לטהר כל שיעור קומה שלו. וכל המקימים מקוים בו (שמות כה, ח) ושכנתי בתוכם:
(5) We have stated that just as the Tabernacle serves to assure us of the Presence of God's שכינה in our midst, so man's physical stature is meant to be the receptacle for God's Presence within him. In order to attain this goal, one must strive to purify their entire body from head to toe. If one succeeds in doing this they will experience the fulfillment of ושכנתי בתוכם, "I shall dwell amongst them."
איזו היא עבודה שהיא בלב הוי אומר זו תפלה וכתיב בתריה (דברים יא, יד)
...Which is the service of God that is performed in the heart? You must say that this is referring to prayer. And, afterward, it is written: “And I shall give the rain of your land in its due time, the first rain and the last rain” (Deuteronomy 11:14).
This Tanna taught in a Baraita, "Michal bat Kushi wore Tefillin and the Sages did not protest"
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/
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.
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.