Vol 19.07 - Va'etchanan 2      Spanish French Audio  Video

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Synopsis:
In the Torah portion Vaes’chanan the commandment of tefillin is conveyed in the following manner: “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes.”1

Because the verse begins by saying, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand,” and only then goes on to say, “and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes,” the Gemara2 gleans that the hand tefillin are to be donned before the head tefillin.

The Gemara goes on to say that with regard to removing the tefillin the order is reversed: first the head tefillin are removed and only then are the hand tefillin removed. For “and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes” indicates that “whenever the head tefillin are worn there must be two” — both hand and head tefillin ; inevitably, then, the head tefillin are removed first.

Since “The entire Torah is likened to tefillin ,”3 it follows that just as the term tefillin refers to both the hand and head tefillin , so, too, within the service of Torah and mitzvos there are aspects of both the hand and head tefillin.

The hand tefillin , placed upon the biceps opposite the heart , is indicative of service of the heart, fear of G‑d and acceptance of the Divine yoke, while the head tefillin , which is placed adjacent to the brain, symbolizes the service of the mind.

This concept is also stressed in the Shulchan Aruch , which emphasizes that the commandment of tefillin entails “placing them upon the biceps opposite the heart and upon the head adjacent to the brain, so that we remember the miracles and wonders that He has done for us, these miracles indicating G‑d’s unity, and that it is He who possesses the might and power….”4

Moreover, an integral part5 of the mitzvah of tefillin is that we “submit to G‑d’s service our soul, which is in the brain , as well as the desires and thoughts of the heart. By donning tefillin a person will be mindful of the blessed Creator and restrict his pleasures.”6

In a more general sense there are two overall aspects: The hand tefillin relate to feelings and emotions — fear and awe of G‑d, and practical mitzvos ; the head tefillin relate to intellect and Torah.

Herein lie two important lessons: The fact that the hand tefillin are to be donned first indicates that fear and awe of G‑d must precede Torah knowledge. This is in keeping with the dictum of the Mishna :7 “Anyone whose fear of sin comes before his wisdom, his wisdom will endure; but anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.” Or as the Zohar states:8 “Fear of G‑d is the doorway to wisdom.”

This thought is elaborated on in Tanya ,9 where it states: “One must constantly bear in mind that the beginning of divine service, as well as its core and root… requires first arousing the innate fear which lies hidden in the heart of every Jew not to rebel against the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.”

Then comes the second lesson: “Whenever the head tefillin — the service of intellect and Torah study — are ‘worn’ there must be two; the hand tefillin , fear of G‑d, must be present as well.”

For fear and awe of G‑d is not only a prerequisite to the study of Torah, but must also be found alongside and together with the intellectual pursuit of Torah and G‑dliness. Only then can a person be assured that “his wisdom will endure.”

Acting in such a manner enables an individual to reach that level of Supernal fear and awe that is the hallmark of the sanctity achieved through Torah study.10

It is with regard to this loftier level of fear that our Sages state:11 “If there is no wisdom, there is no fear of G‑d,” and concerning which the verse states:12 “He has commanded us to observe all the statutes so that we may fear Him.”

From https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/91877/jewish/Vaeschanan-Lessons-of-Tefillin.htm
FOOTNOTES
1.    Devarim 6:8.
2.    Menachos 36a.
3.    Kiddushin 35a.
4.    Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein, Orach Chayim 25:11.
5.    See Bach on Tur, Orach Chayim 268, titled VeYechavein.
6.    Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein , ibid.
7.    Avos 3:9.
8.    Zohar I 7b.
9.    Ch. 41.
10.    Tanya , conclusion of ch. 23; ch. 43; Likkutei Torah, Vaes’chanan 9c and onward.
11.    Avos 3:17.
12.    Devarim 6:24.

Translation:

1. Concerning the order of putting on Tefillin, the Talmud states:

One taught: When putting on tefillin, one should put on first the hand-tefillah (Shel Yad ) and then the head-tefillah (Shel Rosh), and when he takes them off, he should take off first the head-tefillah and then the hand-tefillah. Now it is right that when he puts them on he should put on first the one on the hand and then the one on the head, since it is written, ‘And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand’ and then it says, ‘And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes’ but whence do we know that on taking them off he should first take off the one from the head and then the one from the hand? —Rabbah said, R’ Huna explained it to me. The verse says, ‘And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes’, that is to say, so long as they are ‘between thine eyes’ both shall be there.

(Rashi states:

“Two things are inferred: As long as they are ‘between thine eyes’ there should be two (both) , as long as the Shel Rosh is worn, the Shel Yad is worn. Therefore the Shel Yad is removed first”)

In the Mechilta (in Parshat Bo) on the verse ‘And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand’ it states:

“As long as the Tefillin Shel Yad are on the hand, place the Shel Rosh on the head. From here we way  that the Mitzvah of Tefillin  is  when  he places the Shel Yad and then the Shel Rosh;  and when he removes them he removes the Shel Rosh and afterwards the Shel Yad”

One must understand

1. What is the reason  for the Talmud’s learning of the order of donning the Tefillin from the verse: ‘And you shall bind them‘ etc.’  and ‘And they shall be etc.’ in our Parsha and not from  the verse ( that is stated previousvly)  in Parshat Bo where the Mitzvah of Tefillin is stated for the first time – like in the Mechilta”
2. From the simple understanding of the Talmud, it appears that we must rely on two teachings:

1. One teaching on the law that: “When putting on tefillin, one should put on first the hand-tefillah (Shel Yad ) and then the head-tefillah (Shel Rosh)
2. And a second teaching on the law:  “when he takes them off, he should take off first the head-tefillah and then the hand-tefillah.

However from the Mechilta both laws are learned from the same teaching.

2. We could seemingly answer one question with the other. To preface:

According to the Mechilta - how do we learn from one verse the second part: “when he takes them off, he should take off first the head-tefillah and then the hand-tefillah”?

The explanation is:

The difference between the command: ‘And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand ’in Parshat Kadesh (Bo) and the command: “‘And you shall bind them for a sign upon thy hand’ in our Parsha is:

• In our parsha, the Mitzvah is the deed of ( the binding on) the person  -  “‘And you shall bind them for a sign upon thy hand’
• However, in the verse: ‘And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand” in Parshat Kadesh , the command is: “it shall be” –

  ---

  that the Tefillin shoud be “a sign upon your hand” and for “a remembrance between your eyes”

In other words:

The verse in our Parsha speaks of the “person” (gavra) and in Parshat Kadesh ‘And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand” - regarding the “object” (cheftza).

And since the Talmud is concerned with the order of putting on Tefillin from the perspective of the (obligation of the) person (as it states): “When one puts on the tefillin one should put on first the Shel Yad and then the Shel Rosh”, it learns the source from the verse when the obligation is on the person putting them on: “

(Partial)