The Rabbeinu Efraim teaches us that the letter shin embedded on the tefillin shel rosh, the tefillin that goes upon the head, has a numerical value of 300. This number corresponds to the 300 days of the solar year that we are able to perform the glorious mitzvah of tefillin. He breaks this down as follows. We do not put on the tefillin on any of the fifty-two Shabbosos of the year, nor on the four days of Sukkos, the four days of Pesach, the two days of Shavuos, the two days of Rosh Hashana, or the one day of Yom Kippur. This leaves us 300 days annually that we do put on the tefillin. (His calculations are of course for the Diaspora where we have a two-day yom tov, and it assumes that a person does wear the tefillin during Chol HaMoed.)
The Panei’ach Razah sweetens this idea citing the pasuk, “Ki Sheim Hashem nikra alecha, v’yaru mimeka – The Name of Hashem is called upon you, and people will fear you.” The Gemara says this refers specifically to the tefillin shel rosh. He points out that the word sheim, which is spelled shin-mem, is an acronym for “shin manichon,” meaning, “We put it on for 300 days.”
The rewards of tefillin are great. It promises longevity, as the Gemara in Masechtas Menachos reveals to us from the verse, “Hashem aleihem yich’yu – Hashem [is placed] upon you, you will live.” “Upon you” is said to refer to the tefillin. In a similar way, every day in Krias Shema, we say the reward multiple times: “L’ma’an yirbu yemeichem vimei v’neichem – In order that you should increase your days and the days of your children.” This is a promise for donning the tefillin (in addition to the mitzvos of teaching our children Torah and having a mezuzah).
The Chiddushei HaRim demonstrates powerfully how tefillin is a sure way to infuse our hearts and minds with holiness. He explains that if we need to throw out an old pair of tzitzis, we can put it in a separate bag (not combined with the chicken bones) and throw it away. This is because tzitzis is considered “only” a tashmishei mitzvah, an accessory of a mitzvah. But he points out that a tefillin bag, if it becomes tattered, needs genizah, to be placed in sheimos, because it is considered a tashmishei kiddusha, an accessory of holiness. Concludes the Chiddushei HaRim, if a tefillin bag becomes holy because we put our tefillin in it, if we earnestly put the holy messages of tefillin into our hearts and minds, our hearts and minds will likewise become tashmishei kiddusha, infused and saturated in holiness.
So, what are the messages of tefillin? The pasuk says that you should put on the tefillin, “L’ma’an tihye Toras Hashem b’ficha – In order that the Torah of Hashem should be in your mouth.” Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, zy”a, explains that one of the basic kavanos, thoughts of the tefillin is that as we wear them, we should ask ourselves, “When will I be learning Torah today?” or “When will I be studying Torah tonight?” This, says Rav Miller, is the meaning of, “In order that the Torah of Hashem should be in your mouth.”
The pasuk says, “V’hayu l’totafos bein einecha – They should be frontlets between your eyes.” The etymology of the word totafos is mysterious. Rashi separates the word totafos into two parts, and tells us that tot in the Coptic language is two, and fos in African is two. Together, this gives us a total of four, alluding to the four compartments within the tefillin shel rosh. The prestigious sefer Tzror Hamor says that in Egyptian totafos were glasses to help people read better. He continues that the purpose of totafos bein einecha is that the tefillin are to help us see the world more clearly by infusing Hashem into our hearts, by following the dictates of the Torah not to have jealous hearts or stingy hearts, but rather to have a heart of generosity and giving, to see more clearly with our heads, not to harbor hatred or grudges against our fellow man, that our heads should not be filled with immoral thoughts and images, but filled instead with contemplations of Hashem’s Torah, with prayer to Him, and with plans of kindness and goodness for all our relationships.
The pasuk says, “V’haya l’os al yadcha ul’totafos bein einecha, ki b’chozeik yad hotzi’anu Hashem miMitzrayim – You should have the tefillin upon your hand and between your eyes, for Hashem took us out from Egypt with a strong arm.” The Tzror Hamor says that our ‘tefillin glasses’ are to help us clearly see the lessons of the Exodus. As the Ramban teaches us, when we recall the Exodus from Egypt, we remember the powerful lesson of schar v’onesh, reward and punishment: How Hashem punished the Egyptians with the ten plagues and the drowning at the Red Sea, and how He rewarded the Bnei Yisrael for doing the circumcision and the korban pesach, for eschewing the idolatry of Egypt, and for our trusting in Him by venturing into the desert without proper provisions, with their freedom and great wealth, and most of all with the Torah HaKadosha. Thus, tefillin is a daily reminder to avoid sin which would result in punishment and to do mitzvos which earn us great reward.
In the merit of our tefillin, may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
(To be continued)
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
