The Secret of Tefillin

Judaism is a religion of action! Faith and belief are undoubtedly critical ingredients toward the achievement of spiritual accomplishments, yet Judaism holds that unless those beliefs are coupled with practical action, they will ultimately fall short of the mark. One can philosophize upon religious themes all day long, but unless they are acted upon in a thoughtful, consistent and unfailing manner, those thoughts will never become internalized. They will remain merely as good intentions alone, unable to transform the person into a true servant of G-d.

Nowhere is this idea more pronounced than in our weekly portion of Parshat Bo. Here for the first time the Jewish people are commanded as a new nation, to observe their first mitzvah, the regulations of Passover. The main mitzvah of the Passover can be found in the verse “V’higadita levincha bayom hahu,” “and thou shalt educate your children on (the anniversary of) that day” (Ex. 13/8). Education ranks highest on the ladder of Jewish values, as ultimately, if we cannot successfully transmit Judaism to the next generation, then the battle is lost before it is even begun. But through what means is that transmission to be accomplished?

The verse continues “On account of this, G-d has done this to me when I left Egypt.” The author of the Passover Haggadah comments, “On account of this I have said only when matzah and bitter herbs are before me.” Teaching is not enough. Stories are not enough. Explanations and explication are not enough. You must eat the matzah and the maror too. You must comply with all of the many rules and regulations mentioned in the Parsha, and put them into practice. If you want to truly taste the Exodus experience; if you want it to challenge you, transform you, and bestow upon you spiritual greatness, then you mustn’t just stand there. You must do something!

We record and relive that experience of the Exodus but once a year, on Passover, and in a very major way. But the Torah requires us (verse 10), to remember the Exodus — “Miyamim yamima”, each and every day. What practical observance accompanies this nebulous daily “remembering”?

In verse (9) we read “ And it shall be for a sign for you, on your arm, and a remembrance (on top of your head) between your eyes, so that the Torah of G-d shall be in your mouth, for with a mighty hand G-d rescued you from Egypt.”

On a very basic level, the purpose of the daily donning of the phylacteries is to remind us of the Exodus, or put another way, to generate within our minds a deep sense of gratitude toward our Creator. By all logic, the Jewish people should not exist.

Who ever heard of an enslaved people successfully overthrowing the tyranny of their superpower taskmasters? Who ever heard of a nation of slaves suddenly capable of defending themselves against Amalakites, Midyanites, Philistines, and all manner of professional warriors, whose leaders and generals were literally giants? Who ever heard of a people surviving the likes of Haman, Antiochus, Hadrian, Chmelnitzki, Hitler, and Stalin? Anti-Semitism has dogged us since our inception, it is sadly still alive and well today, and yet…

If we have survived, and we realize why we have survived, doesn’t it behoove us to show a just little gratitude?

Many years ago, I worked as a teller in a well known New York City bank. My supervisor, who was a very worldly and secular Jew, never showed much interest in religion. I was certain that tefillin was the farthest thing from his mind. Nevertheless, one day I thought I should make my pitch, and I asked him if he would be interested, if I would acquire for him a pair of tefillin? Imagine my total surprise when he informed me that he not only already owned a pair, but that he wore them every single day!

When he saw the embarrassed look on my face, he explained. “I was drafted into the U.S army in 1966, and sent to Vietnam. Before I shipped out my father, a Holocaust survivor, took out my old bar mitzvah tefillin and made me swear that I would wear them every day over there, and I assured him that I would.

“In Nam, I experienced some of the worst battles of the war. My platoon was once ambushed and my comrades around me were falling like flies. Incredibly, the bullets seemed to just whiz around me, and never touched me! I’m not saying that the tefillin saved me, or maybe it was just honoring my father’s request, but whatever the reason, I wear them to this day out of a profound sense of gratitude.”

I learned a couple of lessons that day. Never assume anything about anybody, for starters. But I often think of my old boss when I don my own tefillin. His simple sentiment of just being grateful for being alive continues to imbue my daily services with new meaning every day. Maybe it will for you too.

Avraham Kelman is the rabbi of Congregation Ahabat Shalom of Lynn.