Tefillin Texts

(9) And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

(16) And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between your eyes; for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.’

(8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.

(18) Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

(7) Regarding the seven branches of the menorah, the [absence of] one invalidates the others. Regarding the seven lamps on it, the [absence of] one invalidates the others. Regarding the two portions of Scripture in the mezuzah, the [absence of] one invalidates the other; and even one letter invalidates the whole. Regarding the four portions of Scripture in tefillin, the [absence of] one invalidates the others; even one letter invalidates the whole. Regarding the four fringes, the [absence of] one invalidates the others, since the four together are one commandment. Rabbi Ishmael says: the four are four separate commandments.

(1) The [absence of the] blue [in the fringes] does not invalidate the white, neither does the [absence of the] white invalidate the blue. The [absence of the] hand-tefillin does not invalidate the head-tefillin, neither does the [absence of the] head-tefillin invalidate the hand-tefillin. The [absence of the] fine flour and the oil does not invalidate the wine, neither does the [absence of the] wine invalidate them. The [absence of one of the] sprinklings [of the blood] on the outer altar does not invalidate the rest.

Upon wrapping himself in tzitzit, one should recite: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us to wrap ourselves in a garment with tzitzit.
Upon donning his tefillin on his arm, one should recite: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us to don tefillin.
Upon donning tefillin on his head one should recite: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us with regard to the mitzva of tefillin.
Upon ritually washing his hands: Blessed…Who has made us holy through His commandments and has commanded us with regard to the washing of the hands.
Upon washing his face, one recites: Blessed…Who removes the bands of sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids...

What did Moses see? It is said: “And I will remove My hand, and you will see My back, but My face you will not see” (Exodus 33:23). Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida, the expression: “And you will see My back,” should be understood as follows: This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who, as mentioned above, wears tefillin, showed him the knot of the tefillin of His head, which is worn on the back of the head.

(1) The four sections from the Torah are: "Sanctify to me...," "When you bring...," which are in the book of Shemot; and "Listen...," and "When you listen..." They are written separately, and we cover them with leather, and they are called tefillin. We place them on the head and tie it on the arm, even if one crown of one letter of the four sections are not properly written, the Torah says that they are prevented from being fit, until they are written completely as they have been established...

(3) Tefillin have ten details that are all halakhah according to Moses from Sinai, and all of them prevent tefillin from being fit, therefore if one changes one of them those are unfit tefillin. Two of these are with regards to their writing, and eight of them are regarding the covering and the tying of the straps. These are the two regarding their writing: They must be written in ink, and they must be written on parchment.

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.

(2) The Tefillin Shel Yad is bound on the left arm over the biceps muscle which is the flesh that stands out on the upper arm that is intermediate between the shoulder-blade and forearm, so that when the upper arm is held close to the ribs, the Tefillin will be opposite the heart and thus the precept will be fulfilled, "And these words … shall be upon thine heart" (Deuteronomy 6:6).

(Exodus 13:9) "And it [the account of the exodus] shall be to you as a sign..." — one roll of parchment containing four sections [of the Torah]. It would be logical then: since the Torah mentions tefillin for both the hand and for the head, then just as there are four compartments in the headpiece, so there should be four compartments in the armpiece. [Therefore] the Torah says: "and it shall be to you as A sign" — one parchment containing four sections.

I might think that just as in the armpiece there is one parchment, so, should there be [only one] in the headpiece. It would be logical then: Since the Torah prescribes tefillin for both the hand and for the head, then just as in the handpiece there is one parchment, so too should there be in the headpiece. [Therefore] the Torah says four times "le'totafot." But in that case perhaps one should make four headpieces of four sections each? [Therefore] the Torah says "and as a memorial between your eyes." One compartment for four sections.