Tefillin, also known as phylacteries, are passages from the Torah written on parchments and placed in leather battim (receptacles or “houses”), with leather straps attached. These straps are used to bind the battim on the arm and head.
A Bond Between You and the Torah
The source of the commandment of tefillin appears in the passage of Shema Yisrael: “You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day….Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a sign on your forehead” (Deuteronomy 6:5-8). To “bind” Torah to oneself is a metaphor for absorbing it and identifying with it completely. In this mitzvah we are asked to act out this metaphor in real time.
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Whether you’re buying tefillin for a bar mitzvah boy, thinking of buying your first set or considering an upgrade to a higher quality set of tefillin, this guide will tell you about the various types of tefillin, their construction and how to order a set.
The Parchments
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Some prospective tefillin buyers are ready to buy their first set of tefillin, or a set of tefillin for a bar mitzva boy, but are not sure which type to buy – Beit Yosef, Arizal or Sephardic.
The differences between the three are both external and internal, but are fairly subtle. The straps are tied slightly differently because according to the custom they are wound around the arm in the opposite direction.
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The battim (literally “houses,” used as receptacles for the parshiyot) are made of leather from the skin of a kosher animal, generally a lamb, goat or calf, because the material must be derived from something edible, hinting that we must “absorb” the message of the tefillin into our system. The same applies to the straps, the klaf (the parchments on which the parshiyot are written) and the sinews used to sew up the battim.
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The straps on the tefillin straps must be black on the outside, and the battim themselves should also be black. The meaning for this halacha may lie in the fact that black absorbs all the light that falls on it. Tefillin must absorb the lights of the world, convert them into Torah and convey them to the wearer’s mind and body.
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Tefillin are about remembering and binding the essentials of Jewish history to ourselves – heart and soul. The four passages (parshiyot) the boxes (battim) contain are as follows:
1. Kadesh (Exodus 13:1-10), which is about dedicating the firstborn to Hashem. Remember the Exodus!
2. Ve-haya ki yeviacha (when He brings you”) (Exodus 13:11-16). Pharaoh misused his power. We will use ours for mitzvahs.
3. Shema (“Listen Israel…”) (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). One G-d means total commitment.
4. Vehaya im shamo’a (“If you listen…”) (Deuteronomy 11:13-21). Our national destiny depends on how we carry out this task.
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The costs involved in manufacturing tefillin can be divided into three components: the parchments, the boxes and the straps. All three are done by hand, or mostly by hand. Writing the parchments is especially time-consuming and it takes months or years to become a decent sofer (scribe).
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If you’re puzzled by the various types of tefillin, they can be divided into four basic types. The least expensive type is tefillin peshutim. Since they are assembled from separate pieces of leather, the construction process is simpler and less costly. Just make sure you’re dealing with a reliable dealer or they may not be kosher, for various reasons.
Many first-time buyers have no idea how – or even where – to buy a basic set of tefillin for themselves or a bar mitzva boy. Spending $200-$300 for a set of basic tefillin may sound like a small fortune to them, but in fact tefillin “with all the frills” can cost upwards of $1,000.