Rabbi's Blog

What do Ecclesiastes, Pentecost , and Phylacteries have in common? They are all English definitions of some Hebrew ideas. The first, Ecclesiastes, is Koheles, the Megilla that Shlomo Hamelech wrote and which we read on Sukkos. The second, "Pentecost", which means the fiftieth day, (another religion uses the term as well) is the English word for the Yom Tov of Shavuos. The last, Phylacteries,is the word for Tefillin, the leather boxes and straps men wear during the morning prayers. I find it amusing that the words used to explain or translate something are sometimes far more complicated and more difficult to pronounce than the actual word itself. The word "Tefillin" is definitely easier to say than phylacteries and is probably understood by more people, even non-Jews, than the English word.

I recently got a haircut. For those who put on Tefillin, you know that the Tefillin of the head fit snugly after a haircut and almost fall off when a long time has transpired without a haircut. The Tefillin do not need to be adjusted, but there is a definite feeling that a change has occurred. Tefillin are also unique because I believe you get the most value per use over a lifetime. If you wear Tefillin approximately three hundred times a year, multiply that by seventy and then divide by the cost of the top- of- the- line pair, you are getting a really good value for your money.

A little over thirteen years ago a few families with children who needed cornea transplants found their way to San Diego. A noted ophthalmologist at the Shiley Eye Center performed cornea transplants on babies as young as four weeks old. One of these families had a son named Yossi who needed one eye to be fixed and was guaranteed at the time by doctors in Israel that even if it didn't work he would still be able to fly a plane! Before leaving for America, this young rabbinical student went to his Rosh Yeshiva to inform him of his plans, seeking a blessing for the success of the mission. In doing so the Rabbi gave the young man an insight into what vision means. A camera has a view finder, a lens and the actual operating system. The lens is only seeing something that the camera will try to understand and interpret. If the lens is not focused the camera will "tell it" to re-focus on the subject. Basically it's the camera that is the eye and not the lens.

The Torah states in 13:16 "V'Haya L'os Al Yadcha U'L'Totafos Bein Einecha Ki B'Chozek Yad Hotzianu Hashem Mi'Mitzrayim" "And it shall be a sign upon your arm, and for totafos between your eyes, for with a strong hand HASHEM removed us from Egypt". The Rabbi explained "Totafos between your eyes" according to the commentary of Rav Mecklenburg, the author of HaKesav V'Hakabalah. Based upon a Gemara Menachos 37 and Megilla 24, the Tefillin of the head should be placed on the area of the soft spot on a baby's head. Whoever actually puts the Tefillin literally between his eyes, either on his nose or forehead, is acting like a Karaite who despises and embarrasses the words of the sages.

So how do the sages explain the idea of the Tefillin between your eyes not to be taken literally? The Torah's understanding of 'between your eyes' is as follows. Initially, the sinews and optic nerves and fibers forge out from the brain together and then split to the left and to the right eyes. At that point both the left and right eyes work together in sync to create proper vision. The eye interprets the light that reflects on objects and shines into it. Sight comes from the inside of the brain and then releases the information to the pupils in the eyes. The intent of the 'Totafos Bein Einecha' - 'between your eyes' - is not the outward appearance of sight but rather from the source of vision from the inside, from that which is covered over, in the brain.

The words in the Parsha are' Bein Einecha' and not 'Bein HaEinayim'. Bein HaEinayim literally means eyes, while Bein Einecha means between where you see from. It also never mentions that Tefillin should be placed between your eyebrows or below your forehead, indicating that it is not a physical place of sight but rather the source of where seeing comes from. Another indication is found in Devarim 14:1 where the Torah prohibits a person from making a bald spot between his eyes as a reaction to mourning over his loss. Rashi and others explain this not to mean literally between his eyes but rather on his forehead or even higher on his actual head. This clearly shows that Bein Eineichem does not mean literally between your physical eyes, but rather the spiritual eyes or the eyes of understanding from the brain.

Throughout the course of davening, a person always needs to re-adjust his Tefillin. For one reason or another either they weren't fastened tightly enough or they were too tight, or maybe the person had to go to the rest room and needed to take them off and put on again. Whatever the cause we are always fixing and moving the Tefillin, returning them to their correct position.

Sight is a bracha /blessing if we have it. Every morning we say a Bracha "Pokeiach Ivrim" Hashem gives sight to the blind. The Hebrew word Hashkafa, translated as philosophy, also means outlook and how someone sees the world and life. Every morning when we say the Bracha of Pokeiach Ivrim, we should not only thank Hashem for our physical sight but also for the ability to have the proper Hashkafa. Keep in mind that there are times our eyes need adjusting, whether through glasses or through reviewing the mussar works and reviewing and correcting our spiritual vision of our Hashkafa of the world and Judaism.

Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky