Tefillin – Jewish First Steps

Tefillin are special boxes and straps placed on one’s head and arm, as the Torah says: “Bind [these commandments] as a sign on your arm, and astotafot between your eyes” (Deut. 6:8).

Tefillin are sometimes referred to as phylacteries. This stems from the ancient Greek phylakterion, which means a safeguard. Apparently, the Greeks misunderstood the Tefillin to be some sort of amulet or charm. Actually, Tefillin serve not as a superstition, but as a bona fide connection to God.

The word mitzvah, commandment, relates at its root to the word “to bind.” As such, every mitzvah is an act of love that binds us to God. But Tefillin is the paradigm mitzvah, in that we literally bind ourselves to the will of God. Tefillin represents a total dedication and union with the Almighty.

Tefillin have a tremendous power to connect spiritually. Remarkably, The Chinese Journal of Medicine claims that the contact points of Tefillin are exactly those points at which acupuncture needles are inserted in order “to increase spirituality and to purify thoughts.”