Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Teachings Online

The inner meaning of Tefillin?

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.” (Deuteronomy 6:8) This statute has been traditionally interpreted as the law of tefillin (phylacteries). Tefillin consist of small, hollow, black leather boxes that contain several parchments of relevant Scripture verses: Exodus 13:1–10; 13:11–16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21. The small black boxes are bound on the arm and forehead by means of long, black leather straps, thus literally fulfilling the commandment of binding the Torah on the hand and the forehead. Our Rabbi criticized certain Pharisees for broadening their tefillin, but it should go without saying that our Rabbi Himself wore tefillin. In the days of our Rabbi, the straps of the tefillin were far less encumbering than the modern version, and they were worn all day long. During the Hadrianic persecutions in the Second Century CE, Rome outlawed the wearing of tefillin. During [...]