On Your Heart – Parshas Bo 5770
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...והיה לך לאות על ידך ולזכרון בין עיניך… (יג:ט).
“They (the Tefillin) shall be a sign on your hand and head….” (13:9).
This week’s Parsha discusses the Mitzvah of Tefillin. By wearing Tefillin we are affirming our belief in Hashem and the fact that He runs the world and took us out of Egypt.
We place the Tefillin on our arm and head, to connote that we dedicate our heart and mind to Hashem.
We place them on our head to state that we will use our head to work on gaining knowledge and understanding of Hashem. We place the Tefillin on the arm, slanted towards the heart, in order to connote that we dedicate our heart, our passions and desires, for the service of Hashem.
One of my 7th grade students asked me during class, that according to this, why don’t we wrap the arm Tefillin around our torso and thus place it directly on our heart, instead of just slanting it on our arm?!
I was very impressed by the question and gave him much acknowledgment for listening so well and striving to understand.
This is how I then explained it to the class. Imagine if all the adults that you knew got together and decided that from now on, whenever you do something good which deserves recognition and reward, they will only do so by means of verbal expression. You will never receive prizes, rewards, money, toys, candy or tickets, only a sincere statement of “job well done”. Imagine a world like that! The classroom filled with moans of disapproval! “No, that would be terrible”, they stated in unison.
The kids then explained to me that it is insufficient to just say, “I am proud of you”! Though that is the main point, us physical human beings need to have a physical expression of recognition as well. We need tangible messages.
“So let me get this straight,” I asked them, “you need me to act in order to fully show my approval and recognition towards you?” “Yes!!”, they all said, as I walked around the room dispensing prizes as a reward for what they just taught me.
Great, now we have answered the original question. We don’t just put the Tefillin on our hearts, for that would only focus on the idea of having feelings towards Hashem. Rather, we put them on our arm. The hand represents action! We will express our love and dedication towards Hashem by actively following His commandments.
This is what Chazal (Makkos 10a) meant by, “one learns the most from his students!” I thank you from the depth of my heart!
