In honor of S.S.: “Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be Totafot between your eyes. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates (Devarim 6:8-9).”

It is difficult for me to find a gift for my wife; her tastes are measured by “her country,” not Yeshiva Lane. I have been successful from time to time only to confront an even greater challenge: wrapping the gift. I found a website that guides you in the actual wrapping, but I’m having a challenge with the bow. I spent more time tying and retying the ribbon than I did choosing the gift. The card is ready. The paper is (almost) perfectly folded, but I can’t get the bow just right. Is it as important as the gift? No, but Debbie is familiar with my artistic limitations and a bow tied perfectly by me would reflect the enormous effort in presenting the gift.

I finally decided to leave the bow askew because it would be proof that I, not a professional, wrapped the gift. The bow and paper will last only for the moment it takes my wife to read the card, and then she’ll rip it all apart, but the wrapping is a sign of the care that went into the presentation of the gift.

I wrap a present six days a week. I tie a knot that will not last long past my prayers. The way I tie the knot is a sign of how much care I put into wrapping my “gift,” my whole heart, all my feelings, dedicated to God.

I watch as people mechanically wrap their Tefillin each morning. They are as skilled as the professional gift-wrappers, but I remember that the Mitzvah is the tying. I am tying up my gift. It will be unwrapped when I finish praying. The special connection of that moment when I present the gift will physically pass, but the sign, the care I put into tying the knot, will echo throughout the day.

Permanently? No, but then it is a sign, not permanent like a tattoo, but a sign of where my heart is at this moment.

When I realize how much I care about the presentation of my “gift,” how my entire heart is focused on God, I slide my shirt sleeve over the sign; it is personal and intimate. A powerful sign that I cannot violate by allowing others to see.

That moment of intimacy allows me to take all the different compartments, Totafot, of my mind; the ones that are focused on paying my bills, personal issues, questions etc. and point them all in one direction, at least while I pray. The compartments are unified by my passion for connection to God.

The gift wrap, the bow, my feelings, unifying the compartments…all dependent on my prayer. I want it to last. I desire that powerful connection to last and define my day, so I want my home to reflect that passion. I look at m home as the carefully considered gift that needs the perfect wrapping, even with an imperfect bow. I want to preserve the gift and its wrapping, so I inscribe this feeling on every part of my home, and I walk within my wrapped gift, and find that I can live my life as a gift: This particular gift; the one I wrapped this morning.

Author Info:

Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

Debbie and I were eating in an Indian restaurant and overheard an Indian man explain to his American friend that, “We eat with our right hand, because we use the left hand to clean ourselves after using the bathroom.”

The Halacha is similar in practical terms, but philosophically very different: We use our left hand to clean ourselves because we honor the right hand that is used to fulfill the Mitzvah of Tefillin; we use the right hand to wrap the Tefillin which is the Mitzvah. The left hand that wears the Tefillin is not as honored as the hand which fulfills the Mitzvah.

Our Indian friend begins with the hand he uses to clean. We begin with the hand we use to fulfill a Mitzvah. Our Indian friend avoids something unsanitary. We honor that which is holy.

Tzniut, Personal Dignity, is a major idea in the portion. Some people use the Indian approach, mainly they apply the laws of Tzniut as avoiding that which is not holy. Others approach Tzniut by focusing on honoring that which is holy.  There is the Indian approach and the Halachic perspective. With which hand do we begin?

Some people approach Shabbat by focusing on the negative commandments, others begin with the positive and use the negative as a way to protect what they accomplish through the positive Mitzvot; the holiness of the Shabbat candles, the power of Kiddush, the spirit of the Shabbat meals, the special prayers and songs. The Indian and the Halachic approaches. With which hand do we begin?

Some people admirably pay careful attention to not speaking destructive words, the vocabulary of evil. They avoid the hand that they use to clean. Others focus on using their mouths for holiness, for prayer, Torah learning, kind words, constructive speech, and honor their mouths by avoiding the negative. They honor the hand used to perform a Mitzvah. There is the Indian approach and the Halachic perspective. With which hand do we begin?

The experience in the restaurant has enhanced mu understanding of why we are so careful in using our right hand first, why we insist on holding the Shel Rosh, the Tefillin of the Head, in our right hand as we place them in their proper space, why we are careful to hold the Kiddush cup in our right hand, why we put our right shoe on before the left. Does it really matter? Yes, if we understand the difference between the Indian approach and the Halachic lesson of “Which hand first?”

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

http://www.drstevenschram.com/tefillin.pdf