Episode 8- History of Tefillin
(cont’d from previous episode)- The family put the tefillin on dad and made him recite the appropriate blessings and various customs surrounding it. His condition improved! The dad was healed within a day! The family scoffs at the rebellious son. The son briefly explained the idea that correlation does not equal causation! But he decided, why not just use the sources below to prove Tefillin does not function for healing purposes. The family is astounded, especially when they read the Talmud condemning those people as idol worshippers! What to do now? The son simply suggests listening to this episode so that the family can “delve deeper” into their Jewish observance. Join them for the ride alongside your co-hosts, Dovid Brown and Dovidchai.Contact us at delvedeeper@genuinejudaism.org Google Image search for Tefillin (to clarify, it’s the boxes the people are wearing, not the people themselves who are tefillin)- https://www.google.com/search?q=tefillin&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiH2Kf8qNXrAhUKMd8KHTdlAVoQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=tefillin&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1D-Dlj-DmC2D2gAcAB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=-z9VX8fuGIri_Aa3yoXQBQ&bih=1041&biw=2133NOTE- The English is from Sefaria’s translation, accessible at Sefaria.org and going to the corresponding source and commentary. The translation was subject to some modification by the hosts if / when deemed appropriate. And please, just because the sources are listed down here, do not let that prevent you from fact-checking us. We appreciate learning new information, it benefits everyone! Reminder that we divide history into 4 periods;Pre-Revelation (0-1312 BCE)Revelation until the 1st Monarchy in Sovereign Israel (1312 BCE-10th Century BCE)1st Monarchy in Sovereign Israel until the destruction of the 2nd Temple2nd Temple’s destruction until the 21st CenturyPre Revelation (0-1312 BCE) [TIMEFRAME 00:50-10:15]Broader WorldAmuletsHAMSA- Egypt/Mesopotamia- The now known “hamsa” (hand of Miriam) amulet) has its origins in ancient Mesopotamia. It is believed that the Israelites associated the hamsa with Hashem’s “mighty hand and outstretched arm”. Known to be worn in Ancient Egypt by women for help with childbirth. Also known to be worn to heal snakebites. There is speculation that this idea of amulets in Egypt was taken from Ancient Mesopotamians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HamsaIsraelite WorldTalmud Sotah 17a- Probably clearest proof that Tefillin was not a commandment given AT LEAST until the Revelationדרש רבא בשכר שאמר אברהם אבינו (בראשית יד, כג) אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל זכו בניו לב' מצות חוט של תכלת ורצועה של תפלין Rava further taught: As reward for that which our Patriarch Abraham said to the king of Sodom: “That I will not take a thread nor a shoe strap nor anything that is yours” (Genesis 14:23), distancing himself from anything not rightfully his, his children merited two mitzvot: The thread of sky-blue wool worn on ritual fringes and the straps of phylacteries.As heard from my cousin- He claimed that Chabad is of the opinion that in the times of the Patriarchs, they were on such a level that any physical item touched by them would remain sanctified until they had let go of it. They had no tefillin. After the Revelation however, there needed to be objects that were imbued with sanctity via divine decree for humans had not possessed such power.Revelation Until 1st Monarchy (1312 BCE- Late 11th, Early 10th Century BCE) [10:15-14:14] Broader WorldThis was when totems were worn as necklaces and there were the proverbial charms to ward off evil.Israelite WorldTractate Tefillin/ Shabbat 96aאלא האי תנא הוא דתניא מיכל בת כושי היתה מנחת תפילין ולא מיחו בה חכמיםRather, we must say that it is this tanna who maintains that Shabbat is a time for phylacteries, as it was taught in a Baraita: Michal, daughter of Kushi, [King Saul], would don phylacteries, and the Sages did not protest against her behaviorThe Silver Scrolls (Ketef Hinnom)- A monumental discovery of two tiny silver scrolls, dating back to the 7-6th Century BCE, that bear a striking resemblance to the Priestly blessing we have in the Torah and that we say daily. Scholars suggest that this is perhaps the early iterations of the parchment placed in Tefillin. The most that this shows is that perhaps the text placed in Tefillin early on differed from our current ones, and that the idea of the Totafa mentioned in Exodus and Deuteronomy were taken in a different physical manifestation, the heart and neck (necklace of silver scrolls). Other scholars dismiss this as way too big of a leap, failing to see the correlation between the priestly blessings and the Tefillin. The scholars who do not find it that big a leap view it as an apotropaic function. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketef_Hinnom See: Cohn, Yehudah Benjamin. Tangled up in Text: Tefillin and the Ancient World pp 49-50. Brown University, 2008.The 1st Monarchy until 2nd Temple Destruction (10th Century BCE- 1st Century CE) [TIMEFRAME 14:14-23:42] Broader WorldAncient Rome- Amulets were worn not for piety or healing primarily, but rather to imbue the wearer with certain godlike powers. Some of them contained substances such as sulfur to prevent “evil” (disease). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amulet Israelite WorldShabbos 130a-תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר: כׇּל מִצְוָה שֶׁמָּסְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַצְמָן עֲלֵיהֶם לְמִיתָה בִּשְׁעַת גְּזֵרַת הַמַּלְכוּת, כְּגוֹן עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וּמִילָה — עֲדַיִין הִיא מוּחְזֶקֶת בְּיָדָם, וְכׇל מִצְוָה שֶׁלֹּא מָסְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַצְמָן עָלֶיהָ לְמִיתָה בִּשְׁעַת גְּזֵרַת הַמַּלְכוּת, כְּגוֹן תְּפִילִּין — עֲדַיִין הִיא מְרוּפָּה בְּיָדָם.“It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says in praise of the observance of the mitzva of circumcision: Any mitzva for which the Jews sacrificed their lives at the time of the decrees of the wicked empire, such as the prohibition of idolatry and the mitzva of circumcision, is still steadfastly observed. And any mitzva for which the Jews did not sacrifice their lives at the time of the decrees of the wicked empire, such as phylacteries, is still casually observed, meaning that they are not as careful in its fulfillment as they should be.”The Shlah (Isiah Horowitz, a 16th Century Czech Sage)- The above Gemara speaks of Tefillin in relation to other commandments such as ShabbosPhilo and Josephus seem to differ as to whether tefillin was metaphorical or physical objects. Philo seems to view the concept of phylacteries metaphorically, while Josephus views it physically.Philo- “The law says it is proper to lay up justice in one’s heart, and to fasten it as a sign upon one’s head, and as frontlets before one’s eyes, figuratively intimating by the former expression that one ought to commit the precepts of justice, not to one’s ears, which are not trustworthy, for there is no credit due to the ears, but that most important and dominant part, stamping and impressing them on the most excellent of all offerings, a well approved seal; (138) and by the second expression, that it is necessary not only to form proper conceptions of what is right, but also to do what one has decided upon without delay. For the hand is the symbol of actions, to which Moses here commands the people to attach and fasten justice, saying that it shall be a sign, of what indeed he has not expressly stated, because it is not a sign as I conceive of one particular thing, but of many, and I may also say, of everything with which the life of man is concerned. (139) And by the third expression, he implies that justice is discerned everywhere as being close to the eyes.” (The Works of Philo by C. D. Yonge, Hendrickson Publishers, 1993, pp.629-30)Josephus- “Let every one commemorate before God the benefits which He bestowed upon them at their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and this twice every day, both when the day begins and when the hour of sleep comes on, gratitude being in its own nature a just thing, and serving not only by way of return for past, but also by way of invitation of future favours. They are also to inscribe the principle blessings they have received from God upon their doors and shew the same remembrance of them upon their arms; as also they are to bear on their forehead and their arm those wonders which declare the power of God, and his goodwill towards them, that God’s readiness to bless them may appear everywhere conspicuous about them.” Antiquities, Book IV, Chap. VIII, 13 (translated by William Whiston, Kregel Pub. 1960)Maimonidies Mishneh Torah Laws of Foreign Worship Section 11 Paragraph 12הַלּוֹחֵשׁ עַל הַמַּכָּה וְקוֹרֵא פָּסוּק מִן הַתּוֹרָה. וְכֵן הַקּוֹרֵא עַל הַתִּינוֹק שֶׁלֹּא יִבָּעֵת וְהַמַּנִּיחַ סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה אוֹ תְּפִלִּין עַל הַקָּטָן בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁיִּישַׁן. לֹא דַּי לָהֶם שֶׁהֵם בִּכְלַל מְנַחֲשִׁים וְחוֹבְרִים אֶלָּא שֶׁהֵן בִּכְלַל הַכּוֹפְרִים בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁהֵן עוֹשִׂין דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָה רְפוּאַת גּוּף וְאֵינָן אֶלָּא רְפוּאַת נְפָשׁוֹת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ג כב) "וְיִהְיוּ חַיִּים לְנַפְשֶׁךָ". אֲבָל הַבָּרִיא שֶׁקָּרָא פְּסוּקִין וּמִזְמוֹר מִתְּהִלִּים כְּדֵי שֶׁתָּגֵן עָלָיו זְכוּת קְרִיאָתָן וְיִנָּצֵל מִצָּרוֹת וּמִנְּזָקִים הֲרֵי זֶה מֻתָּר:“He who delivers a prayer of charm upon a wound and reads also a verse of the Torah thereon, likewise one who reads a Verse so that a babe shall suffer no fear, or who puts a Torah scroll or phylacteries upon a child so that he might fall asleep, such are not alone included among the enchanters and charmers but are even included among those who deny the Torah, for they are employing the words of the Torah as a cure for the body, whereas they are not so but only remedies for the soul even as it is said: "And they will (shall) be life for thy soul" (Pro. 3.22). But a normally healthy person who reads Verses of the Torah or chapters of the Psalms, so that the righteousness of reading it shield him to escape suffering and accidents, lo, this is permitted”2nd Temple Destruction until 21st Century (1st Century CE until now) [TIMEFRAME 23:42-END] Broader WorldChristianity- The famous Christ on a cross has been used since virtually the origin of Christianity.Islam- Banned amulets as paganismChina- Taoists use parchments inscrib
