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TEFILLIN
Some quick Tefillin questions answered.
Tefillin: History of Tefillin
The history of tefillin varies widly depending on what sources you read. However, to us believers, there is only one historical orgin to tefillin. Tefillin was commanded to us in the Torah. If you read the paragraphs of the Shma prayer, you will see the commandments to put tefillin as signs between your eyes and on your arms. Now to some that is a rather ambiguous statement, but Hashem explained to Moshe Rabbeinu exactly what He meant by those words, and even showed Moshe Rabbeinu His tefillin! The Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch give us the details of the tefillin instructions that were handed down directly from Hashem Yisborach to Moshe Rabainu on Mt Sinai.
Tefillin: When is Tefillin used?
Tefillin is worn by all Jewish males over the age of 13 during the daily morning prayers with the exception of on holidays and shabbos. On Tisha B'Av tefillin is worn in the Mincha prayers. Most bar mitzvah boys begin to wear tefillin for a few weeks to a month or more before the bar mitzvah, for "chinuch" or education reasons.
Tefillin: How technical is the manufacturing of tefillin?
There are many hundreds of very technical laws in the writing and manufacturing of kosher tefillin. In fact, there is a very common expressin, "Tefillin that are 99.9% kosher are in fact 100% POSSUL!" (Possul means "invalid")
This means that if only ONE of these many laws are not obeyed during the manufacturing of tefillin, or the slightest mistake is made, the tefillin are not "99% kosher" at all. They are truly 100% NON KOSHER.
There are hundreds of important laws in the writing alone. Tefillin writing is MUCH more complicated than writing a Torah. For instance, in a tefillin parasha every character MUST be written in sequence. This sound easy enough, after all don't we all rignt whatever we write in order? But this is very important. This means that if a sofer who just put in 3 hours of hard, detailed work writing a tefillin parash, suddenly looks up and spots a mistake in the first line, he MAY have to bury it and start over. There are some technicalities, of course, but most of the time, he may NOT go back and change a previous letter, once he has written subsequent characters, without erasing all that comes after that letter. But, at the same time one may not erase one of the holy names of G-d.
Here is where the G-d fearing sofer simply thanks Hashem for allowing him to write tefillin, buries them and starts over. But there is VERY strong temptation to go back and make that correction. After all, "Who would know that I made the correction after the other lines were written?" But the sofer with true Yiras Shmoyim will know that he would then be giving someone totally worthless tefillin parashios, and will never be caught by a sofer on inspection. Every few years a sofer will look at them, and tell tlhe owner how beautiful they are, while in truth they are 100% NOT KOSHER.
Tefillin: What types of tefillin are there?
Wow! That is a question that demands a very long answer. Tefillin are catagorized in many ways.
Tefillin vary in content, as there is a 4-way difference of opinion as to the sequence of the paragraphs inside the tefillin. The most common two are Rashi and his grandson Rabbainu Tam. The law follows Rashi, so we must all wear Rashi tefillin, but most Chassidim and many other frum people also own a pair of Rabbainu Tam tefillin that they put on towards the end of davening.
Tefillin vary also in quality. The quality varies both in the leather the batim (boxes) are made from, as well as the quality of the hand-written tefillin parashios (tefillin parchments) inside. The skill, penmanship, and reputation of the sofer (scribe) affect the quality of the tefillin parashios. The tefillin retzuos (straps) also come in various grades. Since the Shulchan Aruch specifies that the straps/retzuos be made L'Shmoh, most rebbonim insist of hand-made, Avodas Yad retzuos. However, other rabbonim say that for those who can't afford the better ones, the cheaper machine-made straps are kosher. Though some rule they are kosher only B'Dayeved.
Tefillin: Are all tefillin written the same way?
No. The "fonts" used in tefillin fall into two major catagoris, plus a couple of sub-catagories.
The main catagories are Ashkenazi and Sepharadi.
Ashkenazi Tefillin are written in fonts that are handed down, called "mesorah", by "Beis Yosef" and by the Holy "Ari Zal". The word "Ashkenazi" includes those who daven Ashkenaz and Sefard, and originate from Europe and many other parts of the world.
SOME Chabad Lubavitch people use a newer "font" called Alter Rebbe's Ksav, which is a variation on the ksav of the Holy Ari Zal. While other Lubavitchers prefer Ari Zal ksav.
Sefaradi Tefillin are written in a font called "Vellish Ksav" and is only in the mesorah of the Sepharadic people. Mostly these are those who daven nusach Eidut Hamizrach and come from Spanish or some parts of Middle Eastern origin. These same Sepharadi people are allowed to use ANY of the above "fonts" as their mesorah includes Beis Yosef, Ari Zal, and Vellish
Ashkenazi people's mesorah (handed down traditions) do not include the Vellish writing. Therefor:
Do not choose Sefaradi Tefillin if you are not of Sepharadic descent.
Tefillin: Are all tefillin batim (housings/boxes) built the same?
Tefillin batim are supposed to be made from "Ohr Echad" meaning one piece of skin. It is also best to use the very thick skin from the neck of a cow or ox. These are hard to make and very costly. For those who can't afford these preffered type of tefillin called Gassos (thick ones), there are Ohr Echad tefillin made from the thinner leather of a goat or sheep. These thinner leather tefillin are called tefillin Dakkos. For who can't even afford these tefillin dakkos, there are Peshutim Mehudarim tefillin. These are not "true" Ohr Echad" but a comromise that there is not enough room here to describe. It is best not to use these tefillin Peshutim Mehudarim unless you can't afford Dakkos. Still cheaper are the "simple Peshutim". These are NOT really kosher and should not be used. Reliable tefillin merchants do not sell these types at all.
Tefillin: What is with the Straps?
Tefillin straps are called "Retzuos." These straps come in various qualities. The cheapest are machine made "Shpalt" or "split cowhide" meaning, when the leather is split on the machine, the lower piece is used for these. These are the least attractive, and do not last very long. The cheaper tefillin come standard with these.
The next level up on tefillin Retzuos are called "Elyonim" meaning top-grain cowhide. These are much nicer looking and will outlast the shpalt retzuos. However, these are still machine made.
The best are the "Avodas Yad" tefillin retzuos. These are hand-made elyonim, and they are made "lishma" which is preferred.
Since the Shulchan Aruch specifies that the straps/retzuos be made L'Shmoh, most rebbonim insist of hand-made, Avodas Yad retzuos. However, other rabbonim say that for those who can't afford the better ones, the cheaper machine-made straps are kosher. Though some rule they are kosher only B'Dayeved.
Tefillin: How are they checked when they are finished?
Upon completing the tefillin parashios, the sofer gives them over to a "magia" who is a rav/sofer who is expert in proofreading/correcting. He knows what corrections are permissible, and makes them when he can, and also knows what corrections are not permissible. If the parasha has a non-correctable mistake, he marks them as "possul" and they are buried.
He then proof reads each parasha TWICE. Once for missing or extra characters, then the second time for "Tzuras HaOisyois" or the shapes of the characters. Many prefer to split this between 2 sofrim/magias, one for accuracy, the other for tzuras hoisyois. This is preferred.
When he is finished proofreading and correcting the parashios, he brings them to "Mishmeres STaM" where they are computer scanned for textural accuracy. He then certifies them.
Tefillin: Does a certificate from Mishmeres STaM mean they are kosher?
NO. The magia's word is more important. He must know the sofer. If a person who is not permitted to write tefillin (such as a woman or a gentile) writes beautiful tefillin parashios, they will pass all inspections and can be "certified" as kosher, but are in fact 100% NOT Kosher. The Magia must know the sofer's writing and know the sofer personally and certify the parashios as kosher.
The certification by Mishmeres STaM only certifies that all the letters and words are there and in the correct order. It says nothing regarding who wrote the parasha, or how kosher the actual characters are. It makes little or no halachic decisions, only as to textural accuracy. It is helpful to the magia, and should be expected by you, but not as the main certification.
Though the certification by Mishmeres STaM is helpful, it is nothing without the double check by a qualified Rav HaMagia.
Tefillin: Why are some small tefillin shiny while others have a "mat" finish?
By the time you got to this answer, you must be tired of reading, so I will simplify the answer. Don't use tefillin that are shiny. They are the very lowest quality called Tefillin Peshutos or Tefillin Peshutim. These are not even Peshutim Mehudarim tefillin. Most authorities hold that these are not kosher even "bedayeved" meaning that even if you have no access to any other tefillin, do not use these. They should be buried.
Tefillin: How important is it to wear tefillin?
Most authorities consider tefillin to be one of the most important commandments in the Torah. It is more important to put on tefillin every day, than it is to pray!
Tefillin: I can only borrow the tefillin for 5 minutes, what should I say with the tefillin on?
Make the brochos (blessings) on the tefillin, then make the bracha on learning Torah, and finally read the four parashios that are inside, including the entire Kriyas Shma. Best to read the entire Shma, all three paragraphs until Hashem Elokeychem Emes, plus the paragraph "ViHaya Ki YiViacha" and "Kadesh" which are usually found near the beginning of the siddur.
Tefillin: Is tefillin size important?
Well, that is a tough question. The tefillin should be large enough to fit nice-sized kosher parashios. The lower-priced tefillin runs about 30mm to 32mm measured across the top. The higher-priced tefillin seems to be larger, with 34mm and 35mm as the typical size for gassos tefillin. Chabad has a tradition of using VERY large tefillin measuring 40mm or more. These tefillin are called "four by fours" by the Chabad people. This comes from a difference in opinion on the measurement of tefillin. The Shulchan Aruch specified the tefillin batim should measure 2 fingerwidths by 2 fingerwidths. Many say that means 40mm or 4.0cm. The difference in opinion is where to we measure. Chabad rules that we measure on the tops of the tefillin, and therefore they really prefer those "Super Sized" larger tefillin.
Many other opinions rule that this measurement means on the base of the tefillin, means ones that measure 33-34mm across the top, for instance will certainly measure 40mm across the base and are equally kosher.
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