English translation — ואתחנן ב

Talk b<pg>22</pg>

A.

In the count of commandments at the beginning of the laws of tefillin,

the Rambam wrote

(regarding the two commandments in these laws)

: a)

to have tefillin on the head,

b)

to bind them on the arm.

And commentators have already wondered about this, that the Rambam here gave precedence to tefillin of the head over tefillin of the hand

(and similarly in his Sefer HaMitzvot¹,

where he counted tefillin of the head before tefillin of the hand)

— for this is the opposite of the order of the verse,

for in the verse it is explicit²

"And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand

(and then)

and they shall be frontlets between your eyes"³,

and so is the order of their placement,

for "when one⁴

puts on, he puts on the hand [tefillin] and afterwards puts on the head [tefillin], as it is written: 'And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand and then they shall be frontlets between your eyes'"

(and as ruled by the Rambam⁵),

and why did the Rambam give precedence to tefillin of the head over tefillin of the hand⁶?

And this difficulty is not only in the counting of the commandments,

but also in the laws themselves,

for in every instance the Rambam gives precedence to the laws of head tefillin over the laws of hand tefillin⁷,

beginning from the beginning of the laws of tefillin where he wrote: "These four passages etc. and they are called tefillin, and one places them on the head and ties them on the hand",

and similarly afterwards: at the beginning of chapter 2 regarding the writing of the passages,

he begins: "How does one write the head tefillin etc.

(and afterwards)

and the hand [tefillin] one writes them etc."; in chapter 3⁸

regarding the making of the boxes — "How does one make head tefillin etc.",

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And afterwards⁹

"And how does one make the tefillin of the hand"; and there¹⁰

regarding the order of the passages

("How is the order of the passages,

in the tefillah of the head one inserts the last passage etc.

(And afterwards)

the tefillah of the hand one writes them in four pages etc."),

the length of the straps

("And the length of the strap of the head etc. And the length of the strap of the hand etc."¹¹)

and the manner of tying the straps to the boxes

("And one inserts the strap of the head into its loop etc. And likewise for the hand one ties etc."¹²)

; at the beginning of chapter four, the place of their placement — "Where does one place the tefillin of the head? One places them etc. And of the hand one ties it etc."; and there¹³

regarding the blessing of tefillin — "And how does one bless? On the head one blesses etc. And on the hand one blesses etc."¹⁴.

2.

And behold, some have explained¹⁵

the reason of the Rambam, because the sanctity of the head is more stringent than that of the hand,

therefore "the tefillah of the head one does not make it into that of the hand..

because one does not lower from a more stringent sanctity to a lighter sanctity"¹⁶,

and in truth for this reason also the placement of the head should have been before the placement of the hand

(for "whatever is more sacred than its fellow takes precedence over its fellow"¹⁷),

except that it is a decree of the verse¹⁸,

"for it is written⁴

And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand and then they shall be as frontlets between your eyes".

And one should add to their words from what is written by the Ba"ch

in explaining the language of the Tur

that he prefaced the laws of writing the tefillin of the head to the writing of the shel yad,

that the Tur holds that "the shel rosh because its holiness is more stringent than the shel yad..

therefore one is obligated to write the shel rosh first and afterwards the shel yad".

And based on this one can say that the Rambam holds that in all actions of tefillin

(except for their placement)

one should precede the shel rosh to the shel yad because its holiness is more stringent than the shel yad.

But superficially it is difficult to explain thus the opinion of the Rambam,

for he stated this order not only regarding the writing of the passages and the making of the houses etc.,

but also regarding their placement and their blessing,

in which the Torah decreed that the shel yad precedes,

and how is it possible that in the Rambam he precedes in this the shel rosh to the shel yad,

contrary to their order in the verse and contrary to the actual manner of fulfilling the mitzvah?

And also regarding their order in the count of the commandments, they already wrote²¹

that this is a "weak reason",

for what does the sanctity and severity of the commandments have to do with their order?

For we do not find that the order of the count of the commandments corresponds to the order of the level of their sanctity and severity,

and as in these very laws,

that the Rambam combines together the laws of tefillin and the laws of mezuzah and the laws of a Torah scroll,

and he lists them in this order,

even though the sanctity of a Torah scroll²⁴

is more stringent than the sanctity of a mezuzah²²

and tefillin²³.

There are those who wrote²⁴

that the Rambam adopted this order "to teach the law that he wrote in chapter 4, halacha 4: tefillin of the hand does not impede tefillin of the head; even if one does not have tefillin of the hand, only tefillin of the head, he places tefillin of the head, as the Beit Yosef and the Kessef Mishneh wrote there. Therefore he began with tefillin of the head, to say: if one has only tefillin of the head, he places it alone..

Also in the blessing he begins there with tefillin of the head as well, for this intention."

But in addition to this, according to this it would have been sufficient to adopt this order regarding the place of their placement and their blessing, and this is not a reason to adopt this order also in the counting of the commandments

(and likewise in the writing of the passages and the making of the tefillin, etc.),

behold, furthermore,

since the Rambam wrote explicitly that "tefillin of the hand does not impede tefillin of the head because they are two separate commandments, this one for itself and this one for itself,"

what need is there also to hint at this law by means of giving precedence to tefillin of the head over tefillin of the hand

(contrary to their order in the verse and contrary to the order of the obligation initially).

3.

And one can say the explanation in this,

according to what is said in Tzafnat Paneach on the Rambam²⁵,

that there is a difference between tefillin of the hand and tefillin of the head,

"For regarding tefillin of the hand the commandment is

[the act]

of placing or tying..

But regarding those of the head the commandment is that it be placed"

[And one practical difference in practice,

that what they said⁴

that if one put them before the light of morning "when their time arrives he feels them and recites a blessing over them",

that "this is only for the hand..

for there placing is a commandment

(and therefore one must feel them)

but not so regarding those of the head, for the commandment is that it be placed"²⁶].

And one can say,

that its foundation is in the language of the verse itself,

"And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be frontlets between your eyes",

for regarding the hand the verse mentions the act of binding,

whereas regarding tefillin of the head it says "and they shall be".

And so the Rambam precisely states in the Counting of the Commandments at the beginning of the Laws of Tefillin

(as above section 1)

— "to have²⁷

tefillin on the head..

to bind them on the hand"²⁸.

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And based on this, the reason that the Rambam counted Tefillin of the hand and Tefillin of the head as two commandments in the count of 613 is simply understood.

For at first glance,

even though they do not prevent one another,

what is different about tzitzit,

that even though the white and the blue do not prevent one another, nevertheless they are one commandment because "the matter is one"²⁹

(as the Ramban³⁰ asked)?

And according to the above, it is resolved,

for Tefillin of the hand and Tefillin of the head are fundamentally different in their essence,

that the commandment of the hand is the action of tying,

whereas regarding the head, the commandment is that they be placed on the head.

And behold, the above distinction between Tefillin of the hand and Tefillin of the head is not only in the content of the commandment

(whether it is the active or the passive),

but also in the time of the commandment,

for since regarding the hand the commandment is the tying or the placing, it follows that the fulfillment of the commandment is only at the moment of the act of tying or placing³¹,

but not so regarding Tefillin of the head, where the commandment is that they be placed on his head,

it follows,

"that every moment that he is wearing them he fulfills a commandment"³²

[And as he brings in the Tzedah LaDerech³³

about this from our Sages, of blessed memory,³⁴

on the verse³⁵

"At all times... and oil on your head shall not be lacking" — "these are Tefillin",

namely Tefillin of the head³⁶

("on your head"),

that specifically regarding them it is said "At all times...

shall not be lacking",

for their commandment is every moment³⁷].

And this is not a contradiction to what the Rambam wrote³⁸

"that their commandment is to wear them all day",

that this applies also to the hand tefillin — because that which it needs to be worn also on the hand tefillin all the time is only because "as long as between your eyes there shall be two"⁴

(as it is stated in the Gemara⁴

that this is the reason that "when he removes, he removes the head tefillin first and afterwards removes the hand tefillin"),

meaning that it is not a commandment of the hand tefillin,

but rather a detail in the fulfillment of the commandment of head tefillin,

that there is a specific law in the head tefillin that "as long as between your eyes there shall be two"³⁹.

[And based on this he resolves in his holy words⁴⁰

that which the Tosafot wrote⁴¹

regarding "if one spoke between tefillin and tefillin, it is a transgression in his hand",

that this is only in tefillin

(and not in one who slaughters many birds and spoke between bird and bird)

"because they are one commandment"⁴²

— for at first glance it requires clarification,

since it is explicit in the Talmud⁴³

that they are two commandments?

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But "here it means that it should be placed, and there it means that it should be placed",

That is: that these are considered two commandments is because tefillin of the hand and tefillin of the head are different, for their commandment is the act of placing

(or tying)

as above; but regarding "that it should be placed"

(i.e., the commandment that tefillin should be placed on him all the time)

it is one commandment,

for in this tefillin of the hand are only a detail in the commandment of the head,

as above].

4.

Based on the above, one can explain the reason that the Rambam always preceded tefillin of the head to those of the hand — this precedence is in accordance with the content of the entire Book of Love,

which includes

(in the language of the Rambam⁴⁴)

"the commandments that are continuous, which we were commanded in order to love the Place and remember Him always".

And in this matter, the main thing is the commandment of tefillin of the head, which is a continuous commandment,

that at every moment that he is dressed in them he fulfills a commandment

(but not so regarding those of the hand, whose commandment is only the act of tying,

and that they must be placed on him always is only a detail in the commandment of tefillin of the head as above)⁴⁵.

And one can say further,

that this order of precedence of tefillin of the head over tefillin of the hand,

is in accordance with and in continuation of the order of all the commandments in the Book of Love:

According to the words of the aforementioned Rambam regarding the content of the Book of Love,

it appears that the order of the commandments in the Book of Love is

(mainly)

according to the manner of frequency of performing the commandment

(in the manner of "that which is frequent&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;

takes precedence over its fellow")

:

At its beginning, it arranged the laws of Kriyat Shema and the laws of Prayer — for the obligation of Kriyat Shema is twice each day&lt;sup&gt;46&lt;/sup&gt;

and the obligation of prayer

(from the Torah)

is "to pray every day"&lt;sup&gt;47&lt;/sup&gt;

(but not twice as in Kriyat Shema)

; and after the commandments of speech that are obligatory every day — it counts the commandments of action,

beginning with the laws of Tefillin,

whose donning is once a day&lt;sup&gt;48&lt;/sup&gt;

[And following Tefillin come the laws of Mezuzah and Sefer Torah because of their thematic connection,

and particularly that many laws are common to them&lt;sup&gt;49&lt;/sup&gt;],

and afterwards the laws of Tzitzit, for the obligation of Tzitzit is not like Tefillin, since the commandment is only on a garment of four corners&lt;sup&gt;50&lt;/sup&gt;

; and afterwards the laws of Blessings, for from the Torah one is obligated to bless only "after eating"&lt;sup&gt;51&lt;/sup&gt;

and even this "he is not obligated from the Torah unless he is satiated"&lt;sup&gt;52&lt;/sup&gt;

[One could say,

the reason for the precedence of Tzitzit over Blessings,

is that regarding Tzitzit it is explicit in the Torah that the intent of the commandment is "And you shall remember all the commandments of the Lord etc. in order that you remember etc."&lt;sup&gt;53&lt;/sup&gt;,

which is the content of the Book of Love as above,

"to remember Him always",

but not so regarding Blessings, for we do not find such a thing explicit in the Torah&lt;sup&gt;54&lt;/sup&gt;,

and particularly that the obligation of Blessings from the Torah is not mandatory&lt;pg&gt;27&lt;/pg&gt;

every day&lt;sup&gt;55&lt;/sup&gt;

as above]

; and it concludes with the commandment of circumcision, whose performance is only once in a lifetime.

And therefore the Rambam preceded [the blessing for] tefillin shel rosh to [the blessing for] tefillin shel yad,

because tefillin shel rosh is more "frequent",

since the fulfillment of the commandment of tefillin shel rosh is at every moment,

whereas the fulfillment of the commandment of tefillin shel yad is only at the time of binding.

5.

And one may sweeten the matter further,

according to the precise language of the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan [Aruch]⁵⁶

regarding the reason for the opinions that "the Sages instituted to recite yet another blessing over tefillin of the head"

("on the commandment of tefillin")

— "because it is important and it is the essence of the commandment",

and its source is in Tosafot⁵⁷.

But the language of Tosafot is "that it is the completion of the commandment and the essence etc.",

And in this one may explain that the term "essence" is in the manner of the superiority of "completion of the commandment"

[And in the Rosh⁵⁸

he cites only "that it is the completion of the commandment"].

But from this that our Rebbe omitted the phrase "completion of the commandment" and wrote only "that it is important and it is the essence of the commandment",

it implies that he holds,

that tefillin shel rosh is "the essence of the commandment" in general

(in importance).

And according to the words of the Tzemach Tzedek it comes simply,

that the essence of the mitzvah of tefillin is the shel rosh,

which is a constant mitzvah as long as one is wearing them,

but not so the mitzvah of the shel yad is only at the time of the act of tying

(or the placing),

whereas afterwards the wearing of the shel yad is only a detail and secondary to the shel rosh.

And it can be said,

that even though regarding the blessing the Rambam holds⁵⁹

that they did not institute another blessing on the shel rosh

(and only if one spoke between tefillah and tefillah does he bless on the shel rosh "al mitzvas tefillin"),

nevertheless,

regarding the fulfillment of the mitzvah itself he also holds that the tefillin of the head "is the essence of the mitzvah".

And based on this, the reason for the precedence of shel yad to shel rosh will be sweetened even more,

that this is not only because of the constancy and frequency of shel yad,

but also because "it is the essence of the commandment"

(of tefillin).

6.

And one should add in explaining the aforementioned difference between shel yad and shel rosh — according to the inner dimension of the matters:

The inner distinction between Tefillin Shel Yad and Tefillin Shel Rosh is,

that Tefillin Shel Yad which are placed on the arm opposite the heart alludes to the service of the emotions,

to subjugate to the Holy One, blessed be He, "the heart which is the main [seat] of desires and thoughts",

and Tefillin Shel Rosh "on the head opposite the brain" — to subjugate "the soul which is in the brain" to the Holy One, blessed be He⁶⁰.

And this is also the inner reason that the sections of Tefillin Shel Yad are in one house,

while in Tefillin Shel Rosh,

the four sections are placed each one in a separate house,

for the matter of the brain and intellect is to particularize each thing into details,

but not so the feeling of the emotions; there is no division of details in it,

for the feeling of the emotions in itself is above measure and limitation

(and only because of the influence of the intellect upon the emotions,

behold also the emotions are in measure and limitation),

therefore Tefillin Shel Rosh are in four separate houses,

and Tefillin Shel Yad all four sections are in one house.

And based on this, one must explain the above distinction between&lt;pg&gt;28&lt;/pg&gt;

770 and 5710

(For 770, their commandment is only the act of tying,

whereas 5710 is a constant commandment,

"that it should be placed")

— in the inner aspect of the matters:

Regarding the attributes of the heart,

behold, a person's heart is not

(the intermediate one — which is the attribute of every person)

in his control "to turn his heart from the lusts of this world to the love of G-d in truth"⁶¹

(for only the righteous have their hearts in their control⁶¹),

and therefore the commandment of tefillin — i.e., the subjugation of the heart's desires — is not "that it should be placed",

but only the act of binding,

that is to say,

that even though a person cannot turn his heart from his heart's desires to the love of G-d in truth,

so that it be subjugated perpetually to the love of G-d,

nevertheless he must bind his heart,

in the manner of suppression,

to control himself not to bring his desire from potential to actual⁶².

But regarding his mind,

behold, "his mind is in his control"⁶¹

of every single Jew,

that "he can contemplate in it whatever he wishes"⁶¹,

and therefore the commandment of tefillin is "that it should be placed",

namely that it should be subjugated in a perpetual manner to His service, blessed be He.

But nevertheless,

in order to fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin of the head, one also needs the matter of tefillin of the hand,

"as long as between your eyes there are two",

because in order for the work of the mind to be as it should,

it is necessary that his heart also be "bound" and subjugated

(at least in the manner of subjugation)

throughout the entire day,

as is simply understood,

that if he does not rule over the desires of his heart,

this will disturb the work of the mind, etc.

7.

And more deeply it can be said,

that the difference between the two matters of tefillin of the hand and tefillin of the head — that regarding the act of placing they are two mitzvot,

and regarding "that it be placed" they are like one mitzvah

(as above, section 3)

— is because they are two levels in the service of God⁶³

:

It is explained in many places⁶⁴,

that there are two levels in the intellect — external intellect and internal intellect,

that the difference between them is: although the intellect rules over the heart⁶⁵,

and contemplation of G‑d's greatness gives birth in the heart to love of G‑d and fear of Him

(as explained in the Rambam⁶⁶),

there is a distinction between external intellect and internal intellect in the manner of their influence on the emotions of the heart:

The influence of external intellect on the emotions is by way of action,

that after a person understands and grasps with his intellect the greatness of G‑d

("And you shall know"⁶⁷)

there must be additional work to cause the birth of an emotion in the heart

("and you shall bring it back to your heart"⁶⁷),

which comes about through a particular engagement on the part of the intellect in the head,

to clothe itself in the "world of emotions" and to arouse the feeling in the heart.

And it is understood,

that relative to the level of the intellect itself this is a descent;

But not so the influence of the inwardness of the intellect,

which is connected with the essence of the soul,

it is in all parts of man in a spontaneous manner,

for the comprehension of some thing from the aspect of the inwardness of the intellect is in a manner that the person cleaves to it in his entire existence,

in a manner that the emotions are drawn in a spontaneous manner after the comprehension.

And this is the difference between the two modes in Tash"i and Tash"r:&lt;pg&gt;29&lt;/pg&gt;

At the beginning of the service,

when the service of the intellect is only at the level of externality,

then Tefillin of the hand and Tefillin of the head are two commandments,

meaning that they are two different services,

the service of the heart and the service of the mind,

and they are also divided in their superiority,

that the subjugation of the mind to the service of G-d is in a constant manner,

"that it should be placed",

whereas the arousal of the emotions is in the manner of an action,

that through the mind he connects his heart to G-d;

But not so when he elevates himself in his service,

until his service is from the aspect of the innerness of the intellects,

then the emotions are drawn automatically after the intellect

(as above),

then Tefillin of the hand and Tefillin of the head are one commandment,

and the emotions are secondary to the service of the intellects and are drawn after it⁶⁸,

"All the time that they are between your eyes, they should be two."

(From sichos of Shabbos Parshas Terumah 5747; Yud Shevat 5729)