When putting on the tallith:
Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to enwrap ourselves in the fringed garment.
Psalm 36:8-11
How precious is thy kindness, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings. They have their fill of the choice food of thy house, and thou givest them drink of thy stream of delights. For with thee is the fountain of life; by thy light do we see light. Continue thy kindness to those who know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
May it be thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, that my observance of this precept of tsitsith be considered as if I fulfilled it with all its particulars, details and implications, together with the six hundred and thirteen precepts that are related to it. Amen.
PUTTING ON THE TEFILLIN[1]
Meditation before putting on the tefillin[2]
By putting on the tefillin I intend to fulfill the command of my Creator, who has commanded us to wear tefillin, as it is written in the Torah: You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.[3] The tefillin contain four sections of the Torah[4] which proclaim the absolute unity of God, blessed be his name, and remind us of the miracles and wonders which he did for us when he brought us out from
- ↑ The תפילין, known as של ראש (head-phylactery) and של יד (hand-phylactery), are made of the skins of clean animals. Shel rosh consists of four compartments containing four separate strips of parchment on which are written four biblical passages (Exodus 13:1—10, 11—16; Deuteronomy 6:4—9 and 11:13—21). Shel yad consists of a single compartment, and contains the same passages written in four parallel columns on a single piece of parchment. Shel rosh has on the outside two shins (ש), one with three strokes being to the right of the wearer, and one with four strokes to the left. The shin together with the letters formed by the knots of the two straps make up the letters of שדי (Almighty). The seven strokes of the two shins equal the number of times the retsuah is wound around the arm.
There was a difference of opinion between Rashi and his grandson Rabbi Jacob ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam) as to the order in which the four biblical selections should be arranged and inserted in the compartments of the tefillin. We follow the opinion of Rashi. However, some people wear two types of tefillin, prepared according to Rashi and according to Rabbenu Tam, in order to be certain of performing their duty properly.
The tefillin are not worn on Sabbaths and festivals because, like the tefillin, Sabbaths and festivals are themselves regarded as signs of the covenant relation between God and Israel. - ↑ הנני מכון... is derived from the Siddur of Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (1555-1630), author of שני לוחות הברית (של"ה). This meditation contains the thought that by wearing the tefillin on the head and near the heart we are made conscious of our duty to employ our thoughts and emotions in the service of God.
- ↑ Deuteronomy 6:8.
- ↑ Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Exodus 13:1-10; 11-16.
