More Than Black Boxes

By Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel, The Tennessean

A few short weeks ago, a 16-year-old high school student flying from New York to Kentucky decided to recite his morning prayers 35,000 feet in the air.

Being an observant young man of the Jewish religion, he pulled out his handbag, and took out his Tefilin. With great concentration he strapped a black leather box onto his arm, and placed another leather box on his forehead.

The alarmed flight attendant saw these boxes and straps, took note that they seemed attached on the young man’s body and quickly alerted the pilot. The plane made an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

Upon arrival, the FBI and the TSA stormed onto the plane, verified that this young man had innocent intentions, and was in reality only observing the ritual of putting on the Tefilin for his morning prayers.

Many Americans watching the evening news were puzzled and slightly confused. The number one searched word on Google that day was “Tefilin.”
Yet, this tradition of laying on oneself the Tefilin is not a new-age fad.
Its source is the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy.

“And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and place them on your forehead, between your eyes.”

The leather boxes contain rolled up parchments with the passages of the Shma.

These are meditations on the Oneness of the Creator and the injunctions to stay true and just and not be led astray by any moral or ethical temptations.

Tefilin’s meanings

Tradition teaches us that Jewish men, from the ages of 13 and up, have been putting on Tefilin daily for their morning prayers, except on Saturdays and holidays, for over three millennia.

The spiritual significance behind the Tefilin is rooted in the teachings of the Kabbalah.

Our personalities have three layers ? intellect, emotion and action; what we think, feel and do.

Intellect is our strong and deeply rooted opinions on issues and values.
Emotion is our moods, desires and passions; what we like and what we dislike; what we yearn for and what we fear.

Action is what fills our Blackberry planners, minute by minute. Actions are how we how we lead our lives; how we spend our time and energy.

Ideally, these three should be in sync. Our beliefs and ideals should fuel our ambitions, which should in turn direct our lifestyles.

Yet obstacles loom great. What we know is right doesn’t always resonate, and what we feel is true we can’t seem to execute smoothly.

One of the greatest challenges in life is to attempt to overcome this mind-heart-body disconnect.

Many of us strive to visualize the right attitude in our mind ? to harbor positive desires in our heart and live up to it! This isn’t easy.

Spiritual alignment

That’s where Tefilin comes in. Tefilin helps us to achieve a spiritual alignment of mind, heart and body, uniting our thoughts, feelings and actions towards a power higher than all three.

These black boxes are holy objects, tiny treasure chests charged with immense divine power. We place one box on the head, the home of intellect, with its straps dangling down over the heart, the seat of emotion.

Then the other box rests on the forearm next to the heart, with its straps wrapped around the arm and hand, the tools of action.

The head Tefilin binds our minds to the divine will, to crystallize right and wrong.

The straps dangle down so that this knowledge can flow into our hearts and become a passion and excitement for goodness.

The passion resting in our hearts then drives us to action, that we live a life of meaning and purpose. It functions as a tool man can never invent ? a personal compass.

Preferably, Tefilin is worn early on in the day, connecting the head, the heart and the hand as one prepares to face the world’s ups and downs.

The meditation when putting on Tefilin is to pray for clarity and serenity. It
is to hope that our day is filled with a sense of purpose, direction and contentment.

Embrace a Mind-Heart-Body Alignment of your own.

This young teen did and came through unscathed.

– Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beit Tefilah Chabad in Bellevue – www.chabadnashville.com.