III. Signs as Outward Reminders of God’s Presence.

The voice that comes from within, from our own heart and conscience, is the best reminder of God’s Presence and Will. But it does not always sound with sufficient force to make itself heard, and we, weak mortals, have the weakness of forgetting even most important duties, unless we are reminded of them from time to time. The Divine Law has therefore set up signs as outward reminders. Such are the commandments of ‏ציצת‎ “fringe,” ‏תפלין‎ “ornaments,” and ‏מזוזה‎ “door-post symbol.” [[329]]

‏ציצת‎ “Fringe” or “Tassel.”

“Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four corners of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself” (Deut. xxii. 12). The object of this commandment is described as follows:—“It shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them, and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray: that ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God” (Num. xv. 39, 40).

In obedience to this commandment, we have two kinds of four-cornered garments provided with “fringes.” The one is small, and is worn under the upper garments the whole day; it is called arba’ kanfoth, “four corners,” or talith katan, “small scarf.” The other and larger one is worn over the garments during the Morning Service.[17] It is called simply talith, “scarf,” or talith gadol, “large scarf.”

The form of the blessing which accompanies the performance of this mitsvah varies according as it refers to the small talith or to the large one. In the former case the blessing concludes with ‏על מצות ציצת‎ “concerning the commandment of tsitsith;” in the latter with ‏להתעטף בציצת‎, “to wrap ourselves with a garment provided with tsitsith.”[18] [[330]]

The tsitsith, which is appended to each of the four corners, consists of four long threads drawn through a small hole about an inch from the corner; the two parts of the threads are bound together by a double knot; the largest thread—called shammash, “the servant”—is then wound seven, eight, eleven, and thirteen times round the other seven halves of the four threads, and after each set of windings a double knot is made.—If one of the four tsitsith is not in order, e.g., two of the threads being torn off, the talith is called pasul, “disqualified” for the mitsvah, and must not be worn till that tsitsith is replaced by a new one.

There is, however, an important element in this Divine commandment, which is now altogether neglected, viz., “And they shall put upon the fringe of the corner a thread of ‏תכלת‎ purple blue wool” (Num. xv. 38). Tradition determined the exact shade of the purple blue indicated by the term ‏תכלת‎; in the Talmud (Menachoth 42b) the various ways of its preparation are given. But the colour seems to have been rare, and we are warned against using imitations of techeleth. Regulations were also made providing [[331]]for the case when techeleth could not be obtained. The natural white colour was then substituted, and no other colour was allowed. After the conclusion of the Talmud doubts seem to have arisen as regards the exact shade of the purple blue demanded by the Divine precept in the term ‏תכלת‎, and thus the use of the thread of purple blue wool gradually ceased to form part of the tsitsith. The exact time when it ceased cannot be fixed.

‏תפלין‎[19] “Ornaments.”

Four times the Law repeats the commandment concerning the tefillin: “And thou shalt bind them”—the words of God—“for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for a frontlet between thine eyes” (Deut. vi. 8 and xi. 18); “And it shall be unto thee for a sign upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, in order that the Law of the Lord be in thy mouth” (Exod. xiii. 9); “And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for a frontlet between thine eyes” (ibid. 16).

The object of this commandment is to direct our thoughts to God and His goodness, and to remind us of the important lessons taught in the following four paragraphs, in which the commandment of tefillin is mentioned:—

Tradition has handed down to us the way in which this precept is to be carried out. The four above-mentioned paragraphs are written twice on parchment, once on one piece, and once on four pieces, each piece containing one paragraph. The two sets are put into two leather cases (‏בית‎), one of which is divided into four compartments, for the four separate slips of parchment, and marked outside by the letter shin.[20] Through [[333]]a loop attached to each bayith a leather strap (‏רצועה‎) is passed, the two parts of which are tied together[21] in such a manner as to hold the bayith on the arm or on the head. On the arm the case is placed that contains the four paragraphs written on one piece, on the head that which contains them written on four pieces. The former is called tefillah shel yad, “tefillin of the hand;” the latter tefillah shel rosh, “the tefillin of the head.”

The tefillin are put on in the following way:—(1.) Tefillah shel rosh. The case is placed in front, just over the forehead in the middle, and the knot of the straps (‏קשר‎) on the back of the head over the middle of the neck; the remainder of the two straps hang down in front, one on each side. (2.) Tefillah shel yad. The case containing the parchment is placed on the inner side of the left upper arm, near the elbow; the knot is kept near it, and the strap is twisted seven times round the arm and three times round the middle finger; there are, however, different customs with regard to this latter practice.

Tefillah shel yad is put on first, being mentioned first in the Divine precept. The reverse order is observed in taking off the tefillin. Originally the tefillin were worn all day long,[22] but at present they are worn only during the morning prayer. [[334]]

The tefillin are not worn on Sabbath or Festival. The observance of these days is “a sign for ever” of our belief “that in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth.” The very days of rest thus remind us of the truths of which the tefillin are “a sign.” The tefillin became, therefore, unnecessary on those days.

The commandment of tefillin applies to all male persons from their thirteenth birthday.[23]

The performance of this commandment is preceded by the usual benediction (‏ברכת המצות‎), concluding ‏להניח תפלין‎, “to place the tefillin,” scil., on the arm and on the head. According to the German rite, a second benediction is recited before placing the tefillah shel rosh on the head, viz., ‏על מצות תפלין‎, “concerning the commandment of tefillin.”[24]

In order to prevent a mere perfunctory observance of this commandment, we are taught to reflect on the importance and the object of the tefillin, and to declare that by placing the tefillin on the head and on the arm, near the heart, we indicate our consciousness of the duty to employ the thoughts that rise in our mind, and the desires of our heart, in the service of the Lord, who gave us the powers of thought and will.[25] [[335]]

‏מזוּזה‎ Door-post Symbol.

The Mezuzah is a piece of parchment on which the two first paragraphs of Shema (Deut. vi. 4–9, xi. 13–20) are written. The parchment is rolled together, put into a small case, and fixed on the right-hand door-post. A small opening is left in the case, where the word ‏שַׁדַּי‎ “Almighty,” written on the back of the scroll, is visible.[26]

The object of the mezuzah, commanded in the words, “And thou shalt write them on the door-posts of thy house and upon thy gates” (Deut. vi. 9 and xi. 20), is to remind us of the Presence of God, of His Unity, Providence, and Omnipotence, both on entering our home and on leaving it; of the all-seeing eye that watches us, and of the Almighty who will one day call us to account for our deeds, words and thoughts. The mezuzah thus serves to sanctify our dwelling and protect it from being polluted by evil deeds.

Signs of God’s Covenant.

Besides the signs mentioned above, there are two other signs of the covenant between God and Israel.

1. Sabbath is called “an everlasting covenant,” and “a sign between God and the children of Israel for ever” (Exod. xxxi. 16, 17). See pp. 254 sqq. and 339 sqq. [[336]]

2. The covenant of Abraham (‏ברית מילה‎ “the covenant of circumcision”). God made a covenant with Abraham, and said, “Thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee: Every male child among you shall be circumcised when eight days old” (Gen. xvii. 9, 10, 12). If the eighth day happens to be on a Sabbath, the circumcision takes place on that day; but if, because of illness, or from any other cause, the rite has not been performed on the eighth day, it must be done on some other day, but not on a Sabbath or Festival.

Notes.—1. In reference to the importance of these mitsvoth, Maimonides, in Mishneh-torah, says as follows:—

“Although we are not commanded to get a talith, and to put it on in order to join the tsitsith (“fringes”) to it, a religious person will not consider himself free from this duty, but will always endeavour to wear a garment to which fringes must be affixed. During prayer we must be especially careful to provide ourselves with a talith. It is a disgrace for a scholar (Talmid chacham) to say the prayer without the talith. We must be particularly anxious to perform this mitsvah; it is of great importance with regard to all the precepts, according to the words, ‘And ye shall look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord’ ” (2nd Book, Ahabhah, Hilchoth tsitsith iii. 12).

“The holiness of the tefillin is great, for so long as the tefillin are upon the head and the arm of a man, he is humble and God-fearing, keeps away from levity and idle talk, does not conceive evil thoughts, but turns his heart exclusively to words of truth and justice. We ought therefore to wear them all day long; this would be the proper way. It is said of Rab, the pupil of Rabbi Jehudah, the Holy, that he was never seen otherwise than with torah or tsitsith or tefillin.

“Although we ought to wear tefillin all day long, it is our special duty to wear them during prayer. Our Sages said, ‘He who [[337]]reads Shema without tefillin rejects, as it were, his evidence concerning the Almighty as false’ ” (ibid., Hilchoth tefillin iv. 26).

“We should be particular with regard to the mezuzah, which is a duty incumbent uninterruptedly on every one. Whenever we enter or leave the house our eye meets with the name of God; we remember His love, and rousing ourselves from our torpitude, we are led to regret our foolish devotion to the vanities of the time, and recognise that nothing remains for ever except the knowledge of the Rock of the universe. We shall then at once devote ourselves to know Him, and walk in the way of uprightness. Our ancient Sages said, ‘He who has tefillin upon his head and upon his arm, tsitsith on his garment, and mezuzah on his door, he is safe from sin, since he has many reminders of his duties, and these are the angels that protect him from going astray; and to him the following verse applies: “An angel of the Lord encampeth round those who fear Him” ’ ” (ibid., Hilchoth mezuzah vi. 13).

2. The great importance of the tefillin, as described by Maimonides, was not understood or recognised by all Jews. Various sayings occurring in the Talmud indicate the existence of laxity or even opposition with regard to the carrying out of this precept in its literal sense. When persons with tefillin on their head and on their arm showed by their conduct that their heart was not filled with the holiness and uprightness of which the tefillin are the symbol, it was but natural that not only were these persons accused of hypocrisy, but the Divine precept itself was discredited. But the greater the opposition by one section of the Jewish community, the more the enthusiasm of the other section grew in its favour. Hence the numerous Talmudical and Rabbinical utterances concerning the sanctifying force inherent in the tefillin (comp. Tur Orach Chayyim xxxvii.). Thus, when a Rabbi was cautioned not to be over joyous, as excess of joy led to sin, he replied, “I lay tefillin;” i.e., “The thoughts which the observance of this precept awakens protects me from sin.” This idea of protection from sin may be the origin of the Greek name phylacterion, “protection.”—In times of persecution, when the Jews were forbidden by their oppressors to perform any of their religious rites on penalty of death, the precept of tefillin was not included among those which they performed even at the risk of their life. To this circumstance Rabbi Simeon b. Elazar ascribes the laxity with regard to the tefillin (Babyl. Talm. Shabbath 130a). [[338]]

3. There occurs in the Midrash (Sifre on Deut. xi. 18), in reference to tsitsith and tefillin, the following passage: “Also when in exile deck yourselves with mitsvoth, in order that on your return to your own land the Divine precepts should not seem to you new and unknown.” This passage has been misinterpreted as if the author of that passage were of opinion that precepts like tsitsith and tefillin did originally not apply to those who are outside the Holy Land. The meaning is rather this: Although a large portion of the laws is not in force outside Palestine, yet continue to wear these reminders in exile, in order that by this act your attention may constantly be turned to the whole Torah, to those precepts which are in force at present as well as to those which are not. Thus all the precepts will be familiar to you, and when the time comes in which the observance of all the laws will again be possible, none of the laws will appear to you new and strange.

4. There is, on the whole, no difference between men and women with regard to the obedience due to the Divine commandments. All Jews are equally bound to obey the Will of God expressed in the Law. This is absolutely the case with all prohibitions (‏לא תעשה‎). In the case of positive commandments (‏מצות עשה‎) the following rule has been laid down by our Sages: Women are exempt from the performance of such religious duties as are restricted to a certain period of time (‏מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא נשים פטורות‎). The object of the seeming anomaly is probably this: the principal duty and the privilege of women is to manage the household, a task that demands constant attention. Religious acts which are to be performed at a certain time might involve an interference with such of their household duties as demand immediate attention; e.g., nursing a patient, a task which generally falls to the lot of the female section of the family. Jewish women, nevertheless, zealously fulfil most of the duties from which the above rule exempts them. They thus are most eager to obey the laws concerning shofar on New-year, lulab on Tabernacles, and the like; and some of them are named as having conscientiously laid tefillin (Mechilta on Exod. xiii. 9). [[339]]

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