Tefillin, and the Church…

When my friends at the Florida church asked me to tell about the Bar-Mitzvah ceremony and the wearing of tefillin, I was flustered. Eventually, I chose an original explanation; I drew parallels between wearing tefillin and the procedure of resuscitation. It may sound funny, but it came to me so naturally after having thought about it.

In my lecture, I first showed how to wear the talis, the prayer shawl, explaining how it wraps the body, mainly the respiratory system, which I likened to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I went on to explain that arm-tefillin, worn on the left arm, runs along the heart, which is left of the chest center. The tefillin box must be placed so that it turns directly toward the heart, just like the paramedic checks for pulse after resuscitation. Failing to find pulse, he will massage the heart, which is the center of the blood vessels.

In medicine, a person is not declared dead when their heart stops pumping, as long as the brain still functions. Only when all electric activity in the brain stops, a patient will be declared dead. The Jew turns to the center of the nervous system and places the head-tefillin. Just as there are four kinds of brainwaves, the head-tefillin is divided into four parshiyot. God's name also comprises four letters - each for one type of brainwave and one parshiya.

Questions came pouring from all directions. “What is the meaning of the knot on the back of the head?” This one was a question I was not ready for… "Let's think together…” I said, “What is there?" The answer came in a second: the brainstem, or, the "fifth brain" is right there, under the tefillin knot. The brainstem is the instinctive brain, which orders the heart to pump blood and the lungs to draw air in and push it out in a constant pattern. This is the nervous center of the cardio-vascular system and of the respiratory system.

A woman in her 70's, at the far end of the church, asked: "How did they explain the tefillin to you when you were a child?" I told her that one thing I clearly remembered was that a Jew is a son of the king of kings, and therefore a prince. As such, he needs to wear a crown, which is the head-tefillin. The box on the forehead is the diamond fixed in the spiritual crown. The son of the king also has a ring with the royal seal, which is the arm-tefillin, wrapped around the arm to symbolize his authority. The shawl is the royal cape of the son of the king of kings, but it is not an earthly kingdom like all others. This is the eternal kingdom of heaven.

With tears in her eyes, she approached me and said: "In the name of the church, I am asking for your permission to hold on to the hem of your robe." She held the hem, raised it, and cried: "Hallelujah!" The crowd echoed: "Hallelujah!" She opened the Bible and said: "All of you, who want the Old Testament prophecy to come true, raise your hands!" The churchgoers raised their hands, and she said: "May this come true: ‘In those days, ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you.’ (Zecharia 8: 23)”.

Until next time, be well my dear readers.