Dvar Torah for Parshat Bo 5765

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Tefillin 2

[The tefillin] shall be a sign on your arm and a reminder on your head so that God's Torah will be the subject of your conversation... (Exodus 13:9).

In Likutey Moharan I, Lesson #34 Rebbe Nachman teaches that you have a unique Jewish-jot which translates into your ability to love all things sacred. Alas, you are most likely among the 99.99% of mankind whose love-ability has been hijacked from the holy and been misused for food, money, power and other selfish interests. Thankfully, you have the wherewithal to reclaim the love-ability by using your mouth properly.

Using your mouth properly means: [1] expressing to God, in your own words, your deeply buried desire to be a better Jew; [2] speaking to (or with, but not "at") a fellow Jew about any aspect of the beauty of Judaism, in order to learn something from him (or her, as the case may be). Each of these uses of your mouth have to be informed by the Jewish-jot of the tzaddik, the jot that triggers the love-ability of all those who are rooted in the soul of the tzaddik. This means one needs to study the teachings of the tzaddik.

Reb Noson tells us that the "three" parts of tefillin—the hand tefillin, the head tefillin and the knot of the head tefillin—remind us to use our mouth in these ways. The hand tefillin is situated near the heart because our talking to God has to come from the heart. (The hand tefillin are, generally, also covered, an indication that one should practice hitbodedut, private prayer, in one's own words.)

The knot of the head tefillin does not contain any Scriptural verses. The sharing of friendly insights and observations is meant as sharing, to broaden one's appreciation of Jewishness without forcing (or being forced into) any particular doctrine or practice. The head tefillin itself, with each of the four passages contained in its own separate compartment and with the embossed shins on its sides, allude to the teachings of the tzaddik that need to be front and center in our consciousness throughout the day.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!