Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin

Visible layers

In the following paragraph, touch the hand-tefillin while saying וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת עַל יָדֶךָ, touch the head-tefillin while saying וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ, and then kiss the fingertips.

Love God

Learn and teach Torah

Tefillin and mezuzah

Hebrew

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל |
לְבָבְךָ,1 וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁךָ,
וּבְכָל מְאֹדֶךָ: וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים
הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם,
עַל | לְבָבֶךָ: וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ
וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ,
וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ,
וּבְקוּמֶךָ: וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת עַל
יָדֶךָ, וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ:
וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ,
וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ:

Sephardi

Ve'ahavta et Adonai Elohecha, bechol |
levavcha,1 uvechol nafshecha,
uvechol me'odecha: vehayu hadevarim
ha'eleh asher anochi metzav'cha hayom,
al | levavecha: veshinantam levanecha
vedibarta bam, beshivtecha beveitecha,
uvelechtecha vaderech, uveshochebecha,
uvekumecha: ukeshartam le'ot al
yadecha, vehayu letotafot bein einecha:
uchetavtam al mezuzot beitecha,
uvisha'arecha:

English

You should love the Lord, your God, and keep His commandments with all of your heart,1 as one does when fulfilling his beloved's request. Love God with all of your soul. Be ready to fulfill all of His commandments, even if you might lose your life. Love God with all of your might. Be ready to fulfill all of His commandments, even if you might lose your money. These words of Torah, which I command you to do today and every day, should always be new and fresh to you, and they should be engraved on your heart; you should always be thinking about them. You should teach Torah to your children and students until they know it well enough to answer any question about it. You should be involved in the words of Torah and speak them whenever you can: when you sit in your house, when you go on the way, when you lie down at night, and when you get up in the morning. These words, the words of the Shema, should be written in tefillin. You should tie the hand-tefillin on your arm as a sign to remember God, and the head-tefillin should be put on your head, above the area between your eyes. You should write these words of the Shema on mezuzot, which you should put up on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

In the following paragraph, touch the hand-tefillin while saying וּקְשַׁרְתֶּם אֹתָם לְאוֹת עַל יֶדְכֶם, touch the head-tefillin while saying וְהָיוּ לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם, and then kiss the fingertips.

Rewards for keeping God's commandments

Hebrew

וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל
מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה
אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם, לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְיָ
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ, בְּכָל |
לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם:2 וְנָתַתִּי
מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם | בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה
וּמַלְקוֹשׁ, וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ3 וְתִירֹשְׁךָ
וְיִצְהָרֶךָ: וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב | בְּשָׂדְךָ
לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ:

Sephardi

Vehayah im shamoa tishme'u el
mitzvotai asher anochi metzaveh
etchem hayom, le'ahavah et Adonai
Eloheichem ule'ovdo, bechol |
levavchem uvechol nafshechem:2 v'natati
metar artz'chem | be'ito yoreh
umalkosh, ve'asafta deganecha3 vetiroshecha
v'yitzharecha: v'natati esev | besadcha
livhemtecha, v'achalta vesavata:

English

God tells the Jewish Nation in the Torah: It will be that if you listen to Me and keep all of My commandments that I am commanding you today, to love the Lord, your God, and to serve Him by praying properly with all of your heart and all of your soul;2 then I will bless you with the following blessings: I will give rain for your land at the right times—when people are not outside, such as on Friday night. I will bring you the early rain, which falls right after the seeds have been planted, and also the late rain, which falls after the plants have sprouted, to help them grow well. You will collect all of your grain,3 wine, and oil, and none will be taken by your enemies. I will put plenty of grass in your fields, so you will not have to move your animals to another place to feed them. Not only will you be blessed with food, but you will eat it and you will be satisfied by it.

Punishments for idolatry

Hebrew

הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן יִפְתֶּה
לְבַבְכֶם, וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם
אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם
לָהֶם: וְחָרָה | אַף יְיָ בָּכֶם וְעָצַר
אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָטָר
וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ,
וַאֲבַדְתֶּם | מְהֵרָה4 מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ
הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר יְיָ נֹתֵן לָכֶם:

Sephardi

Hishameru lachem pen yifteh
levavchem, vesartem va'avadtem
elohim acherim vehishtachavitem
lahem: vecharah | af Adonai bachem ve-atzar
et hashamayim v'lo yihyeh matar
veha'adamah lo titen et yevulah,
va'avadtem | meherah4 mei'al ha'aretz
hatovah asher Adonai noten lachem:

English

However, you should be very careful and guard yourselves, in case your hearts become tempted to rebel against God, and you turn away from His ways. If this happens, you will become involved in idolatry and start to serve false gods that are foreign to their makers because they do not help them, and you will foolishly bow down to these false gods. The Lord's anger will then rage against you. God will close up the heavens, and there will be no rain; the ground will not give its produce because nothing will grow. You will quickly be destroyed,4 and you will be sent out from the good land—the Land of Israel—which the Lord gives to you.

Tefillin

Learn and teach Torah

Mezuzah

Hebrew

וְשַׂמְתֶּם | אֶת דְּבָרַי אֵלֶּה
עַל | לְבַבְכֶם וְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם,
וּקְשַׁרְתֶּם | אֹתָם לְאוֹת עַל
יֶדְכֶם וְהָיוּ לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין
עֵינֵיכֶם: וְלִמַּדְתֶּם | אֹתָם |
אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ
בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ
וּבְקוּמֶךָ: וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזוּזוֹת
בֵּיתֶךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ: לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ
יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם עַל הָאֲדָמָה

Sephardi

Vesamtem | et devarai eleh
al | levavchem ve'al nafshechem,
ukeshartem | otam le'ot al
yedchem vehayu letotafot bein
eineichem: velimadtem | otam |
et beneichem ledaber bam, beshivtecha
beveitecha uvelechtecha vaderech uveshochebecha
uvekumecha: uchetavtam al mezuzot
beitecha uvisha'arecha: lema'an yirbu
yemeichem vimei veneichem al ha'adamah

English

Even when you are in exile, you should put these words of Mine, written in the Torah, in your hearts and souls; pay attention to them. You should do this by putting on tefillin, which contain the words of the Shema. You should tie the hand-tefillin on your arm as a sign to

Commentary

1 Literally, "hearts." We are commanded to love God with both of our hearts—our good inclination and our evil inclination. The evil inclination is a source of fiery passion and excitement. We may "train" it to love God by channeling the passion that it has for worldly pursuits and using it for Godly pursuits instead.

2 This can be interpreted not only as a command, but also as a promise. God assures us that if we develop a "love" for Him by committing ourselves to serving Him, we will in turn develop a strong desire to maintain that connection to Him by studying the teachings of His Torah and "speaking of them" every day.

3 In this context, "grain" symbolizes all material pursuits such as eating and doing business. It is our task to "gather" these activities—to elevate them and unite them with Godliness—by performing them in a manner that is holy and enhances our service of God.

4 Alternatively, "And You will destroy the quickness." The verse is hinting that we should not study Torah too quickly, for doing so may lead us away from its true meaning and eventually lead to sin. Instead, we are advised to study methodically and calmly.