What Are Tefillin? Practice, Emotion, and Spiritual Meaning

What Are the Jewish Tefillin (Phylacteries)?

Tefillin (תְּפִלִּין) are a mitzvah (commandment) that is practiced by Jewish men and boys over 13 years of age. The tefillin have two parts:

• Arm-tefillah (shel yad, תפילה של יד) is placed on the upper left arm (or right arm for left-handers), with the strap wrapped around the arm, hand and middle finger
• Head-tefillah (shel rosh, תפילה של ראש) is placed between the eyes, just above the hairline, with the strap wrapped around the head and falling down the sides of the body.

Each of the tefillin is a black leather box, with leather straps attached to it, which are used to wear the tefillin on the head and arm. Inside the boxes are parchments (klaf, קלף) with four passages from the Torah written on them, in traditional Jewish writing (ktav stam, כתב סת״ם).

The Torah commands Jewish men to wear tefillin every day (except for Shabbat and Jewish holidays): “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be a reminder between your eyes.” (Deut. 6:8)

In this article:

• Who Puts on Tefillin?
• When Are Tefillin Worn?
• Emotion of the Mitzvah: A Hassidic Story About Tefillin
• What Is the Blessing for Tefillin (Tefillin Prayer)?
• Spirit of the Mitzvah: The Spiritual Meaning of Tefillin
• How to Wear Tefillin: Step By Step
• Soul of the Mitzvah: Secrets of Tefillin in Jewish Kaballah
• What’s in the Boxes?
• What Is Important to Know When Buying Tefillin?

Who Puts on Tefillin?

Jewish males over the age of bar mitzvah (13 years) should wear tefillin.

According to Jewish tradition, women do not wear tefillin. In Jewish history, a few women with exceptional spiritual qualities, like the daughter of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki), received special permission to wear Tefillin.

When Are Tefillin Worn?

Tefillin are worn on weekdays (Sunday through Friday), and not on Shabbat and Jewish holidays (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Pesach, and Shavuot). According to many, one should not wear Tefillin on Chol Hamoed.

You can wear tefillin anytime during the day, from sunrise to sunset (shkia, שקיעה), but not at night.

It is best to wear tefillin as soon as you wake up in the morning, and if possible, during the morning prayer.

Learn more in my guide to Jewish prayer

Emotion of the Mitzva * נפש המצווה

A Chassidic Story about Tefillin

Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha, known as the “holy brothers”, lived in Poland 250 years ago and became leaders of the Chassidic movement. Early in their life, they decided to go on a self-imposed exile, leaving their homes and traveling from town to town in poverty. Their goal was to cleanse and purify their own spirits, and help fellow Jews discover their spirituality as well.

In the distant villages and towns lived many Jews who never had the opportunity to learn Torah, and were unaware of many laws of Judaism. The brothers knew, with holy vision, what sins those Jews had committed, and pretended they themselves had done them.

Elimelech would cry out: “Melech, Melech, what have you done?” And Zusha would shout: “What happened to you, Zusha? How could you sin against your Creator?” Their Jewish brothers would hear these cries and awaken to return to G-d.

One day, the holy brothers arrived at a village and entered a small lodge owned by an elderly Jew. Rabbi Elimelech saw in the old man’s forehead that the spiritual light of tefillin is absent, because the tefillin he received in his childhood were invalid.

In their room, Elimelech spoke to Zusha in a loud voice: “I have never checked if my tefillin are kosher, could you please look at them for me?” And after a while cried out: “Oh no, my tefillin are not good! I’ve never laid tefillin in my life… What shall I do…”

The owner of the lodge heard the noise, came into the brothers’ room and said: “Dear Jews, I also have never checked my tefillin. Could you do the same for me?”

Zusha opened his tefillin and said, “I’m so sorry, your tefillin too are invalid. It’s not your fault, the scribe was dishonest and sold them to your parents with no parchments inside.” The old Jew cried and asked: “Can you fix them?”

The brothers went aside and Elimelech told Zusha: “I know you could write this Jew new tefillin parchments, and draw into them such great light that will enlighten the past, and give him all the holiness of tefillin he missed in his entire lifetime.” Zusha agreed and wrote the special tefillin parchments.

The lodge owner laid his new tefillin, but their holy light was so great, that within a few days, he returned his soul to his Creator. Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusha understood that this Jew had finished his role in this world, and was only missing the mitzva of tefillin. When he had fulfilled it, his soul was complete and he entered the Garden of Eden.

(based on “The Holy Brothers”, R. Wingerten)

What Is the Blessing for Tefillin (Tefillin Prayer)?

After you place the Tefillin on the left arm, before tightening the strap, say the following blessing:

ברוך אתה א-דני א-לוהינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להניח תפילין

Translation:

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to put on tefillin.

Transliteration:

Baruch Ata Ado-nay Elo-hay-nu Me-lech Ha-olam A-sher Kidsehanu B’mitz-vo-tav V’tzi-vanu L’ha-niach Tefillin.

It’s important not to speak after the blessing and until you finish wearing both the head-tefillah and the arm-tefillah.

For Ashkenazi Jews:

There is a second blessing recited after putting on the head-tefillah:

ברוך אתה א-דני א-לוהינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וציונו על מצוות תפילין

Translation:

Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the mitzvah of Tefillin.

Transliteration:

Boruch Ato Ado-noy Elo-hay-nu Me-lech Ho-olom A-sher Kidshonu B’mitz-vo-sov V’tzi-vonu Al Mitz-vas Tefillin.

Afterwards, say Kriat Shema (קריאת שמע):

• Read Kriat Shema in Hebrew (this is best if you can read Hebrew)
• Read Kriat Shema transliterated into English letters (with audio recording)
• Read Kriat Shema translated into English

Spirit of the Mitzva * רוח המצווה

The Spiritual Meaning of Tefillin

Inside the tefillin are parchments with four passages (parshiot, פרשיות) from the Torah, each focused on a central element in Jewish faith:

Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–9) — Unity of The One G-d.

Vehayah Im Shamo’a (Deuteronomy 11:13–21) — knowing there are good consequences if we follow the Torah’s commands, and bad if we don’t.

Kadesh (Exodus 13:1–10) — always remembering our freedom from Egyptian slavery.

Vehayah Ki Yeviecha (Exodus 13:11–16) — teaching our children about their Jewish heritage.

We have these four components of faith placed on our left arm, against the heart — the seat of the emotions, and again on the head, above the forehead — against the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, which controls our speech, our thoughts, and our emotions.

There is a deep idea behind this — that Jewish faith should not be merely an intellectual concept. It should pervade our lives: Our hands, with which we carry out our life’s activity, our heart, which holds our deepest emotions, and our head, which holds our thoughts and beliefs, our talents and skills.

This teaches us that a Jew has a purpose in the world — he must dedicate himself to the service of G-d in his thoughts, feelings, and actions. And the way to do that is to connect the heart and mind — to listen to our intellectual reason, but also give weight to our emotions, and make peace between them.

By connecting these two elements: Our wisdom (Chochma, חכמה) — which resides in the brain, and our understanding (Binah, בינה) — which resides in the heart, we can reach our divine knowledge (Daat, דעת) — this is a connected knowledge, far beyond what we can achieve with our earthly emotions and intellect. It is spiritual knowledge from the wisdom of the Torah and our neshama (נשמה), eternally connected to G-d, which can shed light on all mysteries and provide answers to our greatest dilemmas.

This is a spiritual idea which is easy to say, but difficult to achieve. Every Jew should pray to one day achieve this balanced state of equanimity between heart and mind — which leads to true, everlasting happiness (simcha, שמחה), a sense of fulfillment and self-assurance, and the ability to carry out our role in this world, with tremendous power to do good to ourselves, our surroundings, and the entire world.

By wearing the tefillin, believing in their divine nature and that they are a commandment from G-d, and opening ourselves to the spiritual idea they hold — we open a door through which our divine knowledge, our Daat (דעת), can enter.

Wearing the tefillin day after day — even though we don’t feel or understand their impact — starts building this connection deep inside us, paving the way to a true spiritual existence.

As our sages said: “Every Jew must ask themselves: when will my deeds ascend to the level of my ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?” This shows each one of us has the ability to achieve the spiritual greatness of our fathers. The tefillin is a gift from G-d that gives us the ability to start along this path.

How to Wear Tefillin: Step By Step

Reused with permission from WikiHow (with edits).

Step 1
Remove the ‘tefillin shel yad’ from the tefillin bag. Unwind the strap and remove it from its case, taking care that it does not touch the floor. Put the case in a safe place.

An easy way to tell which one of the tefillin is the ‘shel yad’: this is the box that does not have the Hebrew letter Shin (ש) on both sides.

Step 2
Prepare your arm. Roll up the sleeve of your weak arm to allow enough room for the ‘tefillin shel yad’ to be placed directly on your skin.

Step 3
Place the ‘tefillin shel yad’ on the upper portion of your weak arm (if you are right handed, this is your left arm, if you are left-handed, it’s your right hand). It should be at heart level with the box on the side of your inner elbow, but do not tighten the strap yet.

Step 4
Recite the following blessing:

ברוך אתה ה׳ אלוקינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להניח תפילין
Baruch Ata Ado-nay Elo-hay-nu Me-lech Ha-olam A-sher Kidsehanu B’mitz-vo-tav V’tzi-vanu L’ha-niach Tefillin.

Step 5

Tighten the strap around your upper arm, then wind the straps seven times around the lower arm (between the elbow and wrist), with the black side of the straps facing outward.

Step 6

Take the ‘tefillin shel rosh’ out of the bag and remove it from the case. Rest the bag and case in a safe place, along with the ‘tefillin shel yad’ case.

Step 7

Place the ‘tefillin shel yad’ over your head. Rest the box evenly in the middle of the forehead, behind your original hairline even if you have balded. Be sure the knot is in the back of the head in the exact opposite location, but do not yet tighten on your head. Don’t worry about the straps yet.

For Ashkenazi Jews:

At this point you’ll recite a second blessing:

ברוך אתה ה׳ אלוקינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו על מצות תפלין
Barukh Atah A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu Melech Ha-olam Asher Kidishanu B’mitzvotav Vitzi Vanu Al Mitzvat Tefillin.

Then say this:

ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד
Barukh Shem K’vod Malkhuto L’olam Va-ed

Step 8
Now tighten the ‘tefillin shel rosh’. Then neatly straighten the straps and let them hang in front of you, black side facing outward.

Step 9
Go back to the ‘tefillin shel yad’. Wind it around the palm of the hand and the fingers. There are different ways to do this for Ashkenazi, Sefardic, and Chabbadnik jews.

Source: Chabbad

Step 10
If you don’t intend to pray with the tefillin, you should at least read Kriat Shema:

• Read Kriat Shema in Hebrew (this is best if you can read Hebrew)
• Read Kriat Shema transliterated into English letters (with audio recording)
• Read Kriat Shema translated into English

Preferably, while you are wearing the tefillin, pray the full morning prayer (shacharit, שחרית).

After reading kriat shema or completing your prayer, undo the straps around the palm of your hand, then take off the ‘tefillin shel rosh’, put it back into its case, and wrap the straps around it. Put the shel rosh into the tefillin bag.

Then take off the rest of the ‘tefillin shel yad’, put it back into its case, then place it in the tefillin bag. No blessings are recited as the tefillin are put away.

Soul of the Mitzva * נשמת המצווה

Secrets of the Tefillin in the Jewish Kabbalah

From the Holy Zohar (Parshat Chayey Sarah, p. 129):

Rabbi Eliezer (son of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai) said: Blessed is the man who wears tefillin and knows the divine intention of the mitzva. Others said to him: If it pleases his honor, please explain to us. He answered: My father taught me that the Lord G-d, out of his great love for the people of Israel, told them to build a Tabernacle (a temple), akin to the divine chariot up Above, and there He shall come and dwell with them. Within this verse the secret of tefillin is concealed.

From Tikunei Hazohar (Tikkun 22, p. 65):

As written in the Song of Songs: “Place me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm.” Does anyone place a seal on their heart? No — these are the tefillin of the head, which are called a seal (chotam, חותם). And their straps, which are the light emerging from the spiritual brain (mochin, מוחין), hanging against the heart — those straps are the light emerging from the tefillin of the head.

And the tefillin of the hand, laid on the left hand, against the heart — those are “a seal on your heart” — meaning that the light emerging from tefillin of the head, pulled across the heart through the straps, are like a “seal” on your heart, and a “seal” on your arm — this is the tefilla of the hand, tied on the left arm against the heart.

From the Tikunei Hazohar (Tikkun 47, p. 83): Come and see: Whomever lays tefillin on his head and on his arm, a divine voice rises and declares every day, to all the Holy Animals (chayot hakodesh, חיות הקודש) of the Chariots Above (merkavot, מרכבות), and to the the Holy Wheels (ophanim, אופנים), and to the Burning Angels (seraphim, שרפים) responsible for lifting up the prayers of Israel, saying: “Give honor to he who lays tefillin, who has light drawn on his face, the portrait of the King, the Lord G-d”

[it is known that G-d also lays tefillin, and their parchments say: “Who is like Your people, like Israel, one nation in the world”]

From the Holy Zohar (Parshat Ekev, p. 274):

He who wants to lay tefillin of the head should look at the letters Shin (ש) on both its sides. First he should look at the letter Shin (ש) with four arms and then on the Shin (ש) of three arms, which hide within them ancient secrets and deep revelations.

What’s in the Boxes?

The black boxes of tefillin and the straps are leather, made from a kosher animal. Inside the boxes are parchments with passages (parshiot, פרשיות) from the Torah.

The four passages included in tefillin mention the mitzvah of tefillin, and contain the fundamentals of Jewish faith:

• Kadesh (Exodus 13:1–10) and Vehayah ki yeviacha (Exodus 13:11–16) — these passages talk about the exodus from Egypt and the duty of the Jewish people to always remember that G-d saved them and teach their children about it.
• Shema (Deut. 6:4–9) — this passage talks about the unity of G-d and says we should love and fear Him.
• Vehayah (Deut. 11:13–21) — this passage talks about the rewards G-d promises if we follow the commandments of the Torah and the punishment if we don’t.

Parchments with these four passages are inserted into the head-tefillah and arm tefillah:

• In the head-tefillah there are four compartments, and each of them contains one of the above passages in a separate parchment.
• In the arm-tefillah there is one compartment, and it contains one long parchment with all four passages written side by side.

Below is an example of Shema, written on a single parchment for insertion into the head-tefillah.

What Is Important to Know When Buying Tefillin?

Tefillin have hundreds of strict requirements according to Jewish law. As a result:

• Many tefillin sold on the market are invalid (pasul, פסול) — if you buy them, your money is wasted. In addition, you, or your Bar Mitzva son, are not performing the mitzvah of tefillin.
• It can be impossible to tell if tefillin are kosher — unless you trust the seller. For example, tefillin parchments must be written in a specific order. If they were written in the wrong order, the tefillin are invalid and there is no way to tell, even for a Rabbi or trained scribe.
• Kosher tefillin can become invalid over time — due to natural wear and tear. So if you have an old pair of tefillin, before using them or giving them to your son, give them to a tefillin shop to check.

Because of these challenges, it is very important to buy tefillin from a trustworthy, religious Jew or a store owned by one. See this full Tefillin buyer’s guide.

In most countries, a good place to get kosher tefillin is Chabad. They sell tefillin at reasonable prices and you can be sure they are kosher. Visit Chabad’s online store (this blog is not affiliated with Chabbad).

Conclusion

Tefillin is a central Mitzvah (commandment) in Judaism. Men and boys over the age of 13 should lay tefillin every day. The tefillin have two components, one worn on the hand, and one worn on the head, just above the forehead, to symbolize and reinforce our connection between heart and mind, creating a pathway to true spiritual balance.