Tefillin / Phylacteries - What are they? And, How do you wear them?

The command for men to wear the tefillin [Phylacteries] is found four times in the holy Torah.

The commandment is found in:

1. Exodus 13:9

"And it shall be for a sign for you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that Yehowah's

law [Torah] may be in your mouth: for with a strong hand has Yehowah brought thee out of Egypt."

2. Exodus 13:16 [context 13:14-16]

"And it shall be when you son asks you in time to come, saying, What [is] this? that thou shalt say unto

him, By strength of hand Yehowah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage: And it came

to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yehowah slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,

both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Yehowah all that openeth the

matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon your

hand, and for frontlets between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yehowah brought us forth out of

Egypt."

3. Deuteronomy 6:8 [context 6:4-8]

"Take heed O Israel: Yehowah our God alone is eternal [or: (He) alone is eternal]. And you must love

Yehowah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words,

which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And thou must teach them diligently unto your

children [so that they shall learn and know righteousness and, therefore, be righteous], and must talk

of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk in the way [or: stroll along], and when you lay

down [for the evening, or to take a nap], and when you rise up [in the morning from sleeping or from a

nap]. And you must bind them for a sign [literally - so you can actually read them] upon your hand, and

they shall be as frontlets [ornaments] between your eyes. And you must write them upon the doorposts

[interior and exterior] of your house, and on your gates [city gates and personal yard gates]."

4. Deuteronomy 11:18 [context 11:16-21]

"Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods,

and worship them; And [then] Yehowah's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that

there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and [lest] you perish quickly from off the good land

which Yehowah gives you. Therefore you must lay up these - My words - in your heart and in your soul,

and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And you

must teach them to your children; speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk in

the way, when you lay down, and when you rise up. And you must write them upon the doorposts of your

house, and upon your gates: That your days may be multiplied..."

According to "Rabbinical" Judaism, the Tefillin traditionally has four segments because of the four occasions and verses such commandments are found in the Torah. In truth however, that is a mere tradition that was invented at the beginning of the modern "Rabbinical" movement by the Jewish elders sometime around 50 BCE. In reality, however, HaShem simply commanded the people of Israel to wear the "the commandments," because they were always going astray in the wilderness. Furthermore, He wanted them to put them as frontlets or ornaments right smack "between their eyes" and "on their hand" so that they will always see the commandments before their eyes and, therefore, will not forget them so easily.

To branch off from the "tefillin" commandment(s) [mitzvah], because of forgetfulness, this is also the reason He commanded the people to speak of the commands when "walking along the way, sitting in their home, when rising up in the morning and laying down to rest." At the same time, and for the same motives He likewise commanded us to write them, carve them or bluntly post them on the doorposts of our homes and gates, commonly called "mezuzahs [See Mazuzah/Mezuzah Page]." And, to branch off from all of these commandments, for this same reason He commanded us to put tassels on the corners of our garments and to add a thread or strand of blue with it, so that we will always be reminded to keep the law and that it will always be on our tongue and in our months [Numbers 15:38-41.]

Because the blunt and authentic commandment given by Moses was and is so simple, some of these frontlets became very elaborate while others were very plain; yet, all of them made the observer obey the commandment as HaShem required. This is how it originally was in the desert; there was no set shape for the "tefillin," so many of them were very unique. These original "tefillin," however, had the actual commandments on them - in full view - so that a person could actually read them. They were nowhere like the ones you see today among those that observe the man-made ordinances of "Rabbinical" Judaism, where they place the commandments on a tiny scroll and then tuck them inside of their huge tefillin where one cannot not even read them, when being able to read the commands was the point in the first place. In fact, the tefillin that the members of "Rabbinical Judaism" of today have are so huge that the tefillin that belongs on one's face are worn on their forehead instead of "between their eyes;" thus, never fulfilling the commandment exactly as Yehowah prescribed it. Yet, in their audacity they tell their pupils that "between the eyes " is actually "center of the head, just above the hairline."

In regards to what commandments must be upon the tefillin, two particular ones must be present among the others. One of the two mandatory commandments must have something that tells of the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, even something simple like: "Yehowah liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery." This is because according to Exodus 13:9 this liberation is to be a "memorial." The second mandatory commandment must state something in regards to redeeming the firstborn of your sons or of your animals, such as: "Redeem your firstborn son and donkey."

The other commandments you must place on the tefillin are up to you. Commandments like: "murder not," "do not commit arson," "do not kidnap," "keep kosher," "Remember the shabat in order to keep it holy and not defile it," or.....just something that can fit on them would all be appropriate. There is no particular shape, nor size, but they have to be small enough to fit between one's eyes. They can't be too big or wide to make you appear haughty, prideful or boisterous or to insinuate "I'm greater than you." You must be humble and the tefillin must always be modest in size. They can be plain, elaborate or very exquisite and even to be like beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Did Jesus wear the Tefillin?

I sure hope so if he is to be considered the prophecied legendary hero, prophet and king called the moshiach, the Jewish messiah.

Mainstream Christianity says many false and blasphemous things about Jesus, especially if he is to be considered to be the infamous moshiach [messiah] of Israel. I will not get into these things here because the rest of the website can tell you about those things. Mainstream so-called "Christianity" says that Jesus "eradicated the Holy Torah or the Mosaic law" - which is absurd, because the real "Jewish" messiah is the crown Jewel of all those that keep, practice and promote the Torah and Judaism - which is his ancestral religion and faith. Furthermore, if one views the "Jewish" messiah apart from his "Jewish" ancestral religion and keeping and promoting nothing but the Torah, that person has a very tainted view of him.

Now, even though all four Gospels are loaded with contradictions between them and many [not saying, "all"] anti-Judaic theological lessons exist in the three gospels [Matthew, Mark, and Luke], these three gospels, nonetheless, have very Judaic teachings in their "overall" theology when it comes to "salvation." Whereas, the "Gospel of John" is the direct opposite, it is very Judaic when it comes to individual stories, feasts and so forth, but its overall theology in regards to "salvation" is very anti-Judaic, and instead is very Pauline-istic, promoting that one simply only needs to "believe that Jesus was sent from heaven, from his Father, and is in fact the Jewish moshiach" to gain salvation.

The reason why Matthew, Mark and Luke are very Judaic when it comes to "salvation" is because they all teach that one must keep all of the Mosaic law in order to have "life" and that Jesus' death and resurrection has nothing to do with salvation in these three gospels. Of course, one has to believe that Yoshua is the Jewish moshiach along with obeying the Mosaic Law to gain salvation. Let me give you some examples from Matthew, Mark and Luke that show their Judaic nature:

1. "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have

eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is],

God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." - Matthew 19:16-17.

Many people miss the two theological lessons here, or they take them to a totally different extreme

and to a very wrong interpretation. The first lesson is this: the first thing Jesus does is that he outrightly

ignores the question and addresses the words that the man said to him, in fact, he rebukes him to a

point because of what he said. For the man said, "Why do you call me 'good?' " Then Yoshua says

something that slams mainstream christianity right in the jaw, for he says, "no one is 'good,' but God

[the God of Israel] alone." By saying what he did, he just denied being "God," because he denied being

'good;' yet, the God of Israel is the only one that is 'good.' Furthermore, Jesus NEVER viewed himself

as "God," this is because the messiah of Judaism is not the God of Israel, but is His greatest servant!

So, even Jesus, the greatest servant and prophet, the very messiah himself, deemed that this word

"good" should not be used for any person except for the God of Israel. In other words, Jesus basically

said, "only the God of Israel is good, not me," proving to mainstream christianity that he is not "God in

the flesh."

The "God in the Flesh" idea did not start with the "Gospel of John," but by Gentile scribes that

deliberately altered John's writings around 150 CE/AD. Judaism teaches that there is not one spirit

that is a compound being, including the God of Israel. [What I mean by "compound" is like what

"Christianity" teaches "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."] Judaism teaches that their God is

purely a monotheistic God. If I were to use 'Christian" lingo for a moment, Judaism's God would only

be the "Father" and the "Father" is a spirit and He is the most holiest of all the spirits and the most

powerful, this is why He is King, because no one can conquer Him, rather He can conquer all. Likewise, the "Father" is the only spirit that is eternal, all others have a time of "birth" - if you will. Because of the

"Father's" eternalness and power, this is why His rules and statutes are to be fully obeyed. The God "of

Israel" is a Spirit while His son is a different spirit - who is far less powerful than Him, though more

powerful than any other spirit in the heavens [whether angel, cherub, seraph or....]

The second lesson in this passage is that Jesus clearly says that "salvation" or "life" is dependent upon

conditions, in which a person MUST keep the commandments in order to have 'life;' thus, making

anything that Paul said false, for Paul taught the direct opposite of this. This also contradicts the

"salvation" theology of the so-called "Gospel of John." However, this confirms the salvation theology of

Jesus' ancestral faith and religion, for this is what YHWH said to Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned

against Me, him will I blot out of My book (the book of life) - Ex 32:33." Again, this is what YHWH said

to Ezekiel in Ez 18:21-22, "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all

My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his

transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that

he hath done he shall live." And, here is what the Psalmist said, "Salvation is far from the wicked, for

they seek not Your statutes." - Psalm 119:155. The messiah of Judaism must walk in these exact same

footsteps, for he is the best of these prophets and he must carry the same message.

2. The second example is taken from Luke 10:

"[v. 1] After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his

face into every city and place, whither he himself would come... [v. 9] And heal the sick that are therein,

and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you... [v.17] And the seventy returned again

with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name... [v. 20] ...rejoice not, that

the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Do you see the big problem here, when compared to the theology of mainstream so-called "Christianity?"

The big problem is that these "seventy" were "saved" long before Jesus ever died on some Italian cross,

because their names were already written in the book of life, or in heaven. Then on top of this, what about

Enoch and Elijah? They are obviously 'saved,' because they have been in heaven long before Yehoshua

ben Yosef was even born. Thus, as you can see, Jesus did not have to die at all for others to have life.

This is because according to Jesus' own words, one obtains 'life' when one keeps all of the

commandments. Which brings us to our next example...

3. Matthew 23 is a great chapter displaying the Jewish messiah promoting the observance of all of the Torah

to all men, let's look:

[v. 1-3] Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees

sit in Moses' seat [therefore, they teach all his commandments and doctrines]: All therefore whatsoever

they bid you observe, [that] observe and do... [v. 23] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law,

judgment, mercy, and faithfulness: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

So, as you can see Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for not keeping the whole entire law in its

raw written form. Plus, you can see that Jesus praised them in regards to the minor aspects of their

obedience, but rebuked them in regards to the weightier matters of the law."

Answer to - Did Jesus wear the Tefillin?

Now as far as Jesus wearing the Tefillin [or phylacteries] or not, the evidence of his observance of this statute is also found in this very same chapter of Matthew. The passage is found in Matthew 23:5 and if you pay really close attention to Jesus' wording, you can see that he is not gripping over the fact that they are wearing the tefillin, but only in regards to its physical size. Here is the quote, "But all their works they do

for men to take notice: they make broad [or wide] their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments."

So, as you can see and glean from this passage of Matthew, and by the fact that the true messiah would promote the authentic path of Judaism, we can know for certain that he was wearing the tefillin himself and that they were at a proper size, a size that was fitting and pleasing before the God of Heaven.

Thank you,

HeShallGovern

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