#Tetzaveh#devartorah#parashathashavuah “Who is rich? One who is happy with his portion”

Aaron Burr anxiously awaited the result of the tie-breaking vote in the United States House of Representatives. Deadlocked with Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 race for the presidency, Burr had reason to believe that the House would declare him the winner. However, he lost and bitterness gnawed at his soul. Nurturing grievances against Alexander Hamilton for not supporting his race for the presidency. Burr killed Hamilton in a gun duel less than four years later. Outraged by the killing, his country turned his back on him and Burr died a dour old man.

Political power plays are tragic part of history. How human of us to want what’s not rightfully ours! No matter how hard we pursue power, prestige or possessions, is never quite enough. We always want something more.

Thank God, Moses didn’t succumb to jealousy when his brother Aaron was selected to be the High Priest in this week’s Torah portion Tetzaveh. At first he want to be the High Priest not to accrue glory for himself, but for the opportunity to fulfill the High Priest’s mitzvot.

 According to Yalkut May-am Lo’ez, God told him that the crown Torah which was given to Israel by his hand and through which the world exists was enough for one person. Moses wouldn’t be able to do both jobs, lawgiver who judged the people and High Priest who took care of the sacrificial cult, well. If Moses wouldn’t be able to judge the people and teach them the laws, the world would not be able to exist. Hearing God’s explanation, Moses was satisfied with this role in Jewish history. Moses’ name of never appears in this week’s Torah in this week’s Torah portion because he did not want to over shadow his brother’s appointment to the High Priesthood. He let the spotlight shine upon Aaron. Tragedy was averted

Ironically, selfishly pursuing our own ambitions never brings us to our truest deepest longings. We would do well to follow Moses’ example.

TB Menakhot 45 How could Ezekiel contradict the Torah?

According to traditional rabbinic chronology, God revealed the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Hebrew year 2448, which corresponds to 1313 BCE. This event occurred 50 days after the Exodus from Egypt on the 6th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. The prophet Ezekiel begins to prophesize in the year 593 BCE with his vision of the future Temple in the year 573 BCE. Between 720 and 740 years elapsed between Revelation on Mount Sinai and Ezekiel’s prophecy. On daf TB Menakhot 45 the rabbis had a problem with the book of Ezekiel. If this chronology is correct, how could Ezekiel contradict the earlier and more authoritative Revelation?

“The Gemara discusses the meaning of another difficult verse in Ezekiel: “So says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish; and you shall purify [veḥitteita] the Sanctuary” (Ezekiel 45:18). The Gemara asks: Since this verse speaks of the first of Nisan, which is a New Moon, why does it state “you shall purify [ḥitteita],” which indicates the sacrifice of a sin offering [ḥatat], when in fact each of the two bulls sacrificed on the New Moon is a burnt offering (see Numbers 28:11)? Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This passage is indeed difficult, and in the future Elijah the prophet will interpret it.” (Sefaria.org translation) Even though Rabbi Yoḥanan couldn’t explain this contradiction Rav Ashi does.

“The Gemara discusses the meaning of another difficult verse in Ezekiel: “The priests shall not eat of anything that dies of itself, or is torn, whether it be fowl or beast” (Ezekiel 44:31). The Gemara asks: Is it only the priests who may not eat an unslaughtered animal carcass or an animal that was torn and now has a wound that will cause it to die within twelve months [tereifa], but an ordinary Jew may eat them? In fact, these items are prohibited for consumption by all. Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This passage is indeed difficult, but in the future Elijah the prophet will interpret it.” (Sefaria.org translation) This time Ravina reconciles the contradiction.

“The Gemara discusses the meaning of another difficult verse in Ezekiel: “And so shall you do on the seventh of the month for every one that errs, and for him that is simple; so shall you make atonement for the house” (Ezekiel 45:20). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the expression “on the seventh of the month”? There are no special offerings that are sacrificed on the seventh day of any month.” (Sefaria.org translation) This time Rabbi Yoḥanan is able to resolve the contradiction.

All these and more contradictions raised serious concern by the rabbis. How could Ezekiel contradict the Torah?! “The Gemara concludes the discussion of specific difficult verses in Ezekiel with the following general statement: Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: That man is remembered for good, and in is his name. As were it not for him, the book of Ezekiel would have been suppressed and not included in the biblical canon, because various details of its contents appear to contradict statements of the Torah. What did Ḥanina ben Ḥizkiyya do? He brought up to his upper story three hundred jugs [garbei] of oil for light so that he could study even at night, and he sat isolated in the upper story and did not move from there until he homiletically interpreted all of those verses in the book of Ezekiel that seemed to contradict verses in the Torah.” (Sefaria.org translation)

“Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Garon was a 1st-century CE Tannaitic sage and contemporary of the Houses of Hillel and Shammai, known for his instrumental role in preserving the Book of Ezekiel. He is credited with reconciling the book's contradictions with the Torah and is associated with the early, often tumultuous, period of the Second Temple's end” (Wikipedia) TB Haggigah 13a records another occasion on which Ḥanina ben Ḥizkiyya saved the book of Ezekiel from being suppressed, that time for different reason.

These contradictions disappear if one understands the documentary hypothesis that the Torah is a collection of 4 sources, JEP and D[1] compiled a different times. Many people believe that Ezra was the redactor who put the sources together because he read the entire Torah to the people in Jerusalem (See Nehemiah 8)

Yehezkel Kaufmann writes in his book The Religion of Israel abridged and translated by Moshe Greenberg:

“The laws themselves are intended to bring up to date provisions of the Torah which had by then become obsolete; they contain a series of novellae to an archaic code.

“Thus Ezekiel supplies the law of the Temple to replace the obsolete tent-sanctuary of P. Ezekiel’s Temple, however, has no ark; the ark served no purpose after the stone tablets it housed were lost in the destruction. Ezekiel combines the sanctuary plan of P with D’s idea of a fixed site, and for the first time specifies the site of the sanctuary. It is Jerusalem, as he says expressly in 40:1 f. (cf, 43:2)

“… The detail laws concerning the sanctuary, priests, and sacrifices diverge in many ways from those of the Torah, but the divergence do not appear to have any particular pattern. Here Ezekiel incorporated various bodies of the priestly literature which contained the same sort of divergences from P as can be found among the collections that make up P itself. This means only that at that time the literature of P had not yet been crystallized into one book.” (Pages 444-445)   

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[1] J stands for the source containing God's name YHVH (this theory originated in Germany where they don't have the letter Y. In German God's name in translation is Jehovah. E stands for the source that contains God's name as Elohim. P is the Priestly code. D is the Deuteronomy   source.

TB Menakhot 43 Tying a string around your finger

Sometimes people tie a string around there finger in order to remember something. The tzitzit are like that string to remind us as the third paragraph of the Shema reads: “That shall be your fringe; look (וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם) at it and recall (וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙) all GOD’s commandments and observe them,” (Numbers 15:38) Daf TB Menakhot 43 provides five different answers to the question what do the tzitzi tremind us of. 

1.     They remind us to recite the Shema. The “The Gemara asks: And as for the Rabbis, what do they do with this phrase: “That you may look upon it” (Numbers 15:39), from which Rabbi Shimon derives that a nighttime garment is exempt? The Gemara answers: They require it for that which is taught in a baraita: The verse: “That you may look upon it and remember” (Numbers 15:39), teaches that one should see this mitzva of ritual fringes and remember another mitzva that is contingent on it. And which mitzva is that? It is the mitzva of the recitation of Shema. As we learned in a mishna (Berakhot 9b): From when may one recite Shema in the morning? From when one can distinguish between the sky-blue strings and the white strings of his ritual fringes.

2.    They remind us of the prohibition of shatnez. “And it is taught in another baraita: The phrase “that you may look upon it and remember” teaches that one should see this mitzva of ritual fringes and remember another mitzva that is adjacent to it in the Torah. And which mitzva is that? It is the mitzva of diverse kinds of wool and linen, as it is written: “You shall not wear diverse kinds, wool and linen together. You shall prepare yourself twisted cords” (Deuteronomy 22:11–12).

3.    The mitzvah of tzitzit only applies during the day and not at night. “It is taught in another baraita: The verse states: “That you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord” (Numbers 15:39). This indicates that once a person is obligated in this mitzva of ritual fringes, he is obligated in all of the mitzvot. The Gemara comments: And this is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, who says that ritual fringes are a positive, time-bound mitzva, and women are exempt from it. Only men are obligated in all mitzvot, including positive, time-bound mitzvot, just as they are obligated in the mitzva of ritual fringes.

4.    The mitzvah of tzitzit is of extreme importance. “It is taught in another baraita: The verse states: “That you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord”; this teaches that this mitzva of ritual fringes is equivalent to all the mitzvot of the Torah.

5.    Seeing leads to remembering and remembering leads to observance. “And it is taught in another baraita: The verse states: “That you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them.” This teaches that looking at the ritual fringes leads to remembering the mitzvot, and remembering them leads to doing them. And Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai says: Anyone who is diligent in this mitzva of ritual fringes merits receiving the Divine Presence. It is written here: “That you may look upon it [oto]” (Numbers 15:39), and it is written there: “You shall fear the Lord your God; and Him [oto] shall you serve” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Just as oto in that verse is referring to the Divine Presence, so too in this verse it is referring to the Divine Presence.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Too many people think that the observance of the mitzvot is too burdensome. They’re not burdensome at all, but rather an expression of God’s love for the people of Israel. “The Sages taught in a baraita: The Jewish people are beloved, as the Holy One, Blessed be He, surrounded them with mitzvot: They have phylacteries on their heads, and phylacteries on their arms, and ritual fringes on their garments, and a mezuza for their doorways. Concerning them David said: “Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:164). This alludes to the two phylacteries, the four ritual fringes, and the mezuza, which total seven.” “…Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: Anyone who has phylacteries on his head, phylacteries on his arm, ritual fringes on his garment, and a mezuza on his doorway is strengthened from all sides so that he will not sin, as it is stated in the verse: “And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). This is interpreted as an allusion to the three mitzvot of phylacteries, ritual fringes, and mezuza. And the verse states: “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalms 34:8). This is interpreted to mean that the angel of the Lord surrounds those who fulfill the mitzvot and saves them from sin.” (Sefria.org translation)

We finally learn why the color of tekhelet was chosen. “It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: What is different about tekhelet from all other types of colors such that it was chosen for the mitzva of ritual fringes? It is because tekhelet is similar in its color to the sea, and the sea is similar to the sky, and the sky is similar to the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness” (Exodus 24:10), indicating that the sky is like a sapphire brickwork. And it is written: “The likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone” (Ezekiel 1:26).” (Sefaria.org translation) Rashi comments when we think of the sea we remember the miracle that God performed for us at the Sea.

TB Menakhot 41 Should the deceased be buried wearing a kosher tallit?

Daf TB Menakhot 41 deliberate whether the mitzvah of tzitzit is incumbent upon the person or incumbent upon the garment. If it pertains to the garment, then every four cornered garment needs to have tzitzit even when it is in storage. If it pertains to a person, then only those garments a person wears needs the tzitzit.

Rambam decides “What is the nature of the obligation of the commandment of tzitzit? Every person who is obligated to fulfill this mitzvah, if he wears a garment requiring tzitzit, should attach tzitzit to it and then wear it. If he wears it without attaching tzitzit to it, he has negated [this] positive commandment. There is, however, no obligation to attach tzitzit to a garment which requires tzitzit, as long as it remains folded in its place, without a person wearing it. It is not that a garment requires [tzitzit]. Rather, the requirement is incumbent on the person [wearing] the garment.” (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Ahava, tzitzit, chapter 3 halakha 10)

The question arises whether shrouds need tzitzit. “Shmuel concedes in the case of an old man, where the garment was made as a shroud in his honor, that the shroud is exempt. What is the reason for this? The Merciful One states in the Torah that one must place ritual fringes on the corners of garments “with which you cover yourself” (Deuteronomy 22:12). This shroud is not made for the purpose of covering oneself.

“The Gemara comments: At that time, i.e., a person’s burial, we certainly affix ritual fringes to the shroud, because otherwise it would be a violation of: “Whoever mocks the poor blasphemes his Maker” (Proverbs 17:5). If we did not place them, it would be mocking the deceased, as if to taunt him that now he is no longer obligated in mitzvot.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Today there are three different traditions concerning bearing the dead with a tallit. According to the Shulkhan Arukh “One buries the dead only in a Talith that has Ẓizith.”

 The Rema gloss for Ashkenazim: Some say that Ẓizith are not required; and the accepted practice is to bury him with Ẓizith, only that one first disqualifies the Ẓizith or one twines around one of the corners [of the Talith].” (Yoreh De’ah, 351:2) (Sefaria.org translation)

The custom in Israel is one doesn’t bury the deceased with a tallit at all. (Gesher Hahayim)

TB Menakhot 38 Tekhalet-The Color Purple

The third chapter of massekhet Menakhot dealt with aspects of different mitzvot which are essential. For example, each letter in a Torah scroll is essential. If a letter is missing, the entire Torah scroll becomes pasul, unusable until repaired. The fourth chapter discusses those aspects of a mitzvah which aren’t essential at all. The fourth chapter begins: “MISHNA: The absence of the sky-blue (also described as violet-gg) [tekhelet] strings does not prevent fulfillment of the mitzva of ritual fringes with the white strings, and the absence of white strings does not prevent fulfillment of the mitzva with the sky-blue strings. If one has only one, he wears it without the other. ” (Sefaria.org translation)

The commandment of tsitsit is found in Numbers 15:37-40. “And Adonoy spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations; and they will place with the fringes of each corner a violet thread (tekhalet). And it will be to you for fringes, and you will look upon it and you will remember all the commandments of Adonoy, and you will perform them; and you will not turn aside after your hearts and after your eyes which cause you to go astray. In order that you will remember and perform all My commandments; and you will be holy unto your God. I am Adonoy, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am Adonoy, your God—” (Searia.org translation) Twice a day we were site this paragraph as the third paragraph of the prayer Shema.

The fringes or tassels on the corners of the garment are four threads that are folded in become eight when attached to the garment through a hole. The tekhalet threads must be wool and depending on the material of the garment the other two threads may be of any other material. The Mishna teaches that the tekhalet threads or the white threads are non-essential. The garment may have four tekhalel threads or four white threads.

Jacob Milgram in Excursus 38 in the New JPS Commentary on the book of Numbers comments in detail about the mitzvah of tsitsit. This excursus is very interesting and extensive. I have only quoted those paragraphs that seems to me most relevant concerning the tekhalet.

“The nature of tsitsit is illuminated by the literature and art of the Ancient Near East, which shows that the hem was ornate in comparison to the rest of the outer robe. The more important the individual, the more elaborate embroidery of his hem. His significance lies not in his artistry but in its symbolism as an extension of his owner’s person and authority…

“… Another legal context of the hem is illustrated by clay documents, on which the impression of a hem replaces a signature. Today a nonliterate might sign with his fingerprints; in ancient Mesopotamia, however, it was the upper-class that might use the hem.

“E. A. Speiser has made the attractive suggestion that the practice in the synagogue to this day oppressing the edge of the tallit to the Torah scroll is a survivor of this ancient custom. This act followed by the recitation of the blessings may well have originated as a dramatic reaffirmation of the participants commitment to the Torah. He thereby pledges both in words (blessing) and indeed (impressing his ‘signature’ on the scroll) to live by the Torah’s commandments.

“… The requirement of the tekhalet, the violet cord, gives further support to the notion that tsitsit signified nobility. The violet die was extracted from the gland of the murex snail (khizalon; Sif Deuteronomy 354, Shabbat 26a, Menakhot 42b)… (Blue is not an earth color. Unlike earth colors used as dies like red and brown, it is very rare. Because it was so rare, blue dye was very expensive. Only the nobility could afford it. That’s how the color blue became known as royal blue.-gg)

“Though the snails are plentiful, the amount of Daiichi yields is infinitesimal. In 1909, test by the Austrian chemist Paul Friedlander demonstrated that 12,000 snails were needed to provide 1.4 g of pure dye. No wonder that during the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (555-539 BCE), purple wall was 40 times more expensive than will die with other colors. In 200 BCE 1 g of the die caused $84, or 36,000 per pound. Diocletin paid the equivalent of $8460 for 320 g of pure silk from Sidon or #11,724 per pound. In 300 CE the demand raise the price of Sidonian in silk to $98,700 per pound (all figures are in 1984 dollars).

“The Bible apparently assumed that even the poorest Israelite could afford at least four violet threads, one for each tassel… Thus weaving a violent thread into the tsitsit enhances its symbolism as a mark of nobility. Further, since all Jews are required to wear it, it is a sign that Jews are people nobility. Their sovereign, however, is not mortal: Jews are princes of God.

“To recapitulate: The tsitsit are the epitome of the democratic thrust within Judaism, which equalizes not by leveling but by elevating. All of Israel is enjoined to become a nation of priests. In antiquity, the tsitsit (and the hem) where the insignia of authority, high breeding, and nobility. By adding the violet wooden court to the tsitsit, the Torah qualified nobility with priesthood: Israel is not to rule man but to serve God. Furthermore, tsitsit are not restricted to Israel’s leaders, be they kings, rabbis, or scholars. It is the uniform of all Israel.” (Pages 410-414)

“Tekhelet, or Biblical Blue, was once the most precious commodity in the ancient world. For reasons, some understood and some less so, about 1300 years ago, Tekhelet was lost, and the secrets of this wondrous blue color including he identity of the mysterious sea creature – the Chillazon – that produced the dye, slipped into obscurity. Jews continued to wear tzitzit, but with only white strings were unable to fulfil the mitzvah in its most complete form. Over the past few decades, research by both the scientific and halachic communities has led to the identification of the Chillazon as the Murex trunculus sea-snail and once again Jews can wear Tekhelet as commanded in the Torah.”

To learn more about the revival of the mitzvah of including tekhalet in our tallitot follow this link:

Torah.https://www.tekhelet.com/pdf/DafYomi-2026-Eng1.pdf

 

Three things I did know about tefillin TB Menakhot 32-36

TB Menakhot 32b  Scoring

Although I knew that the Torah scroll and the mezuzah scroll needed to be scored, I didn’t know that the scrolls inside the tefillin didn’t needed to be scored.

“§ The baraita indicates that if it were permitted to reduce the sanctity of an item from a level of greater sanctity to a level of lesser sanctity, one could make a mezuza from phylacteries that became worn. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But a mezuza requires scoring, i.e., the parchment must have lines etched in it before writing, as Rav Minyumi bar Ḥilkiya says that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya says that Rav says: Any mezuza that is not scored is unfit, and Rav Minyumi bar Ḥilkiya himself says concerning this: The scoring of a mezuza is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. With regard to phylacteries, by contrast, he does not teach that their parchment requires scoring.

“The Gemara answers that this is a dispute between tanna’im, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yirmeya says in the name of our teacher, Rav: Phylacteries and mezuzot may be written when the scribe is not copying from a written text, and their parchment does not require scoring.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Gail Budiansky sent me the reason why tefillin doesn’t need scoring. “The reason is that the purpose of scoring is to straighten the writing, to preserve its beauty. Since tefillin are not designed to be read, as they are covered with hide and sewn up, this act is unnecessary. A mezuza, by contrast, can be open and read it at any time (Meiri citing Rambam). Others suggest that the reason is that the mezuza is examined and read carefully every seven years, whereas tefillin are checked only once every 50 years (Ran on Megilla 18b). Yet others say that the differences do to the fact that tefillin a written a very thin parchment, which might be torn scoring (Nimmukei Yosef) The Meiri says that in fact this is the effect, not because. Since tefillin do not require scoring, they are written on thin parchment.” (Notes, and Bavi Noe edition)    

TB Menakhot 34b Rash and Robben Tam’s tefillin

The shel rosh, the tefillin worn on the head, has for different compartments, corresponding to the four different times tefillin that are mentioned in the Torah. The four citations are “קַדֶּשׁ־לִ֨י-Sanctify Me” (Exodus 13:1-10); “-It shall come to pass when (God) brings you” (Exodus 13:11-16); “-Shema Yisrael” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9); and “-It will be that if you hearken” (Deuteronomy 11:13-21).

I knew that Rash’s shel rosh and his grandson’s Robben Tam’s shel rosh disagreed on the order of the four citations. The basis of this disagreement is found on TB Menakhot 34b.

“The Sages taught in a baraita: How does one arrange the four passages inside the phylacteries? The passage of: “Sanctify unto Me” (Exodus 13:1–10), and the passage of: “And it shall be when He shall bring you” (Exodus 13:11–16), are placed on the right; the passage of: “Listen, O Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9), and the passage of: “And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently” (Deuteronomy 11:13–21), are placed on the left.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashi understands this baraita to mean you place the parchments in the order they appear in the Torah starting on the right and moving chronologically until one reaches the far left compartment. Robben Tam understands this writer to mean you start with on the far right compartment with דֶּשׁ־לִ֨יקַ followed by והָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־יְבִֽאֲךָ֤ יְ-הוָֹה֙. Then you place in the farthest left compartment שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל moving right with וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ. That means that וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ and וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמֹ֤עַ are in the middle two compartments.

The vast majority of Jews only put on Rashi’s tefillin; however, there are some Jews who put on both Rashi’s and Robben Tam’s tefillin understanding of this mitzvah to fulfill both understanding of this mitzvah.  

TB Menakhot 36a One blessing or two?

“§ Rav Ḥisda says: If one spoke between donning the phylacteries of the arm and the phylacteries of the head, he must recite the blessing again when donning the phylacteries of the head.

“The Gemara notes: One can infer that if he spoke, yes, he must recite a blessing when donning the phylacteries of the head, but if he did not speak, he does not recite a blessing. The Gemara challenges this: But Rav Ḥiyya, son of Rav Huna, sent a ruling in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: On the phylacteries of the arm one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us to don tefillin. On the phylacteries of the head one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us concerning the mitzva of tefillin. This indicates that one always recites a blessing when donning the phylacteries of the head.

“Abaye and Rava both say, to resolve this apparent contradiction: Rabbi Yoḥanan meant that if one did not speak, he recites one blessing; if he spoke, he recites two blessings, when donning the phylacteries of the head as well as when donning the phylacteries of the arm.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Based on the ambiguity of Rav Ḥisda’s statement two different traditions arose. The Sefardim only recite one blessing for both the shel yad, the shel rosh tefillin placed on the arm, in the shel rosh. They only recite “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us to don tefillin.” If a person talks in between placing the shel yad and the shel rosh, he repeats this blessing.

The Ashkenazim recite two blessings. : On the tefillin of the arm one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us to don tefillin. On the tefillin of the head one says the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot and commanded us concerning the mitzva of tefillin.   If he talks between the placing the shel yad and the shel rosh, he repeats the first blessing again and then continues with the second blessing.

Ashkenazi Jews have the custom of reciting the phrase “בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד: -Blessed [is His] Name, Whose glorious kingdom is forever and ever” which annuls an unnecessary blessing. Since there’s a doubt whether the second blessing is absolutely needed, they take no chances and recite the above phrase.

I have been hacked

 

If you have received an email from me inviting you to a gathering on January 30, do not respond. I have been hacked.