Bo
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the mitzvah of Tefillin. In commanding this mitzvah, the Torah states (Chapter 13, Pasuk 9), LeMa’an Tihyeh Toras Hashem BePhicha, In order that the Torah of Hashem shall be in your mouth. The pasuk makes a correlation between putting on Tefillin and the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. In fact, the Mechilta on the pasuk states that one who puts on Tefillin is considered as if he learns Torah. What is the meaning of the pasuk and the Mechilta in connecting the mitzvah of Tefillin with the mitzvah of learning Torah?
The Sfas Emes teaches that there are two different ways of fulfilling the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. One is by learning and speaking the words of the Torah; the other is by fulfilling the words of Torah by performing the mitzvoth. Every time I keep a mitzvah of the Torah it is as if I am speaking the words of the pasuk commanding that particular mitzvah. Therefore the Medrash explains the pasuk to mean that by keeping the mitzvah of Tefillin, it is as if I am speaking and learning Torah.
Perhaps this explanation of the Sfas Emes can give us new insight into the famous Gemara which discusses the virtue of learning Torah as opposed to keeping the mitzvoth. The Gemara in Kiddushin 40B considers which of the two is greater and concludes that learning is greater because it leads to action, Gadol Limud Torah She’Halimud Meivee Leday Ma’aseh. Without learning, one would not know how to perform mitzvoth. Perhaps we can add that learning is greater since one of the goals of keeping the mitzvoth is to actualize the pasuk and be considered as if he is speaking them. In other words, the fact that the goal of keeping the mitzvoth is that it is considered like learning Torah establishes the ultimate primacy of Talmud Torah.
The Meshech Chachmah brings as proof of this the Gemara in Baba Kama 17A (according to the She’iltos, see Rabbeinu Tam in Tosfos D”H V’Ha’amar). The Gemara describes how a question was asked of Rabbi Yochanan after he came from the restroom, and he would not answer the question until he first put his Tefillin back on. This shows that even though typically learning is greater as we see in the Gemara in Kiddushin, Tefillin takes precedence since it includes both limud and ma’aseh, and therefore Rabbi Yochanan first put his Tefillin back on before doing the mitzvah of Talmud Torah.
The question remains, why is it precisely the mitzvah of Tefillin which is considered like learning Torah. Why not use another mitzvah as a model for action to be considered like learning?This dilemma is also resolved by the Sfas Emes. He explains that the parshiyot of Tefillin represent the five books of the Torah. The four sections of Tefillin in four separate compartments in the Tefillin shel Rosh, signify the first four books of the Torah. And the four parshiyot combined as one in the Tefillin shel Yad represent the fifth book of the Torah, sefer Devarim; a form of Mishneh Torah, a repetition of the previous four parshiyot just as Mishneh Torah is a repetition of the four previous books of the Torah.
The idea of wearing Tefillin is comparable to the requirement of a king to always have a sefer Torah with him. Similarly, Bnei Yisrael who are considered as Bnei Melachim, the sons of kings, are also required to have a sefer Torah being carried with them at all times. And this is represented by the Tefillin worn by every Jew. As a result, the mitzvah of Tefillin is specifically associated with the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, and it is for this reason that it serves as a paradigm for the coming together of Limud HaTorah and Kiyum Hamitzvot simultaneously.
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