[Avodah] How Does G"d Put On Tefillin

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Arie Folger <_afolger at aishdas.org_ (mailto:afolger at aishdas.org) >

Dear  Ovedim,

About ten days ago someone posted a link to an article in  Tablet
magazine critical of aggadeta's theology. Posters on list focused  on
the author's focus on demonology, however I want to address his  other
points, about anthropomorphism in the aggadeta, particularly  regarding
G"d's tefillin. I penned a response on my blog, which I am linking  to
here: 
_http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/did-the-talmud-suggest-gd-has-a-head-learning-to-interpret-rabbinic-legend/_ 
(http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/did-the-talmud-suggest-gd-has-a-head-learning-to-interpre
t-rabbinic-legend/) 


Reactions  welcome. Kol tuv,

--
Arie Folger,
Recent blog posts on _http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/_ 
(http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/) 

 
>>>>
 
A foolish man wrote,  "How exactly can G-d wear tefillin? Can we  imagine 
G-d with an arm and a forehead?" -- a very foolish man who imagines  that he 
is the wise man and the rabbis of old are the fools.
 
You answered him very well and explained what is meant by G-d's tefillin,  
basing your answer on the gemara.  But I want to add my own  remarks, based 
on a piyut that is said in many shuls every  Shabbos.
 
In "An'im zemiros" it says, "Dimu oscha velo kefi yeshcha, vayashavucha  
lefi ma'asecha" which means, "They have compared You [or described You] but 
not  as You are, rather they described You [or allegorized You] according to 
Your  deeds."  
 
The piyut goes on to say that Hashem has often been described in physical  
terms, but these are all allegorical.  "Vayechezu vecha zikna uvacharus" --  
they have visualized You in both old age and in young manhood, as a 
white-haired  old man on the Yom Hadin and as a black-haired young man in war time, 
when  Hashem fights our enemies for us.
 
Then it says, "Pe'eiro alai ufe'eiri alav" -- His splendor is on me and my  
splendor is on Him -- referring to His tefillin that we wear and our 
tefillin  that He wears.  "Kesher tefillin her'ah le'anav" -- He showed the knot 
of  His tefillin to the humble one, i.e., to Moshe Rabbeinu.  Moshe was only  
allowed to see the back of Hashem after He passed by but could not see His 
face  -- in reality, He could not see His back either, but saw something 
that looked  like a figure wrapped in a tallis, and saw the tefillin knot worn 
at the back of  the neck.  What Moshe saw was not anything physical in 
reality, but the  effects of Hashem having passed by.
 
That Hashem wears tefillin expresses an idea that Hashem is tied to us with 
 bonds of love, as we are tied to Him with love.  What does a man say in 
the  morning when he puts on tefillin?  He repeats Hashem's words to us, as  
written in Sefer Hoshea, "Ve'eirasteech li le'olam, I will betroth you to Me  
forever."  That Hashem wears tefillin indicates that He loves us and is  
bound to us in a relationship that can never be severed.
 
Many of the phrases and words in An'im Zemiros are quoted and borrowed from 
 Shir Hashirim, in which the relationship between the Ribono Shel Olam and 
Am  Yisrael is allegorized as a relationship between a husband and wife who 
love  each other and who see each other as beautiful beyond compare. The 
description  of the "beloved man" is all physical -- black hair, lips of honey, 
fingers of  ivory with precious stones inlaid, legs of marble and so on -- 
yet no one would  imagine that this is meant to be an actual description of 
a physical  presence!  It is all allegory beginning to end, and that is 
exactly what  An'im Zemiros says.
 
In that very piyut it talks about Hashem's tefillin, which -- it could  not 
be stated more clearly -- is allegorical.  "Dimu oscha velo kefi  yeshcha."
 
This is not news, that physical descriptions of Hashem are meant  
allegorically.  An'im Zemiros was written in the twelfth century, and Shir  Hashirim 
was written by Shlomo Hamelech.
 
There are people who imagine that they are oh so intellectual  and 
sophisticated to read poetry allegorically, while the chachamim of  old were 
childlike and unsophisticated and read poetry literally.  Such  people are 
dishonoring our ancestors and merely flattering themselves.
 
I would like to add a word about poetry -- about shira.  In poetry it  is 
possible to find a depth of emotion, of love and longing and yearning, that  
one cannot express in plain prose.  A person with a poetic heart and mind  
will read about Hashem's tefillin and feel that poignancy and that depth of 
love  that Hashem has for His people and the yearning that we have for Him, 
especially  in Elul.  "Ani ledodi vedodi li."
 
A person who just thinks pragmatically -- "So, exactly how /does/  Hashem 
put on His tefillin, and were our ancestors more or less  mentally 
sophisticated than we are?" -- is just so, so, so MISSING THE  POINT!  Missing the 
whole beauty, depth and intensity of the bond  between the Ribono Shel Olam and 
Am Yisrael.
 
 

--Toby  Katz
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