Kesher Talk

Positioning your teffilin: Well, doesn't this just make me look lax? I have not put on my tefillin in ages.

Tefillin are supposed to remind us of God's mitzvot. They are usually worn for morning davening, on every day but the Sabbath. Spinning off of the commandments set out in the Sh'ma (same as cause us to put up a Mezuzah), one case is tied to the arm, with the scrolls at the biceps and leather straps extending down the arm to the hand, then another case is tied to the head, with the case on the forehead and the straps hanging down over the shoulders.

But back to my story. Shortly after my bar mitzvah, my friend Jeff and I started frequenting Sunday morning services as a way to avoid a horrificly boring Sunday school class. We hung out with the "Minyaneers," the old Jews rom the Men's Club at our shuel who daven together almost every day. They helped us learn how to put on the tefillin properly, taught us prayers, and so on. Plus, we got to join them for bagels afterward.

However, once our teacher intervened and made us return to class (I think we got away with this for only a few months), tefillin was no longer a part of my life.

The frum blogosphere (a blogger named Baruch Leibowitz) has turned up a useful link for people like myself who haven't put on their tefillin in a long time.

posted by Howard @ 12/13/2002 07:05:20 AM