<b>And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand (Exod. 13:16).</b> <i>Upon thy hand</i> refers to the biceps. <i>Between thine eyes</i> refers to the top of the forehead. Where is that located? The school of R. Yannai said: It is the place on the child’s head where the child’s brain is seen to pulsate. The four passages included in the phylacteries are mentioned in Scripture. They are: <i>Sanctify unto me</i> (Exod. 13:2), <i>And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee</i> (ibid. 13:11), <i>Hear, O Israel</i> (Deut. 6:4), <i>And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken</i> (ibid. 11:13). It is forbidden to have sexual relations in a home containing tefillin or a scroll of the Torah until they are put away in their container.<sup class="footnote-marker">23</sup><i class="footnote">Berakhot 25b.</i> Rava said: When a cloak is over a chest, it is like a receptacle in a receptacle.
The four passages are written upon one roll of parchment and are inserted into the phylacteries that are placed on one’s arm. These four are included also in the phylactery that is placed on the forehead, but they are written on four separate slips of parchment. Whence do we know that four separate slips of parchment are necessary? From the word <i>totafot. Tot</i> is a Coptic word meaning “two”; and <i>fot</i> is an African word meaning “two,” thus making four for the head phylactery, and a total of five parchments in all. How do we know that the arm phylactery contains (only) one (parchment)? Since it is written: <i>And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand</i> (the word <i>your hand</i> is spelled with an extra <i>heh</i>, which has a numerical value of five) and so so there are five (parchments) in all. Hence you learn that the phylactery containing the four verses on separate pieces of parchment is placed upon the head, and the phylactery with the one parchment, containing the same four verses, is placed upon the arm. It might be possible to maintain that the phylactery with the four parchments is placed upon the arm, and so Scripture says: <i>And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand</i>. Where is it placed on the hand? You might maintain that it is placed on the arch of the hand just as it is placed on the arch of the head. Therefore, Scripture says: <i>And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart</i> (Deut. 6:6). From this statement they concluded: One must place the phylactery on the part of the arm opposite the heart. You might contend that the phylacteries are to be put on at night. Hence Scripture says: <i>In its season from day to day</i> (Exod. 13:10), namely, in the daytime and not at night. You might maintain: Perhaps they are to be donned on the Sabbath or the holy days. Therefore Scripture says: <i>From day to day</i>, implying that there are days on which a man dons them and days on which he does not. The days on which he does not don them are the Sabbath and the holy days. You might say: Perhaps he should place the phylacteries on his right hand. Scripture, therefore, says: <i>Upon thy hand</i>, and the word <i>thy hand</i> is used only in reference to the left hand, as it is said: <i>Yea, My hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spread out the heavens</i> (Isa. 48:13). Scripture likewise says; <i>Her hand she put to the tentpin, and her right hand to the workman’s hammer</i> (Judg. 5:26).
How do we know that the passages are to be on one roll of parchment? We can deduce this from the fact that it is written: <i>And it shall be for a sign unto thee</i> (Exod. 13:9)—for thee, and not (just) for others.<sup class="footnote-marker">24</sup><i class="footnote">Just as it appears on one container to other, so it should be one parchment for you.</i> What is the size of the phylactery strip? R. Rami the son of Abba stated that R. Simeon the son of Lakish said: It is the size of the snapping finger. Which is the snapping finger? The middle finger. And its width is that of the thickness of barley corn. The law enjoins one to put the hand phylactery on first, and then pronounce the blessing: “Our God, who sanctifies us by His commandments and has commanded us to put on the phylacteries.” After that one dons the head phylactery while offering the blessing: “Our God, King of the Universe, who sanctifies us and has commanded us concerning the law of the phylacteries.” However, if he speaks in between the hand phylactery and the head phylactery, he is guilty of a transgression for which he must return home from the battlefront.<sup class="footnote-marker">25</sup><i class="footnote">As laid down in Deut. 20:8, according to the rabbis; one who has a transgression on his conscience should not remain on the battlefield of a war of conquest, aside from Joshua’s wars. This transgression is considered serious enough to fall in that category.</i> But if he pauses while putting on the hand or head phylactery with the phrase “His great name” or to recite the Kedushah,<sup class="footnote-marker">26</sup><i class="footnote">A prayer in the ritual; “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.”</i> he need not return from the battle. He must start over again, for each phylactery requires two blessings.<sup class="footnote-marker">27</sup><i class="footnote">One for itself and one for its companion phylactery.</i> If recited together they support each other. However, if one should interrupt the blessings of the phylacteries in order to respond with the words “His great name” or the Kedushah, he has canceled the first blessing and must recite both of them again. Surely it is not necessary to state that if he discusses secular matters during that time, he is guilty of a serious transgression. When he takes off the phylacteries he must remove the head phylactery first and then the hand phylactery.
One might think that the law about the phylacteries applies, likewise, to women. Hence Scripture says: <i>That the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth</i> (Exod. 13:9). And who are they that study the law? Men. Therefore women are exempt from so doing, for they do not devote themselves to the law. It may be possible to conclude that the law of phylacteries applies to children. Therefore Scripture says: <i>And Thou shalt keep it;</i> and that applies to all who are diligent in the study of the Torah and in the performance of good deeds. Hence a child is exempt. But if a child is a Bar Mitzvah or well informed, he must fulfill the law. It is possible that one may neglect to examine the phylacteries, and so Scripture says: <i>from year to year</i>. From this statement they conclude that a man should examine his phylacteries at least once every twelve months. <i>From year to year</i> is mentioned in this verse, and further on <i>For a full year shall he have the right of redemption</i> (Lev. 25:29) is stated. Just as in the former case a year means twelve months, so also in the latter instance a year implies twelve months. This is the opinion of the School of Hillel. The School of Shammai, however, argues: One need not examine them ever after. So Shammai said: “These are the phylacteries of my mother’s father.”
The four passage in the phylacteries must be written in their proper order, and if they are not written that way they must be hidden away.