We often think of tefillin, those leather boxes containing scriptural passages that Jewish men (and some women) wear on their arm and head during prayer, as something we do. A mitzvah, a commandment, a way to connect. But the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, invites us to imagine the Divine donning tefillin, too.
Here, the text speaks of the "right-hand side" – a symbol of divine mercy and power – placing a crown of tefillin upon "Her" head. Who is "Her?" In Kabbalistic thought, "Her" often refers to the Shekhinah, the Divine Feminine, the immanent presence of God in the world. She is the aspect of the Divine that we can most readily connect with.
So, what does it mean for the Divine to place tefillin upon the Shekhinah? It's a powerful image of unification and completion. The tefillin represent the Divine intellect and will, and by placing them upon the Shekhinah, the Divine is, in a sense, empowering and activating Her. It’s a cosmic act of love and partnership.
And then comes the verse from Proverbs (1:28): "They shall seek me early and then... they shall find me." This isn’t just a random quote. It's a key to understanding the whole thing. It speaks to the reciprocal nature of the Divine-human relationship. We seek God, and in that very act of seeking, we find Her.
But why "early?" Think about it. The morning is a time of new beginnings, of fresh energy. It's a time when our minds are less cluttered, more open to spiritual connection. The verse suggests that the most potent time to seek the Divine – to connect with the Shekhinah crowned with tefillin – is when we first awaken, when we are most receptive.
The Zohar isn't giving us a literal description of God's morning routine. It's offering a profound metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things. It’s a reminder that our actions, our prayers, our very seeking, have a ripple effect that reaches all the way up to the Divine. When we seek God, we not only find Her, but we also, in a way, participate in the very act of crowning Her with tefillin. We empower the Divine presence in the world.
Isn't that a beautiful, and a little bit mind-blowing, thought? What if our daily rituals, our moments of seeking, are not just personal acts but cosmic collaborations? What if our yearning for connection is actually helping to bring the Divine closer to us, and to the world?