Laws of Tefillin — Halacha 1

The parchment of Tefillin must be from the hide of a kosher domesticated animal, wild animal, or bird, as it says: "L'ma'an…" — from a species that is permitted to your mouth, etc.

According to the Torahs "Heye man di'azel liminsav ittesa [this man who goes to marry a woman]" (Siman 29) and "Tefillah LaChavakuk [A Prayer of Chavakuk]" (Siman 19), see there.

Tefillin are the rectification of Da'as [knowledge/awareness], for they are the aspect of Mochin [brains/intellect]. And they are the aspect of the Tikun HaKlali [General Rectification] — the rectification of the Bris [Covenant], for the rectification of Da'as is the rectification of the Bris. Therefore, the essential content of Tefillin is the remembrance of Yetzias Mitzrayim [the Exodus from Egypt], for the Exodus is the aspect of rectifying the Bris and Da'as. In Mitzrayim there was the blemish of the Bris and Da'as, as explained many times. Therefore it says of the exile in Mitzrayim: "Vu'e'evor ulayich… vi'at airoam vi'eryah" — "And I passed over you… and you were naked and bare" (Yechezkel 16:6–7) — for they were naked, without garments, because the Tikun HaKlali, which is the rectification of garments, had not yet been achieved.

And it says there nearby: "Vu'e'evor ulayich vu'ehr'aich meesboasesess bidumuyich" — "And I passed over you and saw you wallowing in your blood" — for one depends on the other. She was naked and bare because she was wallowing in blood — the aspect of dam niddah [menstrual blood], the aspect of "Adoam lilvooshechuh" — "Red is Your garment" — which is the corruption of garments. When Hashem wished to rectify and redeem them, it says: "Va'oamar luch bidamayich chaye’ee" — "And I said to you: In your blood, live!" — the aspect of: the blood becomes turbid and turns to milk (Niddah 9a), which is the aspect of life — the infant's sustenance — "Vidai chalaiv eezeem lilachmechuh… vichayim lina'aroasechuh [Enough goats' milk for your food… and life for your maidens]" (Mishlai 27:27). The blood is whitened through elevating the Mochin. The Mochin are life itself: "HaChochmah techa’yeh" — "Wisdom gives life" (Koheles 7:12) — the opposite of the corruption of garments through stains, the aspect of dam niddah, which is the side of death. As our Sages said (Shabbos 114a): "A talmid chacham on whose garment a stain is found is deserving of death" — for stains come from the 365 sinews corresponding to the 365 negative commandments, whence the side of death derives. Therefore it says there immediately after "bidamayich chaye’ee": "Vu'albeeshaich vu'en'alaich" — "And I clothed you and shod you" — for through the blood becoming turbid and turning to milk, the garments are rectified.

Therefore on the night of the Exodus one drinks four cups of wine — in the aspect of: "merited — he becomes a head" (Yoma 76b), as explained there (Siman 29). They correspond to the four white garments that the Kohen Gadol [High Priest] wears on Yom HaKippurim [the Day of Atonement], when the blood becomes turbid and turns to milk — the aspect of the scarlet thread that whitens sins. The four white garments indicate that the Mochin — which are four: Chochmah, Binah, and Da'as which divides into two (Chassadim and Gevuros) — have been rectified. Then from Da'as comes speech, which contains Chassadim and Gevuros, fire and water. As written there: through the Tikun HaKlali (rectification of Da'as), one can speak. Corresponding to this are the four parshiyos [scriptural sections/parshahs] of Tefillin — corresponding to the four white garments — for Tefillin are the Tikun HaKlali.

This is the aspect of the Shin of three heads and Shin of four heads. When Yisrael left Mitzrayim — from the blemish of the Bris — they needed to count seven weeks corresponding to the seven clean days of a niddah, for they emerged from the aspect of dam niddah. They are seven corresponding to the seven orifices of the brain, which are the aspect of the seven lamps of the Menorah that must be rectified when the Mochin are elevated. Corresponding to this are the seven days of mourning (rachamana litzlan), to draw down the Mochin that departed at death — for the essential death is the departure of the Mochin, since "HaChochmah techayeh." This is the aspect of the seven days the one contaminated by a corpse must count. And this is the aspect of the seven heads of the two Shins (three plus four) — corresponding to the seven clean days, to rectify the Mochin. They are divided into three and four because the Mochin are so divided: initially, before entering within, they are three; afterward, when they enter, Da'as divides into two and they become four. Thus the seven days of mourning are also divided into three and four, for the first three days have stricter laws (Yoreh De'ah 393:1). Similarly, the seven days of a corpse require sprinkling on the third and seventh. And the seven clean days of a niddah — the first three are stricter regarding a stain (ibid. 196:10). For the Mochin too are divided: in the first three days the Mochin have not yet begun to be rectified at all; afterward they have already been drawn down in those three days and are close to entering — hence afterward it is not as strict.

From all the above, Tefillin are the aspect of the Tikun HaKlali — rectification of the Bris. The essential rectification of the Bris is through the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh [the Holy Tongue], as our Rebbe said (Siman 19). Through Tefillin, speech of Lushon HaKodesh is rectified, as Rashi explains: "V'hayu l'totafos" — its Targum is "viy'hon l'shinunin" — that whoever sees them speaks of the miracle. Thus through Tefillin, speech of praise and thanks to Hashem is rectified — the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh.

Therefore the essential Tefillin are made of hide — the parchment is of hide, the batim [housings] are of hide, and if made of gold they are invalid. For the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh comes through Lushon Targum [the Aramaic tongue] — by elevating the good within the Targum. This is the aspect of hide, for hide is the aspect of Nogah [the intermediate shell] — a mixture of good and evil, which is the aspect of Targum (also the aspect of Nogah). Therefore Tefillin must be written on hide and constructed from hide — to elevate the good from Nogah into Lushon HaKodesh, to fulfill "Viha’yoo litoatafoas [and they shall be as totafos]" and its Targum (see Devorim 6:7 – visheenantum) "viy'hon l'shinunin" (and they will be for repeated oral review. Toatafoas, Rashi explains, the root taf means to speak). They must be from a permitted species specifically, for the permitted species is the aspect of Targum/Nogah from which the good is elevated to Lushon HaKodesh. But the forbidden species are the aspect of the evil of the 70 languages that must be subdued, as explained there — "Yeemoatoo alaihem gechalim" — "Let coals fall upon them."

This is why our Sages were precise in deriving the law that Tefillin must be from "a species permitted to your mouth" — "hamutar l'ficha [permitted to your mouth]" specifically. This is the aspect of holy eating — elevating and illuminating the letters within the food through eating, which is the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh, as explained in the Torah "Tefillah LaChavakuk." Therefore the Torah forbids eating forbidden things — for they are the aspect of the evil of the 70 languages, where the letters cannot illuminate and sparkle. Only the permitted things, the aspect of Targum, are rectified and their letters illuminate through eating — elevating the good within them. Therefore Tefillin too must be from a permitted species. And see in "Tefillah LaChavakuk" regarding the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh through Lushon Targum, where it is explained that through meriting the completeness of Lushon HaKodesh, one merits that his eating and pleasures come only from the sparkling of the letters within the food — the essential rectification of eating in holiness.