תפילין ג

Therefore Avraham purchased Me'aras HaMachpailah from Efron. Efron is the aspect of afar [earth/dust] — the evil that grips the element of earth: "V'nachash afar lachmo" — "The serpent's food is dust" (Yeshayah 65:25); "V'afar tochal" (Bereishis 3:14). This is the aspect of atzvus [melancholy], atzlus [laziness], and heaviness — drawn from the evil within the element of earth, which is the essential bite of the serpent, as our Rebbe said regarding this verse (LM II:189). 1

This is the aspect of the tisurah [base/platform] of the Tefillin, whose meaning is a bridge. From it emerges the ma'abarta [passage]. This is the essential part that rests upon the body — for from the Tefillin, only the tisurah and the ma'abarta touch the skin of the head and arm. This is the essential thing we must receive from the holy Tefillin: to draw from them a bridge to cross this world in peace — to pass over all obstacles and confusions and draw truly close to Hashem. 4

This is the aspect of the three wrappings on the middle finger, which is on the level of Yaakov and Moshe — the bariach hatichon [middle bolt] running through the beams from end to end (as explained in the Yanuka, Parshas Balak). Therefore the binding of the Tefillin's strap concludes there — for then emunah is completed in perfection through Tefillin. 11

This is the aspect of the knot shaped like a Yud at the shel Yad — the aspect of supporting the fallen. They receive their moaach and chiyus — to revive themselves and not fall completely — through Tefillin shel Yad, as explained above. The Yud-knot = the illumination of tzadik Yesod Olam to Malchus (= Kneses Yisrael). Therefore one must be very careful that this knot sits close to the shel Yad — for the essential illumination of Mochin for the common people (revived by the Shechinah from their fall) comes through the tzadik Yesod Olam whose perception is so exalted that he can revive and support all the fallen. 14

This is the aspect of the yahrzeit — when one fasts on the day of a parent's death, recites Kaddish, and lights a candle. All this is to elevate the neshamah of the deceased to the arichas chayim (= eternal life that the tzadikim merit in the World to Come). This is done each year on the day of death — for the day of death is the true beginning of one's life, each person according to what he merited through his holy service, since this world is a passing shadow and its life is not truly life at all. The essential arichas chayim = renewing one's chiyus at all times, especially each year (= Rosh HaShanah). Therefore one works for the tikun of the departed each year on his death-day (= the beginning of his chiyus = his personal Rosh HaShanah). 24

The entirety of this discourse revolves around the foundation built upon the story of the first Beggar of the Seven Beggars — the Blind one — who gave the couple a gift as a d'rashah: long life. As our Rebbe himself explained with his holy mouth, after telling the story of the second day (about the Deaf Beggar) — he said afterward: "The first one gave them arichas chayim, and this..." For the essential aspect of Tefillin is to merit arichas chayim — to begin living anew each time, true life in Avodas Hashem, as explained above at length. 28