For months my son Menachem badgered me to visit a Tefillin making shop during our Brooklyn visit this summer. He already observed a Sofer (ritual scribe) writing and checking the scrolls that are inserted into the black Tefillin boxes, but his main curiosity was piqued by how the actual boxes are made. He has a toy pair of Tefillin made of plastic, but he knows the real Tefillin he will use when he becomes Bar Mitzvah is exclusively hand fashioned from an animal’s hide. For a while he’s been wondering how you produce square, durable boxes from a piece of skin.
Before continuing, it’s important to note that the animal hides used to fashion Tefillin come from animals that either died naturally or were slaughtered for beef. Animals are not killed for the express purpose of fashioning Tefillin.
At first I was at a loss of where to find such a shop. While the main avenue of the Crown Heights neighborhood has more than half a dozen scribal shops, I had never seen the inside of a Tefillin boxes crafting shop before. A friend who is a scribe referred me to Mendel who works in his father’s Tefillin shop located in Crown Heights and I soon learned his shop specializes in producing the “Lamborghinis” of Tefillin boxes.
Menachem’s eyes sparkled as he observed the Tefillin crafters laboring at their holy trade and he soaked it all in as Mendel walked him through the tedious and labor intensive steps to crafting the Tefillin boxes. It can take many months for one pair to be ready, and in those thirty minutes we saw all the various stages it entails.
I’ll admit, the visit was an eye opener for me as well and I started wondering why I never sought out this shop before to quenche my own thirst for knowledge about a mitzvah I do every weekday for many years. I believe the Shema we recite twice daily, which is recorded in this week’s parsha, has the answer to this question.
“And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them to your children and speak of them when you sit in your house… And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes. ”
While one can only teach what they themselves previously learned, the fact that the Torah places “teach them (Torah teachings) to your children” before “speak of them (Torah teachings)” perhaps indicates that the best way to learn yourself is by educating your children. Because their insatiable curiosity to know more will drive you to understand Torah better than ever before. Alternatively, one should channel their own childish curiosity while studying as an adult in order to ensure the best possible results.
There is always more to discover about our Jewish heritage. One need only tune into their childish curiosity to seek answers even to the most seemingly elementary questions.
Got questions? I’d love to try and answer them!
Mike Batkin wrote...