Eikev - Mind and Body
"Place
these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul; bind them for a
sign upon your arm and let them be tefillin between your eyes".
Deuteronomy 11:18
The
Gemmora in Nedarim says that a person who speaks between putting on the
tfillin for the arm and the tfillin for the head causes the battle and
war to be lost. Two questions that can be asked on this are: what
is the significance (and the sin) of speaking between putting on the
two tfillins, and why does that adversely affect battles and wars?
Our
arm represents our physical strength, the power we have to build cities
and protect ourselves from physical attacks of enemies. Our mind
represents the non-physical powers of wisdom and spirit, that has the
power to understand the world and maintain relationships with God and
other people. Perhaps part of the meaning of tfillin is to
dedicate both of these sources of power to goals that are holy and
good, to the acts that God would be proud of us doing.
The
significance of not talking in between putting on the two tfillins is
that really these two powers are one power, the goals of both must be
unified, they must form one kedushah not two. Even though our
physical strength can feel like a palamino horse pulsing with energy
and desire to do, build, and accomplish - and our mental/spiritual
strength can feel more intangile and etherial, we cannot lead a life
that lets these powers remain separate. They must be merged and
coordinated into one unified strength, dedicated towards one unified
goal, to serve God and to do what is right in His eyes.
Speaking
between putting on the two tfillins symbolizes letting the body and
mind remain separate, allowing each power be independent.
What
does this have to do with battles and war? On a national level,
every nation strives to have wise and spiritual people who attempt to
plumb the depths of reality, and have physically strong people who
serve in the army and construct the cities. When we go out to do
battle against our enemies, it is essential that these two groups of
people are of one mind and one purpose. If the two groups are
separate and not unified in the mission, then our powers and the
validity of our efforts will be severelly diminished. A nation
must have its army be guided by its wise men, and a nation's wise men
must be involved with the goals and actions of its army.
And
this applies even on the level of the individual soldier. Each
soldier must have his physical and mental/spiritual powers be
integrated and unified towards a common goal. To disregard this
caveat is to weaken our powers and the legitimacy of our actions, and
to lead to losses in battles and war.
This was one aspect of the glory of King David. Both his physical and spiritual power was unmatched and unified.
So
when we put on our tfillin on our arm and head, let them remind us of
the necessity of merging all our physical, mental, and spiritual powers
into one power and one kedushah.