Entries by Ben
Broken Tzitzits
The Chassan’s Tallis
In pre-War Europe, going back for centuries, there were a number of Jewish wedding traditions that guided proper protocol between an engaged couple, some of which remain in one form or another to the present day, primarily among the Orthodox.
To this day, in charedi circles, there is a widespread custom at the vort (engagement...
Eric Cantor Lays Tefillin at Kotel
by Dan Slobodkin
During a recent visit to Jerusalem, Eric Cantor, a Republican congressman from Virginia who became Majority Leader in early January, laid tefillin before praying at the Western Wall.
In November his office released a statement saying: “Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on...
Spanish Prison Allows Inmate to Lay Tefillin
Types of Tefillin: The Parchments
There are three different types of writing customs for the parchments inside tefillin: Beit Yosef, Arizal, and Vellish. Beit Yosef is the same script that Torahs are written in. Arizal script is only slightly different from Beit Yosef (seven letters differ), and is the preferred script of the Hassidic community. Vellish script is bolder,...
On Tefillin Prices
The main factor in determining the price of a set of tefillin is the quality of the writing on the parchments.
The writing on tefillin parchments is considerably smaller than the writing on a mezuzah (in most cases) or a Sefer Torah. Small writing is hard to do well, so a set of tefillin parchments...
Tefillin – What’s Inside?
The tefillin boxes (called battim) house strips of parchment with four passages from the Torah written by a specially trained scribe, known as a sofer. Tefillin contain the following biblical verses:
God spoke to Moses, saying, "Sanctify to Me every firstborn that initiates the womb among the Israelites. Among both man and beast, it is...