We will take a look at

• Tefilin
• Payot
• Mezuzah
• Tzittzit
• Two-handled Cup

Tefillin

At places where Jews pray, you’ll definitely notice this black box on the forehead! (And on more on the arm).  This is called Tefillin. In side these boxes are scrolls of parchment from the Torah. (By the way, don’t call it phylacteries! It’s not an amulet!)

The tradition of using tefilin comes from the Bible. When the Israelites came out from Egypt, God reminded them not to forget God and to keep His commandments. God gave them clear instructions on how to live in His blessings.  One of the commandments is….

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart. You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deu 6:4-9 )

Theses verses above form the Shema prayer, which is what Jewish people pray everyday. Binding with straps and wearing tefilin on hand and “between the eyes” is still important to Jewish people today because God’s commandment has not changed. (Just like God has not forsaken Jewish people)

Tefilin from Jesus’ time was found in Masada and Qumran (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found). You’ll see a tefilin from 2000 years ago below! (Yes the small piece that looks like leather, closest to us) The scrolls of parchment were also found inside these ancient tefilin, although the size was much smaller back then.

Payot

Tefilin usually goes with this hairstyle called “payot” (פְּאַת‬), because God said they cannot cut off hair from the sides. This side curls clearly sets Jewish people apart from the rest of ‘gentiles’.

“You are not to round off the hair on the sides of your heads, nor are you to mar the edge of your beard. (Lev 19:27)

Mezuzah

From the commandment “write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”, so ‘mezuzah‘ can be commonly seen in Jerusalem. Not all but some of them have real scrolls of parchment inside. This giant mezuzah is next to Kotel (Western Wall).

Tzitzit

And perhaps, you will notice tassels or fringes called ‘tzittzit’ that Jewish people wear on the corners of their clothes. It’s one of the mitzvot (commandments) for those who love God, as it’s super visible like payot. Whoever does it, others can easily identify those as ‘Bnei Israel’ (children of Israel).  (Translating these words so the version below will not be confusing. Let’s learn some Hebrew!)

 “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael. Say to them that they are to make for themselves tzitziton the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they are to put a blue cord on each tzitzit. It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of Adonai and do them and not go spying out after your own hearts and your own eyes, prostituting yourselves. This way you will remember and obey all My mitzvot and you will be holy to your God. I am Adonai your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Adonai your God.” (Num 15:38-41)

Yeshua (Jesus) Obeyed Commandments too!

God said “It will be your own tzitzit—so whenever you look at them, you will remember all the mitzvot of Adonai “. Since Jewish people still wear tzittzit, it means Jews in Yeshua (Jesus) time also kept this commandment. In fact, Yeshua himself kept this commandment! 

Just then a woman, losing blood for twelve years, came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. (Matthew 9:20)

And wherever He entered villages, towns, or countryside, people were placing the sick in the marketplaces and begging Him to let them touch even the tzitzit of His garment—and all who touched it were being healed.  (Mark 6:56)

If Yeshua kept this commandment, and he was a rabbi, wouldn’t it be safe to say he also had payot and tefilin?

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deu 6:4-5)

This is the First Commandment, and this is what Yeshua (Jesus) taught us.

 And He said to him, ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

Praying the ‘Shema’ (שמע) Prayer

The shema prayer in Hebrew goes like this:

Shema Israel Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad… Ve ahav ta et Adonai Elohecha b’chol livavcha o vechol nafishcha o vechol meodekha.

When Jewish people pray, you will see them using tefilin, which is a black box on the forehead and on the arm. Why do they use it?  It’s a commandment from the Scriptures.

Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes,  (Deu 6:8)

And the mezuzah is also a commandment. Like the tefilin, there is also scroll of parchment inside.

and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deu 6:9)

The Love Letter ש “sh”

It is noticeable that there is a letter on the mezuzah in the picture above, or just about everywhere in Jerusalem. The Shema Prayer is marked by the first letter “sh” ( ש ),  not so coincidentally, God’s name is El “Sh”addai. The same letter.

And the shape of Jerusalem is a ש .  It means everywhere in Jerusalem is a reminder to the people of Israel to love God. Or maybe the other way around.

When Jewish people obey the commandment and bind these straps, it is to remind themselves again and again the greatest commandment- to love God. The shape should look like ש on the back of a hand and on the arm.

And on this tefilin, there’s one letter only, and it is ש.

You can say the love letter here is ש.

About the Verb “Shema”  שמע

There are many meanings in Hebrew on ‘shema’.

1. Can your ear “hear”

2. God has “heard” your prayer

3. God “leans to hear ” your prayer

4. This is an order that you should “listen” to

Hey! Listen to Him!

For thousands of years Jewish people keep this commandment and pray the shema prayer שמע. This is the most familiar prayer of all time, this is the ‘theme’. But suppose you were a Jew, and this is your prayer every day, including yesterday morning, last night, this morning…. you repeat “Hear O Israel” or “Listen, Israel”.

One day God spoke. Instead of saying “Listen”, He says, “Listen to Him!”

To whom?  “My Son, whom I love”

It must be shocking why would God say this? It’s not something you take lightly….. if God really said that.

Peter, John and Jacob (James) had the background of the ‘shema’ prayer, because they were all Jews. They were pretty excited when they saw Elijah and Moses, but when the voice came out and said

“This is My Son, the One I have chosen. Listen to Him!”

And after the voice happened, Yeshua was found alone.

They kept quiet and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. (Luke 9:35-36)

You could see their face changed at “Listen to Him”.

It was so wonderful to see their rabbi Yeshua with Elijah and Moses. But what God spoke to them was challenging everything they thought they knew.

From that culture, they must know why God would share this message in that location, in that setting, and in that time. In front of the greatest prophets God just told them  “Hear O Israel. Listen to Him.”.

That’s THE prayer that they had been praying for their entire lives.

They kept this secret to themselves, because it was ‘too much’.

They took time to understand what it really meant. The Father chose to honor the son in that setting. Two verses to ponder.

 “Father, I also want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory—the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)

Who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. (Philippians 2:6)