Judith Rasband was right when she said, “The way we dress affects the way we think, the way we feel, the way we act, and the way others react to us.”

When I put on my basketball shoes, I feel ready to play basketball. When I put on my tuxedo, I feel ready to go to something formal. When I put on my pajamas, I feel ready to go to sleep.

When I put on my Tallis and Tefillin, I actually feel ready to pray.

Of course we can pray anytime, anywhere. But usually we’re not focused on prayer at a moment’s notice. We need something to put us in that spiritual mood, and Tallis/Tefillin do that for me. This is especially true because we wear Tefillin on weekday mornings, as we’re still literally waking up.

This Sunday is the annual World Wide Wrap, the day the Conservative Movement annually dedicates to encouraging the Mitzvah of Tefillin. The Tefillin are black boxes containing the Shema that are placed on our arm and around our head with leather straps. Our 6th graders have made their own “starter Tefillin” which they’ll wear to Minyan this Sunday morning. But the World Wide Wrap is for adults as much as the kids.

One challenge we all face is that wrapping Tefillin is not intuitive, like a Tallis. It takes coaching, practice, and experience. Adults tell me they would like to wrap Tefillin but they feel embarrassed they don’t know how. I tell them that it takes some practice, but it’s not as hard as it looks. And it’s never too late to learn.

If you’d like to learn how to wrap Tefillin, please join us at Minyan this Sunday at 9:00 AM. Adults who know how to wrap will help kids and adults who are new to the practice. I’m proud that the Conservative Movement encourages women to wrap as well as men.

We wrap Tefillin around our arms and on our heads to symbolize that our actions and thoughts should be influenced by our Judaism. We bind ourselves to our tradition as we wrap the straps around our arms. And we spell out G-d’s name in three letters – Shin, Dalet, Yud – to affirm that we are partners with G-d. We are responsible for making G-d’s presence felt in the world by how we conduct ourselves for the rest of the day. And in the case of people who own their father’s or grandfather’s Tefillin, wearing them is a way to palpably connect to them even when they are gone.

Tefillin are a meaningful ritual that really enhances my prayer experience. That’s why Jews have been wearing them for thousands of years.

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM for Minyan and the World Wide Wrap. I’m also happy to set a time during the week to show you how to wrap.
Shabbat Shalom!

Have a question about Jewish prayer? Email me. I’ll be sharing my answers here in 2017.
Rabbi Alex Freedman