Awhile back, Yossi Klein celebrated his bar mitzvah in grand fashion, sharing the joy with several hundred guests from all across the denominational spectrum of the Memphis kehilla. He recited from memory in Yiddish, a famous Chabad discourse on tefillin. A couple of clicks after chabad.org, I found the English translation. Here is a small slice of the opening section of the discourse...
"In Midrash Tehillim, it is written:Rabbi Eliezer declared: "Israel told the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Master of the world, we want to labor in the study of Torah during the day and at night, but we don't have the opportunity.' The Holy One replied: 'Fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin, and I will consider it as if you had labored in Torah study during the day and at night.'"
The fact that our Sages state that wearing tefillin can compensate for the inability to study shows that there is a relationship between the two mitzvot. Nevertheless, we must understand the nature of that relationship. How can the fulfillment of the mitzvah of tefillin free the Jewish people from the study of Torah? How are these mitzvot connected with each other?
To understand this concept, we must first explain another idea: It is written: "He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel." On this verse, the Midrash comments: There are those who give commands to others to fulfill, but do not fulfill them themselves. However, what God fulfills Himself, He commands to others, as the verse declares: He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and His ordinances. The verse implies that the "words, ordinances, and statutes" which God commands to others, are His - God observes them Himself. Who causes G-d to fulfill the mitzvot? Hence, when the Jewish people put on tefillin,this causes God to put on tefillin."
A bit of Rubinstein's commentary on this text
The writer of Midrash Tehillim boldly portrays a God donning Tefillin. He places God in an intimate relationship with all Jews who have ever worn tefillin. God has joined the minyan! (Quick note to the ritual & spiritual advisory committee: this does not get us off the hook for mustering 10.) Levi talked about the difference between fans sitting in the stands and players engaged in the sport - on the court. Reaching the age of mitzvot changes one's perspective from that of the spectator to the mindset of of the players. One of the memorable teachings I took home from the Klein bar mitzvah celebration was Reb Levi’s portrayal of mitzvot as opportunities for us to connect with God. What does this mean? To me, it means that countless sacred ideas and gestures are all around us hiding in plain sight. When we open eyes eyes more fully, it occurs to us we can spiritually elevate the world around us.
As I write to you from Paris, Tali Cohen, daughter of Rabbi Tom Cohen of Kehillat Gesher and Rabbi Pauline Bebe of the Maayan Center just celebrated her Bat Mitzvah, chanting from the Torah beautifully. On Thursday morning, Tali wore the Tefillin that belonged to Pauline's grandfather. As we wind the tefilln around our fingers, Ashkenazi Jews recite Hosea 2:21-22. [note: Sephardim as well as followers of Chabad customs do not include the Hosea verses] Watching Pauline guide Tali as she put on the Tefillin, the words re recite from Hosea came to life anew:
"I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving-kindness and with mercy. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know Adonai." V'erastich - I will betroth you - are God's words toward Israel. God is depicted as the groom while Israel is the bride. Hearing a mother recite the words to her daughter brought out the feminine resonance within the relationship between God and Israel.
While the two bnai mitzvah I'm describing - a Chabad celebration in Memphis and a Liberal (European Non-Orthodox denomination) Bat Mitzvah in Paris - express vastly different flavors of Jewish practice, I sense that they are connected in very important ways. These celebrations are about learning, commitment, coming of age, and cherishing the traditions we inherit.
