Phylactery (tefillin)

The Hebrew word tefillin designates a pair of small leather boxes containing parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah (Exod 13:1-10;13:11-16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:13-21). A Jewish ceremonial object whose form is explicitly prescribed by Jewish law, tefillin are traditionally worn by Jewish men on the forehead and on the upper arm and hand during weekday morning prayers. This set of tefillin is incomplete, preserving only the "head-tefillin" and not the "hand-tefillin." The form and ritual use of tefillin has remained largely consistent for over 2,000 years. The earliest known tefillin cases and tefillin parchments were discovered amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls (300 BCE–70CE) in the caves of Qumran and elsewhere in the Judean Desert. Additional tefillin were discovered among the fragments of the Cairo Geniza.


On both sides of the tefillin "shel-rosh" or "head-tefillin," the Hebrew letter "shin" (ש) is inscribed; however, the two letters are written differently, one with three branches and the other with four branches. Rabbinic texts provide several interpretations for this epigraphic variation. According to Jewish mystical tradition, for example, the seven combined branches correspond to the seven branches of the menorah (Zohar 3:245a-b).



Enclosed within the phylactery are four compartments currently containing three parchment scrolls inscribed with passages from the Torah. Traditionally, the head phylactery contains four parchment scrolls. The absence of the fourth parchment renders this object religiously invalid (unkosher).