11/11/97

Why should I be concerned about tefillin when tying shoe laces?
When Avraham returns victorious from his battle with the 4 kings and Melech Sedom wants to reward him, he says "Harimosi yadi el -- Kel Elyon etc." The Meshech Chochma says that Avraham lifted his hands to shamayim saying It wasn't my hands which caused this victory, rather I acknowledge that this strength is Hashem's. He therefore refuses reward of any kind from Melech Sdom [by saying:] not a "chut" and not a "Sroch Naal".

In Chullin 89a it says that as a reward for Avraham saying "not a shoe lace" his descendants merited the rezuos of Tefillin. What is the connection? The gemorra says that the reward is that about tefillin the pasuk says "Verau amei haaretz ki shem Hashem nikra alecha veyaru mimecha" It seems that without Avraham we would have had tefillin without rezuos. The rezuos allow the tefillin to be tied to the front of our heads, where all can see, and fear us. That is our power against our enemies, not our hands. The rezuos on our hands reinforce that idea. We tie them on our weak hand to emphasize the weakness of our hands and our recognition that our strength is from Hashem. Or if you like, we can beat the whole world with our hands tied. Davka. This is why tefillin is the schar for Avraham's saying "Shoelace."

Perhaps this is why the Gemorra says in Sanhedrin 74b that when there is a time of shmad we can't even change our shoelaces. Why that example? Because in our shoelaces lie the secret of our ultimate victory over the 4 Kings, i.e. the arba malchuyos. And that's why when we tie our shoes we remember our tefillin.

Regards,
Rav Segal