Talmud for Deuteronomy 6:8

If a man makes his head-[tefillah] round, this is a dangerous practice⁵⁵Because an accidental blow on it might split one’s head. Cf. Meg. 24b (Sonc. ed., p. 148, n. 2). which does not carry with it [the fulfilment of] the commandment.⁵⁶The commandment being that it must be cube-shaped and flat at the base. To put [the head-tefillah] on one’s forehead or [the hand-tefillah] on the palm of one’s hand⁵⁷In accordance with the literal meaning of the verse, And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes (Deut. 6, 8), which is contrary to the traditional interpretation. is in the manner of heresy.⁵⁸Heb. minuth, used especially of the views and practices of the early Jewish-Christians. According to Maimonides the minim were Sadducees. To overlay them with gold or put [that of the hand] on one’s neḳlah, which means a sleeve, is the manner of the outsiders.⁵⁹Persons who follow their own interpretation of Scripture and not that of the Rabbis. [On this paragraph, cf. J. Rabbinowitz, Mishnah Megillah, pp. 128f.] [63a]

Rebbi Ze`ira, Rav Ḥananel in the name of Rav: Its sewing<sup>340</sup>That the leaves of a Torah scroll and the Tefillin cases must be sewn together with sinews. Babli Makkot 11a. is practice of Moses from Sinai. Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac: the knots of Tefillin<sup>341</sup>The straps of the Tefillin on the arm must be tied together with a small knot imitating the shape of י; the straps of the head Tefillin must be tied behind the head in a ד. Babli Menaḥot 35b. are practice of Moses from Sinai. A Tefillin strip of Rebbi Jeremiah broke; he asked Rebbi Abba bar Mamal who said to him, and you stall tie them<sup>342</sup>Deut. 6:8., even simple tying<sup>343</sup>The suffix תם is read as a separate word, “unblemished, straight-forward.” The knots must be at the prescribed places; the shapes are desideratum (since the shapes would not fit if Moses wrote paleo-Hebrew.). Rebbi Ze`ira’s wall of the strip broke³⁴⁴The Tefillin are small cubes sitting on a square leather base. To this base is added a rectangular tube through which the strap is drawn (in Babylonian sources called תִּיתּוּרָא “augmentation”.) The wall became defective. Since it is augmentation, not the essence of Tefillin, it may be patched up.. He asked Rav Huna and Rav Qatina, and they permitted him. It broke a second time and they permitted him, not from what they had learned³⁴⁵To permit patch of a patch was their decision, not traditional practice.. Rebbi Abba the son of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba, Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: The practice is that he who sews must leave space on top and bottom³⁴⁶If one sews leather sheets together, the top and bottom stitches should not be too close to the rim. Babli 19b. so it should not tear. They hit him on the skull, if it is practice why “should not tear”? And if “should not tear” why practice³⁴⁷Since “practice” here means “practice from Moses on Sinai”, it needs no justification.? It is practice of Moses from Sinai that one write on leather, and write with ink, and rule with a ruler³⁴⁸The lines on which the horizontal bars of the letters are written must be impressed with a wooden or metal tool, not drawn by pencil., and ties with hair³⁴⁹The sheets used for Tefillin are made into scrolls which then are tied with animal hair before being out into Tefillin boxes. Babli Sabbat 108a., and patches with a patch³⁵⁰If the leather on which the Torah scroll is written has a tear, it can be patched up at the back with a leather patch., and glues with glue³⁵¹If the text of the arm-Tefillin were written on separate sheets, they may be glued together to form one page., and sews³⁵²The Torah scroll and the cases for Tefillin. with sinews. As he sews, he has to sew this stitch³⁵³The stitches must be evenly spaced.. One needs to leave between line and line the width of a line, between word and word the width of a letter, between letter and letter something, between column and column a thumb-width³⁵⁴Babli Menaḥot 30a; Soferim 2:2.. If he made the end of the column equal to its beginning he disqualified it³⁵⁵One may not start writing on a page below the top, that it may not look deficient.. One must leave on the top of the scroll {a margin of} two finger-breadths and at the bottom three. Rebbi says, in the Torah at the top three and at the bottom a hand-breadth. Between book and book one has to leave four lines empty³⁵⁶Between the books of the Pentateuch. Babli Bava batra 13b; Soferim 2:3., in the Twelve Prophets three. One has to end in the middle of a column and start in its middle³⁵⁷In writing a Torah scroll containing all five books.; but for a Prophet he ends at the bottom and starts at the top³⁵⁸Since the books of Prophets are independent of one another.; but for the Twelve Prophets it is forbidden³⁵⁹A sheet of a single column is possible at the end of Deuteronomy.. One makes no sheet less than three columns and none more than eight³⁶⁰Menaḥot 30a; Soferim 2:6.. That you are saying, at the start. But at the end even a little³⁶¹Since the Twelve Prophets form a single book.; and for parchment³⁶²Or rather split leather. Babli Bava batra 14a. the Sages did not give any size.

On entering a bath-house one should say, ‘May it be Thy will, O Lord my God, that Thou cause me to enter in peace and depart in peace, and that Thou cause me to return [to my house] in peace, and deliver me from this heat and its like in the future’.¹Cf. Ber. 60a (Sonc. ed., p. 376).
How should he conduct himself²i.e. in what order should he undress himself. before entering? He removes his shoes, then his hat, then his cloak, then his girdle, then his shirt and finally his underwear. When he finished washing and left [the bath] and is handed a towel, he should dry his head and then the rest of his body. When he is given the oil³This is a necessary part of one’s toilet in hot countries. he should oil his head⁴Because it is ‘the king of all the limbs’, Shab. 61a (Sonc. ed., p. 286). and then the rest of his body. He then puts on his underwear and his shirt, binds his girdle, dons his cloak, [puts his hat on] and finally his shoes. [If he has his son with him or his servant, they put on the shoes for him.]⁵To spare him the fatigue. The words within brackets are inserted by GRA and H. He puts on the right [shoe] first and then the left, and when he removes them he takes the left off first and then the right.⁶The right half of the body being stronger, more honour must be shown to it. Removing the left first is likewise a mark of honour to the right because the right shoe remains longer on the foot. It is the same in connection with the tefillin: he puts on that of the hand first and then that of the head,⁷Cf. Deut. 6, 8, where the hand is mentioned first. and when he removes them he first takes off that of the head and then of the hand.⁸Cf. Men. 36a (Sonc. ed., p. 224).