Responsa sobre Exodo 13:23

The source of the matter here is in Tractate Menachot 42b: “This, however, is a matter of dispute between Tannaim, for it has been taught: If a man overlaid [the tefillin] with gold or covered them with the skin of an unclean animal, they are invalid²⁷That the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth (Ex. 13:9), the tefillin should be made from that which is permissible for food; if with the skin of a clean animal, they are valid, even though he did not prepare it for this specific purpose. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says, even if he covered them with the skin of a clean animal they are invalid, unless it had been prepared for this specific purpose²⁸Similarly the first Tanna and Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel would differ as to the necessity for weaving the threads specifically for the purpose of zizith “.

Additionally, when Rashi expounded on the disqualifications of tefillin boxes, it included the qualification of being made out of leather, as even the straps that are tied on must be made from a similar animal hide, as was explained in the chapter ‘One who takes a Handful’.³⁵See note 31 His (Rashi) intention was to that which was written on page 35a ‘that tefillin should not be tied with anything other than that (kosher) species.

As the Rosh thought there, towards the end of his statement, that the parchment, straps and the boxes, and compares them to the hide of the boxes, as they are also disqualified if they are not made to the specific task, so that one can generalize that he also explains that braitta as pertaining to the actual boxes; it does not seem to apply to the hide that is on the boxes at all.

In regards to hides from a ritually impure animal, he wrote ‘that were made from the hide of a ritually impure animal’, implying that the boxes were made from the hide of a ritually impure animal.

That which I have stated, that it is for that reason it is disqualified if it was ‘coated with gold’. In my humble opinion, this is brought down in the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Megillah⁹⁴See following note for the fuller text, in the chapter entitled ‘One Who Reads [the Megillah] Standing Upright’, that on the Mishan that was taught there: ‘One who makes his tefillin boxes round, is susceptible to danger… If one coats it with gold…’- it states there in the Jersulamen Talmud: ‘It has been taught in a braitta by rabbi Yosseh, son of Bibi: Tefillin must be mad square and black- is an ancient tradition (lit. ‘A halacha that was transmitted orally from Moses when he was on Mount Sinai’).’

To my mind, it is hard to place the adjective ‘black’ on the tefillin straps, as straps were not mentioned at all. In addition, the text combined the terms ‘square’ and ‘black’; just as square describes the boxes, so so the term ‘black’. Then the Jerusalem Talmud gave a reason for what was stated in the Mishna, as to why round tefillin are potentially hazardous and do not fulfill the obligation (mitzva) of donning tefillin.

The Ran⁹⁷Bavli Tractate Megillah 15b. The Ran, rabbi Nissim ben Reuven (1320 – 9th of Shevat, 1376, Hebrew: נסים בן ראובן) of Girona, Catalonia was an influential talmudist and authority on Jewish law. He was one of the last of the great Spanish medieval talmudic scholars. He is also known as the RaN (ר"ן), the Hebrew acronym of his name, as well as the RaNbaR (רנב"ר), the Hebrew acronym of his full name, including his father's name, Reuven. He wrote a commentary on the Rif, rabbi Isaac Al-Fezi of Morocco. commented on that same Mishna in the Bavli tractate Megillah ‘Coating it with gold is an indication of following thinkers outside the rabbinic tradition’, writing that “the reason the writ states (in Ex. 13:9) ‘So that the Torah of God shall be in your mouth’ – from that which is permissible to be in your mouth. Meaning, that the parchment should be written on that which is permissible to eat. The Hebrew letter shin is also an ancient tradition⁹⁸Understood here is that the letter shin (ש) is imprinted on the box itself, ergo, the box too needs to be made from a kosher hide., ergo it requires writing it on that which is permissible to be in one’s mouth”- end quote.

Nevertheless, I found that rabbi Yaakov [Tam]¹⁰³A most ‘famous’ Tosafot, where Rabbeinu [Yaakov] Tam (here called the R’I as the I represents the letter yod which also could mean Ya’akov.) argues with his grandfather, Rashi, as to the order of the parchment scriptures in the tewfillin. A search of בית חיצון yielded only one relevant source:
תוספות מסכת מנחות דף לד עמוד ב
...ומפרש ר"ת: קדש והיה כי יביאך מימין של קורא, ומשמאל של
קורא הוי שמע מבחוץ ואחריה והיה אם שמוע מבפנים וניחא השתא מה שחלקו וכן פירש רבינו חננאל בסנהדרין (דף פט.) כל בית החיצון שאינו רואה את האויר פסול כגון קדש ושמע וכן רב האי גאון
Our master rabbi Tam explained that the verses of “Make you first born unique to me” (Ex. 13:1-10), and “When you come to the land” (Ex. 13:11-16) are on one’s right of the one reading it, and to the left of the one reading it are “Hear Oh Israel” (Deut. 6:4-9) on the outside and afterwards “When you will certainly listen” (Deut. 11:13-21) as this now resolves the dispute, as was also explained by our master rabbi Khanan’el (Chananel ben Chushiel or Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel (Hebrew: חננאל בן חושיאל‎‎), an 11th-century Kairouanan Rabbi and Talmudist, was a student of one of the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Chananel is often referred to as Rabbeinu Chananel - Hebrew for "our teacher, Chananel Rabbeinu Chananel" was born in 990 in Kairouan (modern Tunisia). R. Chananel studied under his father, Chushiel, head of the Kairouan yeshiva and through correspondence with Hai Gaon. He is closely associated with Nissim Ben Jacob in the capacity of rabbi and Rosh yeshiva of Kairouan. His most famous student is probably Isaac Alfasi.) quoting the tractate Sanhedrin 89a “Any [parchment] not on the outside, exposed to the outer air, is disqualified, as in “Make you first born unique to me” (Ex. 13:1-10)” and “Hear Oh Israel” (Deut. 6:4-9); so too was the custom of Rav Hai Gaon. wrote that the disqualification was not secondary to being prevented from ‘seeing the outside air’, except, specifically to the tefillin box worn on the head. However, the tefillin box worn on the arm it does not apply as there is no ‘outer box covering’ issues for the arm tefillin.

Nevertheless, I found that rabbi Yaakov [Tam]¹⁰³A most ‘famous’ Tosafot, where Rabbeinu [Yaakov] Tam (here called the R’I as the I represents the letter yod which also could mean Ya’akov.) argues with his grandfather, Rashi, as to the order of the parchment scriptures in the tewfillin. A search of בית חיצון yielded only one relevant source:
תוספות מסכת מנחות דף לד עמוד ב
...ומפרש ר"ת: קדש והיה כי יביאך מימין של קורא, ומשמאל של
קורא הוי שמע מבחוץ ואחריה והיה אם שמוע מבפנים וניחא השתא מה שחלקו וכן פירש רבינו חננאל בסנהדרין (דף פט.) כל בית החיצון שאינו רואה את האויר פסול כגון קדש ושמע וכן רב האי גאון
Our master rabbi Tam explained that the verses of “Make you first born unique to me” (Ex. 13:1-10), and “When you come to the land” (Ex. 13:11-16) are on one’s right of the one reading it, and to the left of the one reading it are “Hear Oh Israel” (Deut. 6:4-9) on the outside and afterwards “When you will certainly listen” (Deut. 11:13-21) as this now resolves the dispute, as was also explained by our master rabbi Khanan’el (Chananel ben Chushiel or Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel (Hebrew: חננאל בן חושיאל‎‎), an 11th-century Kairouanan Rabbi and Talmudist, was a student of one of the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Chananel is often referred to as Rabbeinu Chananel - Hebrew for "our teacher, Chananel Rabbeinu Chananel" was born in 990 in Kairouan (modern Tunisia). R. Chananel studied under his father, Chushiel, head of the Kairouan yeshiva and through correspondence with Hai Gaon. He is closely associated with Nissim Ben Jacob in the capacity of rabbi and Rosh yeshiva of Kairouan. His most famous student is probably Isaac Alfasi.) quoting the tractate Sanhedrin 89a “Any [parchment] not on the outside, exposed to the outer air, is disqualified, as in “Make you first born unique to me” (Ex. 13:1-10)” and “Hear Oh Israel” (Deut. 6:4-9); so too was the custom of Rav Hai Gaon. wrote that the disqualification was not secondary to being prevented from ‘seeing the outside air’, except, specifically to the tefillin box worn on the head. However, the tefillin box worn on the arm it does not apply as there is no ‘outer box covering’ issues for the arm tefillin.

In the chapter entitled “After the Sentence was Passed”¹⁷⁶See note 61 the blue colored notes are Rashi’s comments, Rashi explained that it was an ancient tradition, and were it not for the verse (Ex 13:9) which is the source for that which is ‘permissible to your mouth’, we would not have known the requirement of the ritually pure animal hide. Perhaps it could be made from gold or other species; that is why Rabbi Yosaif taught us that it require that specific hide. Despite the fact that Rashi explained that it is an ancient tradition, nevertheless, it was not taught explicitly that it is an ancient (‘Mosaic’) tradition, as there was the question raised on Rabbi Yosaif¹⁷⁷See note 33. However, see note for more relevant expansion to include Rav Yosaif’s question.. Look and understand well the Tosafot loc. cit. “Tefillin”. ¹⁷⁸Tractate Shabbat 28b see also note 86 also see the next note

It would be understandable at the outset when it stated ‘tefillin’, and then asked about the explicit verse (Ex 13:9) “The words of Hashem in your mouth’, on would not have been able to exclude that which is not made from hide, as there is a Mishna in tractate “Hands” 4:5 that states: “In general, an object cannot convey ritual impurity to the hands until it is written with the Assyrian ink (and script) and on hide-parchment”.

They responded: the commandments around chametz were the first given to the children of Israel; they were accepted with love and warmth and joy, and they were guarded strictly down to the most minute details. You can see that the Torah was stringent to the level of prohibiting even seeing and owning it²Exodus 12:19 and Exodus 13:7 .. This is not the case for any other prohibition except for idolatry, where it is written "Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house" (Deuteronomy 7:26). All who increase their meticulous observance shall have the days and years of their life increased too.