Responsa על שמות 15:2

Ergo, if a Jew then comes and blackens it again, that would be a case of double indecision (‘doubt’)²⁰⁸See the exceelent review by Rabbi Moshe Koppel שליט"א “Resolving Uncertainty: A Unified Overview of Rabbinic Methods” [email protected], where he writes:“Roughly, if a particular prohibition holds only if both conditions A and B hold, and in fact, both A and B are in doubt, then we can assume the prohibition does not hold.” There is a doubt if it definitively needs to be black and a doubt about applying a second coating.. In my humble opinion, that resolves the understanding of the Magen Avraham. Nonetheless, practically, my inclination is to be stricter, specifically to that of the Rambam who was the first opinion quotes there in the Evehn HaEzer, that obviously the halacha is as per Rav Akhai”- this is the end-quote from my journal on the Magen Avraham.

The same applies to the concept of blackening the tefillin boxes, which is insignificant regarding the hide of the box, which remains in essence- a hide. This is what we were given and what we conclude that these are the tefillin given to us by the master of the universe, and therefore, it has an aspect of ‘This is my Lord, and I will glorify him’²⁶²Ex. 15:2 It is interesting to note that this verse from Exodus is not applied to tefillin. The verse applied is from Detu. 28:10 “So that the peoples of the Earth shall see that the name of Hashem is upon you”.. In this matter, I agree with him, so despite the above reasoning, the blackening plaster should not be thicker than the hide of the tefillin boxes, as the insignificant should not be ‘more’ than the significant- this is also a stringency.

They responded: "These days are recalled and observed" (Esther 9:28) - just as they are observed by an individual, so too are they recalled by an individual. They also said: the reading of the Megillah is like Hallel (Megillah 14a) - just as the recitation of Hallel at its time is done by an individual, so too with the Megillah. As it is written (Psalms 22:3) "My God, I cry by day—You answer not; by night, and have no respite"³This Psalm is attributed to Esther, see Yoma 29a:4 - all this in first person singular. So too, "This is my God, I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15:2) - first person singular. Some time later they responded again: "Isaac spoke and said, why have you come to me, and you hate me, etc." "And they said to him, behold we have seen that God is with you etc.," "And we shall send you in peace, for you are now blessed by God." "Let there be a bond between us, and let us make a covenant with you." (Genesis 26:27-29) "Like an apple among the trees of the forest is my lover among men, I craved to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my tongue." (Song of Songs 2:3) All this they reported to me in truth, in my dream, exactly as I have written.^*The last set of verses seems to be an account of a conversation in the heavenly Yeshiva, where the Rif (Isaac) defends his position from that of the others.