Powtórzonego Prawa 11:18 Halacha: Mishneh Torah, Torah Study, Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll, Kitzur Shulchan Arukh & Sefer HaChinukh

Women, slaves, and infants are absolved from the study of the Torah; but the father is obliged to instruct his infant son in the Torah, for it is said: "And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them" (Deut. 11.19); but a woman is not charged to teach her son, for only one obliged to study is obliged to instruct.¹Sukkah, 42a; Kiddushin, 29; Ketubot, 28. G. C.

In the first section, there is only one such letter, namely the closed Mem in Meeyamim which has over it three Zain-shaped lines. In the second section, there are five letters, each of them a Hé; and on each, there are four zain-shaped lines. These are the Hé in Unesanah; the first and the last Hé in Hikshah; the Hé in Vayaharog; the Hé in Yadchah. The third section has five such letters. The Koof in Uvekoomecha has over it three zain-shaped lines; the Koof in Ukeshartam has over it three zain-shaped lines; the two letters Teth, and the letter Pé in Letotaphoth have on each of them four zain-shaped lines. The fourth section has five such letters. The Pé of Veasaphta has above it three zain-shaped lines. The Tav of Veasaphta has one zain-shaped line. The two letters Teth and the letter Pé in Letotaphoth have on each of them four zain-shaped lines. Altogether, the letters thus ornamented are sixteen. If the scribe wholly omitted these ornaments, added to them or omitted them over some of the letters, he has not rendered the phylacteries unfit for use.

It is written: "It shall be a sign upon your hand."¹⁰Exodus 13:16. Since the word Yadecha is written with a [superfluous] hei, our Sages of blessed memory teach: that this means yad keiha or weak hand referring to the left hand which is weaker and feebler.¹¹The usual spelling of the word yadecha would be with the letter chaf as the suffix. Since in our verse there is a variance with a different spelling, it indicates the need of a drashah. The tefillin should be placed on the elevated part of the muscle as it said: "Place these words of Mine upon your hearts,"¹²Deuteronomy 11:18. which means it shall be put opposite the heart, and therefore you should place the tefillin there and incline it slightly toward the body, so that when you bend your arm down, the tefillin will be opposite your heart. Although regarding the shel rosh it is written: "Between your eyes," our Sages of blessed memory knew from sacred tradition that this does not mean literally "between your eyes" but, rather, [on the head] above the space between your eyes. And the proper place is from where the hair begins to grow, and this place extends to the end of the spot where a baby's scalp is soft. This means that the lower edge of the tefillin should not be lower than the place where hair begins to grow, and the upper edge of the tefillin which is above [on the head], should not be higher than the place where the scalp of a baby is soft. Great care must be taken that the tefillin should rest on its proper place. If you place the shel rosh [so that] even a small part is on the forehead where hair does not grow or even if you place the entire shel rosh on the place where hair grows but it is moved to the side and is not between the eyes, the mitzvah is not fulfilled, and the berachah is in vain. The knot [in the strap] should be placed opposite the tefillin at the back of the head above the nape of the neck, which is the base of the skull where hair grows, which is opposite the face; and it should not incline to either direction. The strap should be secure on the head. When the bayis¹³I.e., case. and its base are exceedingly wide it is difficult to maintain their tightness, and it is therefore, urgent to be most careful in this matter.