Observation: A Jewish man when he prays in early mornings except on Shabbat, is accustomed to wear tallit and tefillin. Now according to Christian dogma, as written by John (Yohanan) the apostle in Revelations 22:2, when Messiah returns, the new Jerusalem descends. As per Johns vision the given dimensions on Revelation/Apocalypses, the new Jerusalem which one may infer will contain the third temple from Jewish sources, is cubic in shape and is positioned on earth, centered on earthly Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel. The planet with this new, cubic new Jerusalem, looks like it will be donning the Shel Rosh Tefillin (phylacteries). Let us look at the meaning of this vision and the implication from a Jewish perspective.
Explanation: First, we need to define a few concepts to achieve some semblance of understanding of what this vision may be saying to us. The Torah, the instructions given to us, the Jewish people on Mt Sinai, is more than just a set of rules and regulations. Jan Assmann, University of Konstanz, Germany noted the following theory which I happen to agree with it. Contrary to popular belief The Torah is not the Law, it merely contains laws.
Fig 1. "The Torah: A political alliance between a God and a people is an absolute new, unheard of and unprecedented concept. As such, it requires a specific amount of historical motivation and explanation. This is the reason why the story is told... We are dealing here not with just "a" story, but "THE" story, the foundation of the covenant that is the foundation of the people of Israel... The revolutionary concept of the covenant between the people and God implies a triple process of theologizing: (1) the theologizing of the political concept of alliance, (2) the transformation of a secular law code into ius divinum, to denote a law prior to and thus ranking above all (the Torah) and of (3) human history into sacred history. Therefore, the Torah has these three aspects and functions: of a law code, a treaty and a sacred historiography."
Secondly, The Torah is not just a mere two-dimensional book, or text receptacle, the Torah, is a 4th dimensional entity, is a living document that transcends time. There is this understanding in Judaism that The Torah existed well be fore the creation of our universe, and the reason the Universe was created is because of the Torah, “In rabbinic literature, it was taught that the Torah was one of the six or seven things created prior to the creation of the world. According to Eliezer ben Yoseph the Galilean, for 974 generations before the creation of the world the Torah lay in God's bosom and joined the ministering angels in song. Simeon ben Lakish taught that the Torah preceded the world by 2,000 years and was written in black fire upon white fire. Akiva called the Torah "the precious instrument by which the world was created". Rav said that God created the world by looking into the Torah as an architect builds a palace by looking into blueprints. It was also taught that God took council with the Torah before He created the world.” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-written-law-torah
We, whether we like it or not, regardless of our credos, we do live within the Torah, we are part of the testament, the teaching, the creation itself as creation is a continuous process that is ongoing, and we are part of it under the umbrella of the Torah. This whole concept of the Torah being a 4th dimensional entity is a whole other manuscript that will be addressed separately.
So far, we have just address two concepts that will help us understand the vision that Yohanan had and that alludes to the planet wearing Tefillin. At this stage you may ask what on earth are tefillin, if you are not conversant with Jewish dogma and practices tefillin are phylacteries as described by Jesus (Yeshuah) in the New Testament. Note that He Jesus did not object to the use of Tefillin, but he did object on how they were used, as a sign of self-glorification, this too is a whole other manuscript. Because of the nature of the Torah, some instructions are taken as literal others a spiritual, yet others as a midrash i.e. parables from which you infer much deeper teachings that are multidimensional in nature. As an example that is relevant to this manuscript, let’s look at Deuteronomy 6:8.
“You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as an os – a sign – upon your hand, and they shall be for totefot – a reminder – between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 6:8)
As previously stated, although there are many dimensions to the words of the Torah, they are meant to be taken literally as well; therefore – just as it is commanded – we take inscriptions of chapters of Torah and then place them, one on the head as a reminder between the eyes, and the other as a sign on the arm situated against the heart. Rosh (on the head as a reminder between the eyes) and Yad (as a sign on the arm, close to the heart) Tefillin.
Fig 2. The Shel Rosh Tefillah with the three and four-pronged shin depicted above as opposed to the unmarked Shel Yad Tefillah, left image left Bayit (Box).
Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form (the singular being "tefillah"), it is loosely used as a singular as well. The arm-tefillah, or shel yad, is placed on the upper arm, and the strap wrapped around the arm/hand, hand and fingers; while the head-tefillah or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. The Torah has been interpreted to say that they should be worn to serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.
“Tefillin” a powerful spiritual tool.
Tefillin consist of two cube-shaped leather boxes, (Batim), with straps hanging down, which attach the boxes – one, Tefillin shel rosh (Tefillin of the head), snugly to the head and the other, Tefillin shel yad (Tefillin of the hand) wrapped around the arm, in close proximity to the heart. Each of these boxes contains the four paragraphs of the Torah that mention the idea of wrapping the Tefillin: Deuteronomy 6: 49, and 11:13-21, Exodus 13:1-10 and 13:11-16. These are carefully hand-written on small parchments by a sofer (scribe) and inserted in the leather boxes.
Here, however, there is a basic difference between the two boxes: When the Torah describes the hand Tefillin, it uses a singular term; but for the head Tefillin, it uses a plural, totefot. Thus, each of the four Torah paragraphs in the head Tefillin is written on its own scroll and inserted in one of four small compartments. These four compartments are carefully pressed together to maintain the cube-like shape of the Tefillin. By contrast, in the hand Tefillin all four chapters are inscribed on a single scroll and placed in one compartment.
We place the hand Tefillin upon the left arm so that it rests near the heart, and the head Tefillin is placed above the forehead, between the eyes so it rests against the skull – near the brain. From the boxes hang straps, which encircle the head and tie on the arm. Thus mind, heart, and actions are all aligned – and unified toward Heaven.
The physical Tefillin describe a deeper spiritual reality. The box encircles the parchment, surrounding it; the parchment, in turn, surrounds the black ink of the holy letters. Thus there are three levels: two makifim, surrounding forces – the Bayit (literally, house) is a makif ha’rachok – a distant surrounding, as a home surrounds the person dwelling within; the parchment encompassing the letters, is also a makif, albeit a makif ha’karov – intimate soundings in close proximity to the letters, as “clothes” that garb the wearer. The actual writing is Torah: divine intellect, it is an internal truth, a pnimi – an inward reality.
So, what does all these terms trying to tell you, if you are not familiar with deep esoteric teachings then put in simple terms, Makif, is to surround, that is the powerful transcendent light that surrounds all creation, that is the kavod the Glory of HaShem that cannot be contained by a vessel. Then there is pnimi that is the inner light that is bestowed on those that love and follow HaShem, the inner light we also call Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), it fills us internally a ever changing inner light that allows us to see in the spirit world and see the true purpose of us being in this world.
This idea of light is derived from the teachings of our sages, that creation is based on emanations of light, called Sephirot, sephirah in the singular form. According to our sages there are ten sephirot, the emanations through which divine energy flows into world, emerge in order: the three levels of intellect, and the seven emotional attributes. Chochmah – wisdom or intuition, binah –understanding, or cognition, and Da’at –knowledge, or awareness, are collectively called mochin – mind, or seichel – intellect. These generate the seven emotions: chesed – kindness, gevurah – restraint, tiferes – harmony, netzach – ambition, hod – devotion, yesod – connection and Malchut –receptiveness.
There is so much more that we could talk about this subject alone, but for the sake of brevity, lets try and tie up these concepts to tefillin and the vision of Yohanan. In Judaism it is well understood that the 4 upper sections of the ten sephiroth deal with intellect see fig 3. The lower remaining seven are the emotional component of our beings that is our feelings. Now from Fig3 we see the word Keter this is a component that is beyond the intellect that is Keter – the “crown” – deep desire. The order of the ten Sefirot is replicated through the chain of creation: Malchut of a higher reality becomes the Keter-crown of the lower one. Keter links above with below; so too, within Keter itself is a level which is drawn downward, called “arich anpin” – the “long face” – and a higher part of Keter connected upward, the final level of the higher world, that is our spirit the only part of ourselves that can communicate with the higher realm, and translates down to the lower realm.
Fig 3. Comparison between sephiroth and tefillin, the upper portion of Sephiroth represents the Shel Rosh Tefillin the intellect, whilst the lower 7 emanations represent the emotions that we commonly refer to as the heart, what drives us.
The sefirot are ten emanations, or illuminations of God's Infinite Light as it manifests in Creation. As revelations of the Creator's Will (רצון ratzon),[The Song of the Soul, Yechiel Bar-Lev, p. 73, cited on Kabbalah page] the sefirot should not be understood as ten different "gods" but as ten different channels through which the one God reveals his will.
In later Jewish literature, the ten sefirot refer either to the ten manifestations of God; the ten powers or faculties of the soul; or the ten structural forces of nature. [Ginsburgh, Rabbi Yitzchak (2006). What You Need to Know about Kabbalah. Jerusalem: Gal Einai Institute. ISBN 965-7146-119.]
Now lets put it all together and see where it leads us, the following is a direct excerpt form a source that is very concise:
The Bayit of the head Tefillin is the most distant makif – the highest, deepest desire: It is a crown above, and surrounding, the head. In cosmic terms, it represents the desire and purpose of creation, and from it a flow comes downward into the parchment; and then into the written word, the divine intelligence of Torah.
The head Bayit contains chapters of Torah which represent intellect – chochmah, binah and Da’at – teaching, instructing and guiding us how to live our personal lives and pursue our collective purpose.
On each side of the head Tefillin is the letter shin, one with three strands and one with four strands. The shin also alludes to the idea of seichel – intelligence, with the three strands representing chochmah, binah and Da’at: First, a thought comes to mind, chochmah; then with the faculty of binah we comprehend and decipher the thought; and then we use our Da’at to take the understanding we now have and implement it. Da’at affords us the ability to distinguish and make choices; it ensures that what we understand intellectually does not remain in the mind alone, but effects our emotions and informs our behavior. And since choices emerge in Da’at, Da’at itself can be subdivided into a right-side quality, chesed, and a left column, gevurah. Thus the three levels within mochin are actually four levels, and so we have the second four-pronged form of the shin, and the four divisions within the Bayit.
In cosmic terms, Keter is the ultimate desire and purpose, and mochin brings the purpose to be lived out in real time; yet it is through the lower seven emotional Sefirot that creation actually occurs. Indeed, the seven-day cycle of creation that the Torah describes directly reflects the seven Sefirot, with each day of the weekly cycle representing another sefirah.
And so it is in our own lives. Our reality is primarily “emotionally” based, and the way most people live life is reactive, reflecting their emotional responses. It is often rare to find clarity of thought, expansive thinking and openness of mind. In Kabbalistic terms, this is because Keter – resolute purpose – and the mature deliberation of mochin are “above” the world; thus our purpose – and the means to attain it – does not seem so apparent, and need to be “revealed” to us.
Thus as we reach the age of thirteen, when our minds have developed sufficiently, we put on Tefillin with the intention to draw down our purpose and the revelation of the mochin (Intelect), into our reality, through our emotions until the truth of this higher revealed reality infuses our way of being and acting.
From the Bayit – and the Torah contained within – flow the straps, first surrounding our heads, then tied in a knot the shape of a dalet – for the word Da’at, and from the reality of Da’at (albeit sometimes only in a state of poverty, dalus in Hebrew) flow the two straps: one to the right and one to the left, representing the general flow of the emotional attributes of chesed (kindness) to the right side, and gevurah (restraint) on the left; thus the right strap hangs lower then the left, for we wish to draw down more chesed than gevurah. In truth, chesed and gevurah emanate from the same “space”, the transcendental knot interweaving both these elements – rooted in the deepest place of Keter, the “black”, the level beyond comprehension which is called the space for “the light of darkness.” Nevertheless, we seek to draw chesed – kindness – into dominant revelation.
Da’at is the key to our emotions, so that they open and flow in the general direction of either right or left, giving or restraining, openness or confinement. The straps represent a flow “downward”, and though their “source” (made of leather) is the same as the parchment, the makif beyond letters and comprehension – they must be colored with the “darkness” of black dye, reflecting a descent below. They represent the highest level of Keter (the “black”) projected into the lowest and densest of vessels.
But before we can draw down this new, deeper level of Keter-mochin (Crown-Intellect), we must make sure that our own vessels are fully equipped to absorb the new flow. For if we draw down mochin and the vessels are unfitting, we will cause a shattering of the vessels. And so, before we put on the Head Tefillin, we don the Hand Tefillin.
Whereas the Bayit of the Head Tefillin is Keter (Crown), the Bayit of the Hand Tefillin represents Malchut (Kingdom). The “receiver” of the other nine Sefirot, Malchut contains them all; thus, all levels – placed in separate compartments in the Head Tefillin – are written out in one scroll and included within one container. From Malchut, we wrap the strap around our hands seven times (reflecting the seven emotional Sefirot) literally tying, linking, and fastening our emotions and our hands in complete dedication, ready to receive the deeper levels of mochin.
Certainly, there is mochin (intellect), as well at the level of the hand, the physical world; however, it is the mochin connected with our emotional state – our emotional intelligence, as it were.
For every reality contains the entire partzuf (Divine "Personae/Visages/Faces/Forms/Configurations) – the complete internal structure of the ten Sefirot, including mochin (intellect), middos (emotions) and actions. The Hand Tefillin designates the entire partzuf: First we place the Bayit, then wrap on the upper arm twice, corresponding to the three levels of intellect, then we wrap the seven times which are aligned with the seven emotions, concluding with warping the straps around the palm of our hand reflecting the world of action.
Having bound our reality, in total dedication, we can put on the Tefillin of the head and draw down a deeper, profound measure of mochin – a mochin from a world of perfect oneness and unity, ensuring a perfect alignment between our deepest level of soul, mind, emotions and actions.
The vision of Yohanan therefore is in line with our daily prayer as a Jew, we are eagerly awaiting the coming of Moshiach and the final redemption of HaShem’s people Am Yisrael. There is no secret that we await the rebuilding of the third temple, the question has always been do we start, or do we wait until it comes down from heaven. There is no simple answer to this question, and with proverbial knowledge that when you have a Jew there are at least three opinions, imagine the opinion of over 10M Jews worldwide? 30M opinions!! I’ll say yeah, we will agree one day, when Moshiach comes.
Here is one my opinions, we know that we are all responsible for adding goodness to this world, the more we add we hasten the coming of Moshiach as it is written “Zion shall be redeemed by justice and her repatriates by tzedakah ("justice" or "righteousness").” (Isaiah 1:27) “Keep justice and do tzedakah, for My salvation is near to come and My tzedakah to be revealed.” (Isaiah 56:1). Here Tzedakah refers to righteousness, righteous living, actions and thoughts.
Since the return of the Jewish people back to the land of Israel I am a firm believer that we are closer to the final redemption as it is written, “Though it is not known when the Day of Judgment will be, I do tell you that the hour you gather and assemble together you shall be redeemed, as it is said, ‘I will surely gather Jacob, all of you [i.e., when all of you are together]…’ for then immediately ‘their king shall pass before them and G‑d at the head of them.’ (Michah 2:12-13).”
The final redemption, is not a foreign subject in Judaism, and given that Yohanan was a Jew, his vision of a new Jerusalem descending onto earth with proportional dimensions like a Bayit shel Rosh, would it be a stretch to say that the Divine will reign the whole Eretz from Jerusalem with His Divine light, emanating from Jerusalem? Just as we use tefillin, to receive higher spiritual endowment from above, so too will the new temple and new Jerusalem, may be viewed as the conduit for the restoration of the whole planet, all its inhabitants via the earth wearing tefillin, food for thought I believe. Here is another dimension, when we wrap tefillin in our arm we align our emotions ready to then receive from above that which is supernatural, well the last two thousand or so years, it has been like the wrapping of arm tefillin “Shel Yad Tefillin”, the coming of the third temple along with Moshiach is the “shel Rosh Tefillin”, if Yohanan’s vision is right, then definitely this world is ripe for some supernatural revelation when He comes……..(As I said one Jew three opinions, here is one on Yohanan's vision the other two are for my consumption)
