Mivtza Tefillin: Part 1

00:01 It was fifty-five years ago in the year 5727, 1967, when the Rebbe initiated a new mivtza which marked the f- the first of the ten-point Mitzvah campaign. The occasion, the highly tense situation in spring 1967 when the Egyptian army parked their tanks at the southern tip of Eretz Yisrael, threatening to annihilate all the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael, God forbid. This event brought about the Six Day War on the twenty-sixth of Iyar, and eventually most of the countries bordering with Eretz Yisrael joined in against Eretz Yisrael. It was during the farbrengen two days earlier, on the twenty-fourth of Iyar, Shabbos Parshat Bamidbar preceding the war, that the Rebbe initiated Mivtza Tefillin. We thus begin a brief series on Mivtza Tefillin. First, an introduction, how the Rebbe would introduce a new mivtza, a new Mitzvah campaign, and then Mivtza Tefillin. The Rebbe established the ten-point Mitzvah campaign, or mivtza'yim, in the course of the nine years from 1967 to 1976. The Rebbe structured each new Mitzvah campaign by initially discussing its background in his sichas. In the course of the first few weeks after initiating a campaign, the Rebbe would cite the s- sources for it and thus answer many of the questions, including the background, the halachic implications, and sources that had been raised regarding this new mivtza. The Rebbe would introduce and initiate every Mitzvah campaign in its designated and appropriate time. This means that a Mitzvah campaign reflected the needs of Am Yisrael for that period of time and acted as a special nourishment

02:22 for their spiritual and physical status. This concept was expressed in the behavior as we find the first leader of the Jewish nation, Moshe Rabbeinu, during the time that he was a shepherd. He would feed the sheep and goats according to a particular time schedule, bearing in mind the specific needs of each animal. Mivtza Tefillin had an interesting background in its own right. The events in the Middle East, which occurred prior to the initiation of Mivtza Tefillin, sparked the creation of this campaign. It was after Pesach, 5727, 1967, that the armies of the countries around Eretz Yisrael mobilized on the borders of Eretz Yisrael. These were bolstered by additional Arab armies from distant countries united in the intention to annihilate Eretz Yisrael, Yidden everywhere reacted with fear. People in the United States and elsewhere made plans for their relatives to return back home. Many governments relayed instructions through their consulates for their citizens to leave Eretz Yisrael. This was a dangerous period of time for the three million Yidden in Eretz Yisrael. The entire Am Yisrael was in a state of turmoil. Every Yid felt connected to the unfolding events and one with the Yidden in Eretz Yisrael, just as a limb is part of a body. In those weeks of an- anxiety, when Am Yisrael's fate seemed to hang in the balance, a lone call, loud and strong, came from Brooklyn. The Rebbe came out with a proclamation to Am Yisrael as a whole to stand strong, to have trust in Hashem, and that miracles

04:33 would be happening. In one of the telegrams that the Rebbe sent to Yidden in Eretz Yisrael, he wrote, "They merited and find themselves amongst tens of thousands of Yidden in Eretz HaKodesh, Holy Land, where the eyes of Hashem are focusing on a steady basis. And surely, without any doubt, the Shemirat Yisrael, the guardian of Eretz Yisrael, of Am Yisrael, does not drowse or sleep. Hashem, who is on your right side, will protect them and all the Yidden for now and forever." Unquote. The Rebbe continued to send additional messages of strength and encouragement to Hasidim in Eretz Yisrael, requesting that they be publicized all over, uh, over Eretz Yisrael. The media in Eretz Yisrael broadcast the Rebbe's message, as did Hasidim all over the world. The Rebbe's encouragement uplifted Yidden in Eretz Yisrael and elsewhere, giving them hope and strength to cope with the situation. In those anxious weeks, a father asked the Rebbe if his son, who was studying in Chabad, should return back home to the United States. This was a question which many parents were asking. The Rebbe responded, "I will first say it in Hebrew, and then translate it in English." Everything which needs to be done for the situation Hashem is doing, and it is worthwhile to rely on him. On many occasions, the Rebbe taught that in order for a blessing to have a positive effect, there needs to be an act or deed on the part of the person receiving the blessing. The deed is the channel through which

06:30 the blessing is drawn down and solidified in the physical world. The Rebbe chose the mitzvah of trion to be the physical act that would ensure the victory for the Yidden over their opposers. Thus, the first official mitzvah campaign was formed. The Shabbos prior to the outbreak of the Six-Day War, the Rebbe initiated the trion campaign. Everyone was to go out and see to it that as many Yidden as possible put on trion. The Rebbe added, in the present situation, trion has a great skulah, a special skulah significance in strengthening the Am Yisrael. The Pasuk mentions, the nations of earth will see the name of Hashem inscribed on you and they will fear you. The Talmud comments that this alludes to the trion that are placed on the head, as in the expression of the Gemara, eilut trion sheberosh, as the Gemara states it in the tractate of Brachos. In the course of this campaign, the Rebbe quoted from the Talmud, one who puts on trion will have long years of life. The Rebbe's words were publicized worldwide. The Bavitz Chassidim in Eretz Yisrael and in many other countries mobilized themselves, putting on trion with thousands of Yidden who did not regularly do so. For many, this was the first time in their lives that they had ever put on trion. The mitzvot shall continue in the next installment.