Does God have a tallit and tefillin….?
Ask the rabbi…
Rabbi Raymond Apple
COMMON LAW UNIONS
Q. Does Jewish law recognise common law unions?
A. Jewish law believes in marriage. The Torah says, “A man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife so that they become one person” (Gen. 2:24).
According to rabbinic interpretation (Mishnah Kiddushin), there are three ways to create a marriage – giving the woman an object of value (“kesef”), giving her a document (“sh’tar”) and cohabiting with her (“bi’ah”).
All three require legal formalities. The long-established practice is the first, “kiddushei kesef”.
While cohabitation was originally acceptable and is not prohibited by the Torah (Nachmanides’ explanation of Maimonides’ Sefer HaMitzvot, Commandment 470), the rabbis frowned on it.
Not only did they say that legally wedded wives have “kiddushin” and “k’tubah” whilst concubines have neither, but they argued that living with a man without marriage encourages licentiousness.
The verse, “when a man takes a wife” (Deut. 24:1) is interpreted as meaning that a couple who wish to be man and wife should proceed by means of legally sanctioned marriage.
All this applies to a woman who was previously unmarried; a married woman is forbidden to live with or have sexual relations with any other man than her husband. There are additional considerations in the case of a couple who have a civil marriage ceremony.
On the whole subject, I recommend M Elon, “The Principles of Jewish Law” (material from the Encyclopedia Judaica), 1974, cols. 371-6.
GOD’S TEFILLIN
Q. Can you explain the rabbinic idea that God has tallit and tefillin and acts as a chazan?
A. They are beautiful metaphors but not to be taken literally. After all, since God has no physical form, how can He put on tallit and tefillin?
The reference to God’s tallit comes from a Talmudic passage attributed to Rabbi Yochanan where he depicts God wearing a tallit like a chazan and showing Moses the order of the prayers (Rosh HaShanah 17b). He says that whenever Israel sin, they should pray with similar fervour, reciting the 13 Divine Attributes (Ex. 34:6-7).
The notion of God wearing tefillin (Ber. 6a) is probably intended as an implied rebuke to people in the time of the Talmud who were lax about the mitzvah of tefillin. The argument was, if God Himself wears tefillin, surely you can too!
Just as human tefillin contain the Shema, which affirms the uniqueness of the Almighty, so His tefillin acclaim the uniqueness of Israel by means of the verse, “Who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on the earth?” (I Chron. 17:21).
REPEATING THE AMIDAH
Q. Why do we repeat the Amidah? Surely it is enough to say it once?
A. The Amidah is the central prayer of every service.
Its opening and closing sections are standard; the intermediate b’rachot vary according to whether it is a weekday, Shabbat or festival.
It is always said silently by the individual, but if a minyan is present it is repeated by the officiant (except at Ma’ariv, which was not originally obligatory).
Explanations of the repetition include:
1. The silent Amidah is the private prayer of the individual; the repetition is the community’s prayer.
2. An individual may lack fluency in prayer or Hebrew or both. The repetition is “l’hotzi et mi sh’eino baki” – “to fulfil the obligation for a person who is not adept”.
