2. Greater Responsibilities: Fears and Quests (Fragment)

Bar Mitzvah

The age thirteen, at which time a Jewish boy becomes, according to tradition, a son of the Commandments, was a great milestone in Leon’s life, for at this age he entered upon his religious duties and responsibilities. Circumcision, to which each Jewish boy is subjected on the eighth day after his birth, grants him only the privilege to be included in the Abrahamic Covenant, which God made with the Patriarch long before the giving of the Law. Since the responsibilities in regard to God’s commandments are very important, it is natural that Leon had to undergo a special course of instruction to be able to acknowledge the authority of the Holy Torah with a personal conviction. The age of thirteen, set by rabbis as the age of spiritual maturity, corresponds with the number of articles (13) in the religious creed, which was beautifully expressed by Daniel ben Judah, a poet of Rome, in his poem “Yagdal.” It also received a number of musical settings and became one of the noblest hymns in the liturgy of the synagogue.

As a “Bar Mitzvah,” Leon received the phylacteries (tefillin), to put on each weekday morning for prayer, symbolizing tangibly the fact that he was bound to the Law. Becoming a member of the synagogue, he was then included in public congregational worship by joining the “Minyan,” at which not less than ten men had to be present, the number ten being necessary, the rabbis say, because of God’s promise to Abraham when he pleaded for Sodom to be saved if there were to be found ten just persons (Gen. 18:32). For this purpose the Jewish congregations support ten elderly men always to be present in their synagogues.

Nothing is said in the Bible about phylacteries, but the rabbis stressed vainly the letter of Deut. 6:8, which they interpreted in their own way. There it is recorded: “Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and it shall be as frontlets between thine eyes,” which means to keep God’s Law in mind constantly, and to act accordingly.

To implement this, the rabbis invented two little boxes from two to four inches square, made from the hide of a clean animal. There were four divisions in each, wherein were placed four passages of Scripture: Deut. 6:4‑7 and 11:15‑21, Ex. 15:2‑10 and 11:16. Another respected rabbi, Jacob ben Meir (Tam), suggested a reverse order of these passages — therefore rabbinical Jews put on both.

These Scriptures are written on parchment by a sofer (scribe) and hidden inside so that the average Jew does not even know their contents. The phylacteries are fastened by means of leather straps, one to the forehead and one on the upper left arm near the heart. The one for the forehead has the first letter of “Shaddai” — God the Almighty — embossed upon it in one Hebrew character — “Shin.” The knot of the “Retsuah” straps which fastens the phylacteries is made in the shape of the two other letters of the same divine attribute. The strap being wound around the left arm seven times symbolizes the words in Deut. 4:4: “But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day,” according to the Hebrew text. With the same “Retsuah” the third finger is wound three times, and each time the words are chanted”: I will betroth thee unto Me forever. I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness and judgment and in loving kindness. I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness and thou shall know the Lord” (Hosea 2:19).

As “Bar Mitzvah,” Leon was summoned to read the Torah on the first Sabbath, which is considered a great honor. At the beginning of the reading he pronounced the following benediction: “Blessed art Thou, our God, Who has chosen us out from all other nations, and Who has given us His Commandments. Blessed art Thou, our God, the Giver of the Torah” After finishing the reading, he said, “Blessed art Thou, Jehovah, our God, Who has given us the true Torah, and planted among us the everlasting life.”

With these privileges as a “Bar Mitzvah,” Leon fully realized the solemnity of his responsibility before God and his nation. The sins for which his father had been responsible, were now on his own account. It made a lasting impression on Leon when his father pronounced before the unrolled Torah: “I thank Thee, God, that Thou hast released me from the responsibility for the sins of this, my son.”