Two business partners went to a cemetery before Rosh HaShanah,[1] to pray at the tomb of a competitor. They couldn’t find his grave. “Maybe,” said one, “he put it in his wife’s name.”

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Ki Savo: The Name of G-d is Upon You

Then all the nations of the earth will see that the Name of God is upon you, and they will fear you.[2]

 The Talmud [3] says that this verse refers to the tefillin sheberosh, the head tefillin. Rabbeinu Bachaya explains that “the Name of G-d” refers to the letter Shin that is found on either side of the head tefillin.

THE NAME ‘SHIN’
Why does Rabbeinu Bachaya say the Shin refers to the name of G-d? He explains this association through a Talmudic system of interpretation called ATBASH.[4] In ATBASH we rearrange the order of the Hebrew alphabet, for example, we substitute the first letter, Alef, with the last letter, Tav. Then we substitute the second letter, Beis, with the second-to-last letter, Shin, and so on through the whole alphabet. The letters of any word may be changed to the ATBASH letters that correspond to their places in the alphabet.[5] Here’s how to apply the ATBASH alphabet to the Name of G-d, which is normally spelled Yud and Hei and Vav and Hei: we replace the Yud with a Mem, the Hei with a Tzadik, the Vav with a Peh, and the Hei with a Tzadik. Mem-Tzadik-Peh-Tzadik has a gematria of 300, and this is the numerical value of the letter Shin. This is one way that ‘Shin’ represents the name of G-d.

The Baal HaTurim has another approach: the first letters of the words in the phrase ‘the name of G-d will be proclaimed’–“sheim YKVK nikra“–are an acronym of the word Shin.[6]

FEAR-INSPIRING SHIN
What does it mean that ‘the nations of the world will see the name of G-d upon you and they will fear you’? Why should the name of G-d make people fear us? Also, what does this have to do with tefillin?

Rashi says [7] that “the name of G-d” refers specifically to the knot of the tefillin at the back of the head. What is unique about this knot? The Zohar [8] explains that in order not to forget to do an important task, we should make a knot in something we’re wearing. When we see the knot, it will remind us to act. The knot we wear on our head tefillin reminds us of our constant connection with G-d, the One who redeemed us and brought us out of Egypt. We are reminded of our important task–to act in ways that bring the miracle of Redemption into the world.

The word for knot in Hebrew is kesher (Kuf-Shin-Reish). Toras Levi Yitzchak [9] explains that the spelling of kesher shows that the letter Shin (=300) unites the Kuf (=100) and Reish (=200) on either side. In other words, the letter Shin on the head tefillin is itself the “knot” that unites the Jew and G-d.

Furthermore, there are two Shins–one on the left and the other on the right. One is three-pronged, the other four-pronged. The three-pronged Shin represents the letters of Torah as they are written in the Torah scroll.[10] The four-pronged Shin represents letters of Torah as they are engraved in the Luchos, the stone tablets.[11] In the Torah scroll, the letters are ink on parchment. On the Luchos, the letters are engraved in stone. Ink can be erased, but engraving cannot. A Jew’s connection with G-d is engraved in the ‘mind’ of G-d and reciprocated in the mind of the Jew.

When the nations see the four-pronged Shin and the knot on our head tefillin–when they sense our inseparable bond with G-d–they will realize that G-d fights our battles. They will be afraid to harm us in any way.[12]

ROSH HASHANAH
The day of Rosh HaShanah is just around the corner. What does our verse teach us about how to approach this awe-inspiring day?

The Mishnah states that there are actually several different ‘Rosh HaShanahs’ within each year. One sage says there are three, and one says there are four.[13] This reminds us of the three- and four-pronged Shins on the tefillin shel rosh.

Rosh HaShanah is a time when we coronate G-d as King over the universe. In the Talmud, G-d says, “Speak before Me words of ‘Kingship’, in order that I should become King over you.” On Rosh HaShanah, we verbally express our desire that G-d should be our King. On any day, however, a Jew can ‘coronate’ G-d by accepting the yoke of His will. This is the theme of the tefillin which we place on our head, over our brain, and on our arm near our heart. By wearing tefillin, we demonstrate that our mind and heart are subservient to G-d’s will. In as much as we accept his will, He is our King. In as much as He is our King, He will protect each of us from any spiritual or physical enemy.

A STORY
The Alter Rebbe was being interrogated during his imprisonment. For some reason, the interrogation officers brought him his tallis and tefillin. The Alter Rebbe put them on, and as he set the tefillin in its correct place on his head, great dread overtook the officers.

Later, the Alter Rebbe said that this was a fulfillment of the Talmudic teaching, ‘The verse, “All the nations shall see that G-d’s name is upon you, and they shall fear you,” refers to the head tefillin.’ Some of the Chassidim were not entirely satisfied with this explanation, “Why doesn’t this always work? Why don’t we see a similar effect when other people wear tefillin?”

The Rebbe replied, “When the Talmud says, ‘…refers to the head tefillin‘, it doesn’t say “tefillin sh’al Harosh“, ‘tefillin on the head’, but “tefillin sheberosh“, ‘tefillin in the head’.[14]

ACTION: Every day each of us, men women and children, can receive the Kingship of G-d upon ourselves in a powerful way. Tomorrow morning as soon as you wake up, put your hands together, bow your head, and recite this prayer: Modeh ani l’fonecha, Melech Chai v’Kayam, shehechezarta bi-nishmati v’chemlah. Rabbah emunasechah.(I offer thanks to You, Living and Enduring King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me. Your faithfulness is great.)

FOOTNOTES
[1] Before Rosh HaShanah we have a custom of visiting the graves of our beloved departed, and especially tzaddikim, holy people who can intervene on our behalf for a happy healthy sweet New Year.
[2] Deuteronomy, 28:10
[3] B’rachos, 6a
[4] Talmud, Shabbos, 104a
[5] For example, the word rebbe, ‘Reish-Beis-Yud’, would be spelled ‘Gimmel-Shin-Mem’, geshem, meaning ‘rain’, or ‘a downpour of material blessings’.
[6] Why is there a Shin in the tefillin? On a practical level, the gematria of Shin, 300, tells us that tefillin are worn 300 days a year. The remaining sixty-five days of the year are Shabbos and Yom Tov, when we do not wear tefillin.
[7] See Rashi on Exodus, 33:19 and 33:23. See also Likutei Sichos, Vol. 21, Parshas KiSisa, 3.
[8] Parshas KiSisa, p. 190a. See also Talmud, Brachos, 45a
[9] P. 219. See also Sefer HaSichos 5750, p. 669.
[10] See Letters of Light on the Letter Shin.
[11] When a three-pronged Shin is engraved into stone, the negative space around the engraving forms the shape of an upside-down four-pronged Shin. See also the story in Iturei Torah, on our Torah passage.
[12] This is also the literal translation of tefillin:”tipol“, ‘befall’, as in the verse (Exodus, 15:16), “May fear and terror befall them.” See Toras Levi Yitzchak, p. 119.
[13] Talmud, Rosh HaShanah, 2a. In Rosh Hashana 7b, according to Rebbi (Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi), there are five Rosh HaShanahs. Chabad Chassidus interprets the fifth Rosh HaShanah as being the nineteenth of the month Kislev, also called ‘the Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus’. On this day, Chassidus was renewed, as the Alter Rebbe was released from his imprisonment by the ‘enemies’ of Jewish mysticism. See Letters of Light, on the Letter Shin.
[14] The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that the Alter Rebbe opened a conduit, enabling even simple people to cause the nations to fear us. This includes merely wearing our tefillin–even when we have no particular intention. Sichos Kodesh, 5729.