Not just another contemporary Jewish problem a historical discussion of phylacteries

Abstract

"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hands and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. "1 Maimonides writes that contained in these words of the Torah are the injunctions to wear the phylactery of the head and the phylactery of the arm.2 It would appear however, that as early as the Talmudic period, these precepts were the victims of circumstances which led to their incomplete or inferior performance by some portion of the Jewish population. The difficulties which prevented the complete fulfillment of these commandments by all were enlarged in the Gaonic period as well as in the time of the Rishonim. It is clearly not the author's purpose to cast aspersions on, or to judge the actions of the Jews of a particular period.3 Rather, the author wishes to present and analyze, from a historical viewpoint, a spectrum of sources that deal with this topic, in order to shed light on the intriguing circumstances and problems that surrounded the performance of these injunctions.3*