Who among us would not identify a man wearing Talis and Tefillin as a Jew? They are the outward, external, visible from a distance, marks of a Jew. He is recognized by the world. To our great sorrow, he was recognized by the Nazis as seen in so many famous photographs.
Of course their are internal identifying features in Tefillin, hidden from the world but known to the entire literate Jewish world. And in the Techelet of the Tzitzit are hidden secrets connecting Jew with G-d. So we have externals and we have internals. Both must be recognized and understood in order to understand what it is to be a Jew.
It is true that many, very eminent people, feel their Jewish identity and want to express it without Tallis and Tefillin. They have this very strong feeling that all Jews are Areivim, Guarantors, one to the other. They are not trained from childhood to wear Talis and Tefillin so it is unnatural to them. Talis and Tefillin have to be learned, by doing, and preferably from Bar Mitzvah age.
Now you can understand the incredibly strict rules governing the writing of a Sefer Torah and Tefillin parchments. The rules of the Torah itself and the Rabbinical gezerot (decrees) protect the Torah. They internally generate the identifying features of the Jew for all eternity, The historical context of our origins, locked behind the Iron Curtain of Egypt, the Kur Barzel, serves to highlight the critical importance of Talis and Tefillin and focus us on a Central Unifying Theme. Consequently, the loss of Torah knowlege, the absence of Jewish Learning since the Enlightenment served to distance the Jew from himself.
Yes, we say that giving Charity is a hallmark of the Jewish People. They are Gomlei Chasidim (bestowing loving-kindness on others), and modest in their deportment and dress, according to David HaMelech. But we do not say Brachot over these qualities of behaviour. We do not say “Who has commanded us” because the requirements of decent behaviour are incumbent upon all people. But it was the Jewish People who embedded these qualities par excellence, in their daily lives and communal organization.
A great deal has been lost to the Enlightenment and the Haskala. But the evidence is that the Jewish People as a whole will return to their true identity and take up their responsibility to observe the Outward Identifying Features of Jewish Living : Talis, Tefilin, Kashrut, Taharat HaMishpacha, and Brit Mila.
Click here for THE REASON FOR THE MITZVOT part one
