Ever since I put on Tefillin at bar mitzvah age, I have wondered how strange they were. What other people in the world wear boxes on their heads? I certainly would not expect such behaviour from someone educated and refined in the 21st Century.
Except we, Jewish children, grew up with Tefillin. Everyone in our society, everyone in our world wore Tefillin. So the sense of the “queer” was a private thought, never expressed and never analyzed.
Wittgenstein, the famous philosopher who taught at Cambridge University, often spoke of the Sense of the Queer. He spoke to his students of the importance of having this Sense of the Queer. Wittgenstein was exploring language and thought and how we use words. Therefore he wanted to impart to his students that psychological stance required to investigate words and ordinary language. We are so familiar with the words we speak – that in order to analyze language structure and idioms, we must stand back and develop a Sense of the Queer to see the familiar object before our eyes in a new light and from a new perspective.
For those who have always had this sense of the queer for Tefillin , check out my essay on Historical Origins which I believe will bring immense satisfaction and new found confidence in the importance of Tefillin.
gparkoff