Tefillin, or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are worn by adult Jews during weekday and Sunday morning prayers. In Orthodox and traditional communities, they are worn solely by men, while some Reform and Conservative (Masorti) communities allow them to be worn by any gender. In Jewish law (halacha), women are exempt from most time-dependent positive commandments, which include tefillin.
A set of tefillin includes the arm-tefillah (left) and the head-tefillah
Man wearing arm- and head-tefillin
Ashkenazi head tefillin, Jerusalem, Israel
Leather moulded into shape for the head-tefillin
The Torah is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses by Christians. It is also known as the Written Torah in Rabbinical Jewish tradition. If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll. If in bound book form, it is called Chumash, and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries.
An opened Torah scroll (Book of Genesis part).
Reading pointers, or yad, to ensure more ordinal reading of the Torah.
An opened Torah scroll (Book of Numbers part), and a reading pointer (yad).
The supplementary hypothesis, one potential successor to the documentary hypothesis.
