The Phylacteries, a poem by Rabbi Alter Abelson (1931)

Public Domain

Date: 2019-01-24

Last Updated: 2025-03-27

Categories: Tefillin

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, קמעות qame'ot (amulets)

Excerpt: The poem "The Phylacteries" (1931) by Rabbi Alter Abelson. . . .

Content:

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	The Phylacteries
	In love of lawful liberty, My head and arm I bind with glee, With holy phylacteries, to tell That slavery lost her snaky spell.
	For freedom is a heavenly creed Which all the centuries will heed. Freedom from kings and masters proud,— From tyrannies of court and crowd.—
	Behold the leathern straps and case With which my hand and arm I lace— The case contains a parchment writ With words which hearts and planets knit.
	The words are rays of Honor’s sun; God’s mandates which civilization won And which will bring, with song, the good And long-awaited brotherhood.
	And so, I deck my hand and arm With T’filin as we don a charm. With hints of God before my eyes, I rise through prayer to higher skies.
	The Bible texts tucked in within The case, are often shields from sin; Reminders they to straying man That Heaven is watching all we plan.
	The verses, which our love increase, Are amulets for human peace. As trains need rails, as birds need wings, So man needs law, a law that sings.
	Oh, Ceremonies, thoughts which live, Dynamic life to dreams you give. You are live history anew; We live what we believe through you.
	Before my bread, my God I need. My faith is life, and life my creed.

The poem “The Phylacteries” can be found in Alter Abelson’s collection of poetry, Sambatyon and other Poems, vol. 1 (New York: Ariel Publications, 1931), p. 149.

Source(s)

The Phylacteries (Alter Abelson 1931)

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

Name: Alter Abelson
Bio: Scholar, poet, and translator Alter Abelson was born in Lithuania on July 17, 1880, and grew up in Manhattan, where he studied John Keats, John Milton, William Shakespeare, and Percy Shelley. In 1903 he received his Master of Hebrew Literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary and in 1920 received a law degree from the New Jersey Law School (now Rutgers). Abelson, who served as a rabbi in synagogues in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, also served as a chaplain for the New York Board of Rabbis from 1947 to his retirement in 1960. Abelson authored four poetry collections, Helen and Shulamith (Whittier Books, 1959), Songs of Labor (Paebar Co. Publishers, 1947), Sonnets of Motherhood (1938), and Sambatyon and Other Poems (The Ariel Publications, 1931), and translated work by the Hebrew poets Judah Halevi and Chaim Nachman Bialik. He died in 1964.
Website: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/alter-abelson
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/alter-abelson

Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
Website: https://aharon.varady.net
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

Featured Image:

Title: A pair of tefillin (Chesdovi, CC0)
Caption: "A pair of tefillin (Chesdovi, CC0)