Tefillin are a pair of black leather boxes with leather straps containing small scrolls of parchment. Written on each scroll are four passages from the Torah. Traditionally, tefillin are wrapped around one’s head and arm during morning prayers.
In some communities, only men wrap tefillin. In others, men and women can wear them. They are less commonly worn in Reform and other progressive communities.
Tefillin are worn to fulfil the commandment to bind the words of the Torah on one’s hand and between one’s eyes.
