Q:
You said that the word leiv in lashon kodesh means thought, the mind. But if that’s so why is it that we put the tefillin shel yad facing our heart and in the l’shem yichud we say that we’re putting it k’neged the leiv?
A:
In lashon kodesh the word leiv is machshava, thought.
Now, why that is I explained at length once. Briefly; when you’re excited over a thought, your heart beats faster. It’s not merely having an idea in your head. Ideas in the head are worthless. It’s the excitement over the idea that is important. If you’re really excited about something, it’s pit-pat, pit-pat, pit-pat (the Rav zatzal put his hand on his heart). That’s what counts.
Many people say noble ideas, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just words, min hasafah lechutz. They don’t think what they’re saying. But suppose you’re saying something that makes you excited, then your heart says pit-pat and you can feel it. Put your hand here; you’ll feel it.
And so the foundation of thinking, of intellect, is symbolized by the excitement that is expressed by the heart.
October 1996
