Parshiyos of the Tefillin d’Rabeinu Tam owned by the grand holy Rebbe the Sar Shalom of Belz – The first Belzer Rav!
The sublime holiness of these Parshiyos is priceless. Owned by great a Rebbe the holy Sar Shalom of Belz ZY"A.
The provenance of these holy Parshiyos follow a very respectable direct line from him down to his son, grandson and great grandson.
Apart from the very sanctity of the Parashiyos in that they were used by the "Minister of the Upper and lower worlds" as the famous expression of the ‘Bnei Yissachar’ goes, they have a special importance, since it was known of the special connection between the Sar Shalom of Belz and Rabeinu Tam according to which the Parashiyos were written.
It is said that Rabbi Meir of Premishlan spoke out and said to the son-in-law of the Sar Shalom, Rabbi Yitzchak Rubin of Brody, "Your father-in-law is the soul of Rabbeinu Tam." As he told this over to his father-in-law he commented: "He is right". It’s no wonder from where he knew this since the Ta’z (Yoreh Deah siman 289) cites in the name of Mordechai the wish of ‘Rabbi Tam’ to build an Aron Kodesh in which the Sifrei Torah would be placed in a seated fashion, like the Torah scroll that was placed in the holy ark in the Beis Hamikdash. And when the tzaddik from Premishlan saw that I had built the Aron Kodesh in my synagogue in this way, he understood from this the secret of my soul."
It is also recounted in the Hassidic circles, that on one Erev Shabbas, the Sar Shalom made a mistake and replaced Rashi’s tefillin with Rabbeinu Tam, praying Shacharis whilst donning Tefilin D’Rabbeinu Tam, and he reading the ‘Sedra’ Rashi’s tefillin, the reverse of his usual custom. When he finished and took off the tefillin, one of the Chassidim whispered: I think the Rebbe replaced Rashi with Rabbeinu Tam. but then his holy face lit up, saying that Rabbeinu Tam came to him and asked him to make a blessing on his tefillin once, but he answered that he could not do anything against the Halacha, and even Rashi requested that he read the ‘Sedra’ while wearing his tefillin, and now they acted in unison so that I would fulfill their wish. (Actually, a known decision is known from the Sar Shalom that if one erred and made the Bracha on Rabbeuinu Tam’s tefillin first, then you do not repeat the Bracha again on the Tefilin D’Rrashi)
