Parshas Vaeschanan

Parshas Vaeschanan - lots of mussar, & mitzvos & 10 commandments. Chose one important mitzva - tefillin. 

As a woman, I never knew anything about tefillin except that they were black and cost a lot of money.

I have learned that the Tefillin of the Hand have a knot that looks like a yud on one side and a strap from the other. The Tefillin shel yad are made from one piece of leather

The Tefillin of the head is made from 4 sections of one piece of leather that are pressed into a square, has a shin on its side, and straps coming from both sides of the back.

The boxes are sewn with gid - sinew of a kosher animal - in a square. The corners cannot be rounded.