Tfillin and Marriage Symbols

[debka_notion]

Just noticed this morning that not only do we recite psukim (verses) about being bethrothed to G-d while wrapping tfillin straps around our fingers, we then go on to wrap the strap around the ring where people contemporarily wear wedding rings. I wonder if there was some influence, although I very much doubt it. But it was a striking sort of coincidence.

I wonder if that affects how married Jews feel about their rings and/or about their tfillin. (Input, anyone?)

Comments

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

That finger being the ring finger, or at least identified with love, goes back to at least the 3rd century B.C.E. in Greece (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_ring#Post-wedding_customs), so it's entirely possible that there was some influence.

[shirei-shibolim.livejournal.com]

The ancient Egyptians believed that the left ring finger contained a "love vein." I don't know if this is contemporaneous with the Greek practice or not.