Our Gemara on Amud Beis offers a scriptural source for the four compartments in the tefillin that rest on the head. The Torah uses the word “Totafos,” an unusual term, perhaps translated as a front piece of jewelry, though it lacks a clear etymology. Our Gemara, quoting Rabbi Akiva, sees it as a composite of two words meaning “two,” in two exotic languages. “Tat” in the language of Katfei means two, and “Pat” in the language of Afriki means two, adding up to four in total.

What meaning can we derive from the fact that such an important religious artifact is described by the Torah in obscure terminology? Generally, a different language is used for narrative purposes, such as when Lavan speaks in his native Aramaic (Bereishis 31:47), or when a term captures a nuance that cannot easily be translated (perhaps Yosef’s Egyptian name, Tzafenas Pa’aneach, which means “revealer of the hidden” (Bereishis 41:45; see Rashi)), or possibly a proper noun. In any case, Hebrew has a word for “two,” which is not complex—and for that matter, why use “two plus two” instead of simply “four”?

Likkutei Moharan (33:2) teaches that a person may think when he is involved in the secular world there is no spiritual potential to experience, but in truth, holiness can be found everywhere. This, he says, is the lesson in the Torah’s choice of foreign words.

To elaborate, the choice of such obscure languages—in contrast to the objects that are meant to induce acceptance and awareness of the commandments (as implied by Devarim 6:6–9)—emphasizes that God and holiness can be found even in the farthest places. The Torah’s use of “two plus two” instead of four might imply the need for multiplicity. To discover latent spirituality or Godliness in these foreign strata may not be straightforward. It may require combining and aggregating experiences to arrive at an awareness of spirituality.