Tefillin is one of the most important Mitzvot (precepts) of the Torah. It has been observed and treasured for thousands of years, right down to the present day. The Torah mentions it more than once, but most explicitly in Deut. 6:8 "You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they should be for a reminder between your eyes."
Exploring the mitzvah of tefillin offers us a chance to appreciate one of the most profound positive commandments in the Torah. Tefillin are called an אות (a sign) testifying to our mission as Jews and our eternal covenant with God. Tefillin serve to remind us of such fundamental concepts as God’s Unity, His Providence, reward and punishment, and the Exodus from Egypt. But above all, tefillin are a symbol of the unique bond that exists between God and the Jewish people.
The purpose of tefillin is to transform external information into an active awareness, to transfer knowledge from the brain to the heart and soul: “And you shall set these words on your heart and on your soul and tie them as a sign on you hand and they should be a symbol between your eyes” (Devarim 11:22). In a similar vain, we can understand the verses that are traditionally reciting while binding the tefillin straps around the hand (Hoshea 2:21-22): “I betroth you to Me forever and I betroth you to Me in righteousness… and I betroth you to Me in faithfulness and you shall know HaShem.” There is knowledge which stems from a deep connection that is likened to engagement. This deep connection to God is expressed by donning tefillin.
Tefillin and Torah
In another context, the Talmud compares tefillin to a Sefer Torah and derives the laws of the Torah scroll from the laws of tefillin (Makkot 11a). At first glance, the idea that tefillin and reading from the Torah are interchangeable seems incomprehensible. The reason these two mitzvot are considered by the Mechilta to be interchangeable is that the whole purpose of tefillin is to connect to Torah. With tefillin, however, we do not make an intellectual connection, but rather it is a physical bond. When a person ties tefillin, which represent a Torah scroll, to his body, he actualizes a direct, tangible connection to the Torah.
Tefillin straps envelop the upper-body. In accordance to Torah law, the straps, the boxes and the scrolls must all be made from animal hide. Thus, we see tefillin as an extension of man’s body, as if they were of his own skin. The connection between the tefillin and the man’s physical body demonstrates that the foundations expressed in tefillin are not external to man, but are truly inseparable from very being.Tefillin, like God’s name, are a revelation of the internal essence of man, who was created in God’s image.