First of all we must understand that the commandments of Tefillin, Tzitzit, and Succah, they are a set of 3 special commandments that for they alone, does the Shulchan Aruch bring the obligation to have intention, while doing the commandment. Thus one must intend with Tefillin:"that they convey the unity of the name of G-d and the exodus from Egypt, corresponding to the heart, and upon the head, corresponding to the brain, that we shall remember the miracles and wonders that he did with us, which teach us regarding his unity, and that he has the strength and sovereignty in the upper and lower realms to do in them, as fits his will; and one will subjugate one's soul which is in the brain to the Holy One Blessed be He; and also the heart which is the main desires and thoughts, and through this one will remember the Creator and reduce one's pleasures". (Shulchan Aruch, O.C 25:5 based on Rabbeinu Yona and see also Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzva 422: "that there are in these things, an acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, the unity of Hashem, and the matter of the exodus from Egypt, which necessitates the belief in the creation of the world and the supervision of Hashem in the lower realms, and they are the fundamentals of the Jewish religion"). Behold it has become clarified to us, why the commandment of Tefillin is recalled while we were still in Egypt. (In the book, Aruch Hashulchan, 25:8 he warns: "if one does not pay attention to the matter of Tefillin at all, one does not fulfill the mitzva and it is like the action of a monkey.")
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Topic: A translated excerpt of Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel's Writings on Tefillin (Read 1976 times)