תְּפִלִּין

Through the straps of the tefillin, one guards the faith so that the external forces do not draw from it. And through this, his mind and soul are protected, and he receives new intellect and a new soul from the light of the face (35, 9).

Every person must examine himself at all times to see if he is attached to G-d, blessed be He. And the sign of attachment is tefillin (38, 1).

The main sanctity of the tefillin is merited through the sanctity of speech and its rectification, and the rectification of speech is through studying Torah even in poverty and distress. And in all kinds of darkness, troubles, and afflictions, may the Merciful One save us, that pass over a person, when he strengthens himself then to engage in Torah, through this he elevates and rectifies speech. And through this, he merits to speak between himself and his Creator with the flame of might, and to pour out his converse before G-d with great warmth, to speak words of truth from the heart with the warmth of the heart. And he sees his lowliness and the greatness of the Creator, until a great shame enters him for the magnitude of his sins against the great and sovereign root and source of all worlds, until he merits that the shame is revealed on his face. And then he merits the light of the tefillin, which is the aspect of attachment to G-d, blessed be He. Fortunate is the one who merits this [see Speech, section 7, and Shame, section 2] (ibid., 2, 4, 5).

Tefillin are the aspect of the illumination of the face and the main glory of Israel. And they are the aspect of life, the aspect of truth, and from there comes the main wealth and all good influences. And when one damages the tefillin, G-d forbid, poverty, disgrace, and shame come, and his life hangs in the balance, may the Merciful One save us (47).

Through tefillin, one draws upon himself the remembrance to always remember the World to Come, that is, to increase his knowledge every day to understand the hints that G-d, blessed be He, hints to a person every day to draw close to Him [see Remembrance, sections 4, 5, and Knowledge, section 36] (54, 3).

To the extent that one strengthens himself to break lustful thoughts, so too does he merit the sanctity of the tefillin. For the main rectification of the tefillin is drawn through the G-d-fearing and upright, who are called the shields of the earth, because upon them the lustful thoughts intensify exceedingly. And they strengthen themselves against these thoughts, which can lead to the wasting of seed, G-d forbid, which is the aspect of one who seals his flesh, the aspect of the seal of the husk. And they strengthen themselves against them and flee from them with great detachment. And they elevate from the aspect of the seal of the husk to the aspect of the seal of holiness, which is the aspect of tefillin, the sparkling of the intellect, to know and make known His Divinity, blessed be He, in the world. Through this, the illumination of the seven shepherds is drawn upon him, which correspond to the seven heads of the two shins in the tefillin. It follows that through the holy tefillin, one must draw upon himself the sparkling of the intellect, as mentioned above. Also, through the tefillin, one must draw upon himself the rectification of the contraction of the intellect, so that the intellect does not go beyond its boundary. And even in holiness and in the sparkling of His Divinity, blessed be He, it should not go beyond the boundary, G-d forbid, so as not to come to destruction, G-d forbid (Part II, 5, 7).