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What Is The Reason: Tefillin |
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 Why do we have to put on tefillin everyday? (It gets very annoying) I hope that it is no more annoying than having to brush your teeth every morning!
I wonder if your question is about Tefillin as much as it is about davening – prayer. My experience has been that people who experience the benefits of davening actually love to wrap tefillin.
However, you asked about Tefillin, so that is what I will address:
Ask someone who won a Super Bowl ring whether it is annoying to wear it every day. Tefillin are your championship ring that you work in the highest levels of the King’s palace.
Astronauts on the space shuttle use sophisticated and complex equipment to call home each day. Tefillin are your even more sophisticated and complex home-calling devices.
I know that you won’t be satisfied with my answer so far. Neither would I be satisfied. However, Tefillin, as every other Mitzvah, must be understood in context of your relationship with God – mentioned in the first paragraph of Shema as an expression of love of God, like a wedding ring: “I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness, justice, kindness, and mercy. I will betroth you to Me with fidelity, and you shall know (be intimate with) God.” (Hoshea 2:21-22) We recite these verses as we wrap the Tefillin around our fingers like engagement/wedding rings.
We wrap Tefillin to remember that they direct our thoughts/emotions, (Shel Rosh, the Tefillin of the Head) and actions, (Shel Yad – the Tefillin of the Hand) as described in the second paragraph of Shema that discusses adding meaning to our thoughts and actions.
We wrap Tefillin the same way that people wear flag-pins, to remember God’s “outstretched arm,” that took us out of Egypt, and the soul He gave us that truly allows us to be free, as in the Parsha of “Kadesh li kol Bechor.”
We wrap Tefillin as ID Badges as in the Parsha of “V’haya ki,” which describes God’s choice of, and love for, each of us as individuals.
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