Why Is It Important to Hashem That We Wear Tefillin?

Yaron asks: "Hello. I have a non-religious friend who asked me about the purpose of the mitzvot. Judaism teaches us to avoid transgressions and follow the mitzvot as they are Hashem's will, for which we receive reward and punishment. My friend asked: Why does it matter to the Creator, who exists beyond time and matter, if I tear toilet paper on Shabbat or bind tefillin made of leather? I believe it is the will of Hashem, but I would like to know how to explain this logically."

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Hello and blessings Yaron, and thank you for your question.

You can answer your friend in two ways: one addresses the laws of creation (Hashem's will), and the second the unique connection between the soul and its Creator (the human). In this article, we will address the first answer, with Hashem's help.

You should provide the 'beginning philosopher' with a powerful answer: If the Creator had no will, then there would be no creation, no world, and no creatures. The entire world, every second we live, is proof of an active divine will; without it, everything would be chaos and nothingness.

The will of Hashem is to bestow goodness, akin to the sun's desire to shine.

Were there no purpose for creation, the Creator would not 'bother' creating such a complex material world with thoughtful and reflective human beings, possessing high spiritual souls who choose between good and evil: "The Creator of the heavens is God, who fashioned the earth and made it, He established it; He did not create it an empty wasteland but formed it to be inhabited" (Isaiah 45:18). The design is evidence of divine intention and will that we must learn to fulfill our purpose.

Moreover, the fact that Hashem exists beyond matter and time does not distance Him from us. On the contrary, because He is infinite and eternal, He is everywhere! His will must reach the smallest of creations without division or boundary.

Only a being limited by space and time might consider a large star more important than a small creature, but the infinite Creator is equally present everywhere and at all times. In His eyes, there is no difference between small and great, precisely because He is infinite.

He has intention and will even in the slightest movement of a single atom, much more so in a thinking human capable of directing thoughts, speech, and actions towards Him.

We can compare it to a scientific analogy: the law of gravity (gravitational force) is known to work throughout the entire universe, affecting the largest galaxies and massive stars, yet simultaneously impacts even a tiny ant in our world. In a similar manner, but in a different way, the divine will reaches all creations at any level they may be.

Man is more important than a galaxy and a planet not because of his size, but because he has consciousness, a spiritual soul, capable of attaining knowledge about its Creator and fulfilling the will of the highest consciousness of all - Hashem. We have 'communication' with the Creator of reality because He has placed within us the spiritual tools to achieve His will.

The Torah serves as the manufacturer's instructions given by the Creator to humanity, which is the only creature in the universe given the choice between good and evil.

If your friend struggles with the idea of laws, you can remind him that 'instructions from the manufacturer' exist in nature as well, created by Hashem:

For example, a person who overeats without exercising will not be healthy; a person who puts his hand in fire will get burned; a person who does not build a railing on a roof is likely to fall and injure himself.

A person might say: "Do the laws of biology care if I am thin or fat? Does gravity care if a small person like me constructs a railing on the roof to 'punish' me with a fall?"

The answer is that there are instructions from the manufacturer according to which the world was created, and reward and punishment come to a person from their actions, measure for measure. Just as there are physical laws, there are moral laws affecting our good and bad actions. A person's transgression is what returns to harm and trouble him.

Our sages said: "One who performs a mitzvah acquires a single advocate, and one who commits a transgression acquires a single accuser" (Pirkei Avot 4:11), "For the wicked, their evil inclination judges them, for the righteous, their good inclination judges them, for the average, both judge them" (Berachot 61b).

The afflictions in this world and the next are not acts of revenge, heaven forbid, but are more like a 'surgery' intended to repair defects and flaws created by a person in his soul. Gehenna is compared to a washing machine washing a soiled garment; the wise strive not to soil their shirt, so they won’t require much washing. Severe transgressions are like uncommon stains that require chemical cleaning.

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Just as in this world every patient wants to heal from his illness, willing to pay for his treatment, and even thanks the doctor who operates and 'hurts' him, so too every soul thanks its Creator in the next world for the suffering, understanding their purpose to benefit and correct it. Our sages said: "The world to come is not like this world: in this world, one blesses for good tidings 'Blessed is the good and beneficent' and for bad tidings 'Blessed is the true Judge.' In the world to come, he entirely says: 'the good and beneficent'" (Pesachim 50a).

The purpose of the Torah is to guide us toward a good and complete life in this world and, of course, eternal life in the world to come: "to keep the commandments of Hashem and His statutes, which I command you today, for your good" (Deuteronomy 10:13).

How Do We Prove the Importance of Our Deeds Before Hashem?

In the first part of this article, we dealt with the laws of creation — divine will. We learned that Hashem instilled a lawfulness in creation that applies to all creatures, and thus handed down the manufacturer's instructions to benefit us. Just as one must avoid fire and know how to use it to cook without getting burned, so must a person learn to avoid transgressions and learn how to direct his drives positively to benefit himself: "to keep the commandments of Hashem and His statutes, which I command you today, for your good" (Deuteronomy 10:13).

Now we will learn why even small actions have significance in the hands of a conscious being.

The Creator granted man intellectual power not given to any other creature in His world, which makes him the crown of creation, ruling over all living things: "Fill the earth and conquer it, and rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every living thing that creeps on the earth" (Genesis 1:28).

Man is created in the image of Hashem, and therefore has the capability to recognize his Creator. The very fact that you have intellectual consciousness indicates that your soul is connected at every moment to the supreme consciousness of all reality — Hashem.

Paper, leather, even your physical body — all the things you see around you — are only material. Your body is no more than an outer shell for your soul. It's clear that Hashem doesn't consider the paper, the temporary matter, but rather your spiritual soul. Every action of a conscious being has significance, as the soul is capable of choosing between good and evil, thereby connecting with its Creator through its actions.

Your consciousness can direct towards Hashem in all desires, in speech, thought, and action. Cutting paper is just another expression of your consciousness within reality, bringing your desire into reality in a way that indicates whether you wish to draw nearer to Hashem or, God forbid, to distance yourself from Him.

We are commanded to correct all our actions before Shabbat and not to perform creative labors during the holy day to Hashem, to connect our consciousness with the belief in creation of the world, and to receive from His holiness: "You shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you" (Exodus 31:13). When we refrain even from light labor such as tearing paper on Shabbat, our consciousness connects to the divine will, which rested from all labor at the end of creation. This is how the soul emulates its Creator and participates in the act of creation.

It's understandable that every action can seem meaningless if one removes the underlying intentions: stealing is merely transferring a material object from one place to another. Murder is nothing more than transferring one group of atoms (a sharp piece of metal) into another group of atoms (a biological body). Yet actions have great significance beneath their exterior facade, and even small actions can have a major impact on our lives.

Surgeons need to wash their hands thoroughly, being aware of the reality in which a tiny virus can kill a person. The importance of details is evident in technology as well: programmers, for example, know very well that even a tiny error in a single line of code can ruin an entire software execution. Woe to the senior worker in a nuclear reactor who makes mistakes or ignores the control panel. All these are analogies illustrating the great lesson. The human reality, as we know, is more complex than any computer software, so the Torah of Hashem is wider than the sea.

We know the purpose of creation because Hashem revealed Himself before all our people at Mount Sinai and disclosed the laws of creation — 613 mitzvot, which determine the level of our closeness or distance from Hashem.

Our sages said: "Why does it matter to Hashem whether one slaughters from the neck or from the nape? Surely, the mitzvot were given only to refine the creatures, as it is said (Proverbs 30:5): 'Every word of Hashem is pure,' and the Ramban explains: "This matter decreed by the teacher concerning mitzvot which have a reason is very clear, for in each of them there is reason and benefit and correction for man, aside from their reward from the mitzvah given by the blessed one" (Deuteronomy 22:6).

The mitzvot are the will of Hashem, each containing a purpose in creation and a spiritual correction for the soul. The circumcision, for instance, is beneficial for medical reasons (body), serves as a sign-remembrance in the flesh, leaving a strong impression on our people for generations (soul), and even more so sanctifies the Jewish soul before its Creator (spirit).

The *tefillin* are a sign on the hand opposite the heart and the forehead opposite the thought, acting upon the two main powers in man. They contain passages from the holy Torah, as a reminder of the unity of Hashem and the Exodus from Egypt, and their binding represents the subjugation of the evil inclination — in such a way that the person's consciousness is tied to its Creator in prayer: "The sanctity of tefillin is great, for as long as the tefillin are on a person's head and on his arm, he is humble and God-fearing, and does not drift into laughter or idle conversation, and he does not harbor bad thoughts, but rather directs his heart towards words of truth and justice" (Hilchot Tefillin, Chapter 4). The woman does not require the mitzvah of tefillin because by nature her heart is soft and submissive to Hashem, but instead she is commanded on head covering and modesty, which relate to her soul.

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Every mitzvah has significance in both the upper and lower worlds. Jewish slaughter prevents animal suffering, but its inner purpose is to correct our deeds and consciousness, which is why our sages said that eating forbidden foods dulls one's spiritual senses. In practice, every sin damages a person's spiritual consciousness: "The disciples of Rabbi Ishmael taught: a transgression dulls the heart of a person, as it is stated (Leviticus 11): 'and do not defile yourself with them, lest you become impure by them' — do not read impurity, but insensitivity!" (Yoma 39a).

The Creator delivered His mitzvot to "refine the creatures," just as one refines a diamond until it shines. For this purpose, we have been given the choice between good and evil.

"Bread of shame" is a term in Kabbalah describing earning the world to come's reward through effort and not grace. The soul needs to build itself, to achieve its strength through trials and mitzvot in life's actions, through which it earns closeness to Hashem, blessed be He. The soul's purpose is to resemble its Creator, hence it has been given the free choice to choose at its own discretion whether and to what extent to draw near to God through its actions, or the opposite, heaven forbid. That is why this world is called in Kabbalah the "world of action."

Our existence is for the highest eternal reward of all — closeness to Hashem in Gan Eden, a purpose that can only be achieved through our actions in this world. Thus, our sages said: "When a person departs from this world, neither silver nor gold nor precious stones or pearls accompany him, but only Torah and good deeds" (Avot 6:9).