Mitzvah #9a
Sefer Ha’mitzvos Ha’Katzar (the concise book of mitzvos)
By the Chofetz Chaim

This book lists the Torah mitzvos that can be observed today

First Section – the Positive Commandments

9. It is a positive commandment to put tefillin on your head.

As it says in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:8, “And they shall be Totafos between your eyes.” They should be placed on the spot where a baby’s skull is soft. Tefillin has four passages of the Torah written in them: Kadesh (Shmos 13:1-10), Vehaya Ki Yivi’echa (Shmos 13:11-16), Shema (Devarim 6:4-9), and Vehaya Im Shamo’a (Devarim 11:13-21). These passages speak about the acceptance of the yoke of the kingship in Heaven, remembering the miracles and wonders that Hashem, the blessed G-d, did for our ancestors when He took them out of Egypt, and also that He brought us closer to serving Him, blessed be His name. And about these four passages – in the tefillin of the arm, they are in one compartment; in the tefillin of the head, they are in four small compartments. And one who does not wear tefillin transgresses eight positive commandments from the Torah (he does not put on the eight sections and each section is a positive commandment by itself.

(*this mitzvah will be continued next week)