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T'filin and the "chozek yad", the "force", used to take us out of Egypt
Why are we commanded to wear t'filin? There are, of course, several reasons; one that is written in the Torah itself — in the final verse of parashas "Bo" — is כי בחֹזֶק יד הוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים, to remember that God took us out of Egypt by force. How do t'filin help us remember that?
In parashas "B'shalach" we see that the Jews left Egypt "חמֻשים", one explanation of which is "as a fifth"; i.e., only one-fifth of Jews left — the others had previously died. Why did God kill them off? Because they didn't want to leave Egypt. They were so steeped in their slavery, so depressed by it, that they would not be able to bring themselves to leave Egypt as freedmen.
Even those who remained — the one-fifth who lived — had this slave mentality, and were reluctant to leave. "חדל ממנו ונעבדה את מצרים" they said: "leave us alone and we'll serve Egypt". But their depression was not quite so severe, and God managed — so to speak — to drag them out. This is the explanation of "ויהי בשלח פרעה", "when Pharaoh sent the people" — Pharaoh, as God's agent, had to send us out of Egypt; the verse doesn't say "ויהי בצאת ישראל ממצרים", "when the Jews left Egypt".
This explains, too, God's concern. The verse says that He did not lead the Jews by a certain route lest they encounter battle and return to Egypt. Return to Egypt?? Well, yes — they had the slave mentality, and would be willing to go back to enslavement.
It was only at the yam suf, the reed sea, after seeing the miracles of the sea, that the Jews finally recognized that they were free now — "הללו עבדי ה׳, ולא עבדי פרעה" — free to be servants of God's. It was then that they finally recognized that God is their god — זה א־לי ואנוהו. It was then that they lost their slave mentality, and rose from the ashes to become a fully-realized nation. ויאמינו בה׳ ובמשה עבדו, אז ישיר — then they became God's people, and sang to Him from joy.
In order that we keep this realization in mind, in order that we continue to realize that we are servants of God's, in order to remember the ashes of slavery and our rising from those ashes, we put on t'filin. T'filin are called a פאר, an adornment, that takes the place of the אפר, the ashes of despair. וִיקָר, אלו תפלין: t'filin symbolize the honor, the pride we have in being servants of God's.
Through the ages, we continue to put on t'filin — והיה לאות על ידכה ולטוטפֹת בין עיניך כי בחֹזֶק יד הוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים — as a remembrance that God had to take us out of Egypt בחֹזֶק יד, by force.
If ever we get caught up in the ashes of despair, feeling that we cannot serve God properly, we should look at the t'filin and remember their message — that we can rise from those ashes.
Some ideas are from ספר דברי פתחיה, the collected writings of R. P'sachya Lamm.
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