Can Emotions Be Controlled? One of the most important commandments in the Torah is that Jewish men put on Tefillin on the head and the arm. As the verse states: And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes. (Deuteronomy 6:8) A careful analysis of the verse reveals subtle but important legal differences between the hand Tefillin and the head Tefillin; these seemingly technical distinctions reflect the spiritual significance and purpose of the hand and head Tefillin. The verb used in the context of the hand Tefillin is "you shall tie”, whereas regarding the head Tefillin the verse states "they shall be”. The choice of words indicates that regarding the hand Tefillin the commandment is the act of tying. If one wears the hand Tefillin for an hour, the commandment is fulfilled only in the first moment of tying. By contrast, the head Tefillin is described in the Torah as "they shall be”, indicating that one fulfills a commandment every moment that the Tefillin are on the head. Why the difference? Why is the head tefillin an ongoing continuous commandment, and the hand Tefillin a one-time commandment? A person has the power to control his or her mind; one can choose to shift one's attention to whatever one decides to think about. By contrast, a person cannot control his emotions; one cannot decide to love or to despise, to be happy or to be melancholy. We do not control how we feel. Therefore, the head tefillin, which symbolize the obligation to fill our mind with the awareness of the unity of G-d and love of G-d, is an ongoing continuous commandment, symbolizing our ability, and therefore our obligation, to fill our mind with holy thoughts. By contrast, there is no commandment that the hand Tefillin (placed on the arm near the heart) be placed upon the heart because we cannot determine how we feel. The obligation, therefore, is the act of binding, which symbolizes the responsibility to keep our emotions in check, and behave in a moral and appropriate manner, regardless of how we feel at the moment. The above, however, is not the end of the story. Although the commandment to don the hand tefillin refers only to the act, and therefore to the moment, of tying, nevertheless the hand Tefillin remain on the arm for as long as the head tefillin are worn (in fact, we first remove the head tefillin and only then do we remove the hand tefillin), as a result of an indirect obligation. As the Talmud states: The verse states: "You shall bind them for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be for a sign between your eyes": As long as the head-tefillin are between your eyes, you shall be wearing two The spiritual significance of this law is as follows: although we can't control how we feel (which is why there is no commandment that the hand tefillin be placed on the arm), nevertheless "As long as the head-tefillin are between your eyes, you shall be wearing two", signifying that when the mind is saturated with holiness, positive thoughts and awareness of G-d, we will be wearing hand tefillin as well, eventually, over time, the awareness will affect and transform our heart, generating a positive and holy emotional state. Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutei Sichos 39 Vaeschanan sicha 2