The Knot of the Tefillin that HKB”H Showed Moshe
Continuing on this enlightening journey, we will now explain the intriguing matter of HKB”H showing Moshe Rabeinu the knot of the tefillin shel rosh. We learn in the Torah that Moshe made the following request of HKB”H (Shemos 33, 18): "ויאמר הראני נא את כבודך... ויאמר לא תוכל לראות את פני כי לא יראני האדם וחי... והסירותי את כפי וראית את אחורי ופני לא יראו". And he said, “Please show me Your glory.” . . . He said, “You will not be able to see My face, for no human can see My face and live . . . Then I shall remove My palm and you will see My back, but My face may not be seen.” They expounded: "מלמד שהראה הקב"ה למשה קשר של תפילין"—this teaches that HKB”H showed Moshe the knot of the tefillin.
In keeping with this discussion, let us suggest a clarification. When Moshe requested: “Please show me Your glory”—he was asking HKB”H to show him how it is possible to fulfill all of the mitzvos l’shma—to honor HKB”H without any ulterior motives. To which HKB”H responded: “You will not be able to see My face”—to fulfill the mitzvos from the very start strictly for the sake of Hashem without any ulterior motives; “for no human can see My face and live”—because as long as a person is alive, he is encumbered with a yetzer hara, who impedes him from fulfilling the mitzvos l’shma.
Notwithstanding, HKB”H suggested to him a wonderful way to elevate the mitzvos that were performed “lo l’shma,” so that they would be viewed as if they were performed l’shma: “You will see My back.” As we learned, Chazal interpreted this to mean that HKB”H showed Moshe the knot of the tefillin, the spot where the right and left straps of the tefillin shel rosh are tied together. In other words, He was teaching Moshe that in the merit of the tefillin shel rosh—associated with the thought and intellect in the brain—a person can rectify the acts of the mitzvos that were performed “lo l’shma” such that they will all be viewed as if they were performed l’shma to honor HKB”H.
With this in mind, we can interpret the words of the divine poet (An’eem Zemirot) very nicely: "קשר תפילין הראה לעניו תמונת ה' לנגד עיניו"—the knot of (His) tefillin He showed to the humble one (Moshe), the image of Hashem before his eyes. HKB”H showed Moshe Rabeinu the knot that joins the right and left straps to enable a Jew to fulfill all of the mitzvos l’shma and thereby to picture “the image of Hashem before his eyes.”
