Musar for Berakhot 11:17

The fact that the same word is also used in connection with the tunic, כתונת, i.e. a garment worn on the body and not on the head, may be understood as a reference to the Zohar which says that "here on earth the תפילין are made of hide, skin, i.e. עור. However, in their ultimate place, i.e. מקומם העליון, they are made of light, אור." These are the תפילין, concerning which our sages say that G–d Himself lays them, since the emanation of תפארת acts as a crown, an adornment in the Celestial Regions. If Adam had not sinned, or, if Israel had not sinned subsequently with the golden calf, they could have laid תפילין made of אור, light. After the sin, however Israel could qualify only for תפילין של עור, phylacteries made of hide. This meant that the original light created by G–d at the very outset of creation underwent a process of contraction, i.e. lost most of its power. The Zohar expands on this theme in connection with ויעש אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור, that G–d made cloaks of hide for Adam and his wife and clothed them (Genesis 3,21). It follows that כתנות עור-כתונת שש, and the תפילין, are the instruments which enable man to rehabilitate himself after he had committed the sin in the garden of Eden. משכן, similarly, is the means by which Israel rehabilitates itself after the sin of the golden calf. These concepts need further clarification.

The author explains the tradition that G–d lays תפילין as related to the concept of the emanations. The four Torah portions that are placed within the תפילין of the head are perceived as alluding to the emanations חכמה, בינה, גדולה, גבורה, whereas the four portions in the תפילין של יד, allude to the emanations תפארת, נצח, הוד, יסוד. The תפילין on the head belong to the emanation כתר, crown, which presides over the emanations mentioned, whereas the four portions in the תפילין של יד "belong" to the lowest of the emanations מלכות. Jacob, by dint of having achieved a degree of תקון, spiritual repair work, after the damage caused to the universe by Adam, is perceived as laying תפילין in the Celestial Regions, i.e. "wearing" תפארת. The fact that the phylacteries are made of leather are a reminder of the leather garments G–d made for man after he forfeited the garments of light. It is due to Jacob's spiritual accomplishments, that wearing תפילין made of leather has become a mark of distinction rather than a reminder of man's fall from grace. The 12 stitches needed to sew together the "housings" of the phylacteries are an allusion to the assistance Jacob received from his twelve sons in performing that spiritual repair work. G–d's "laying" phylacteries can therefore be understood as G–d donning the תפארת which Jacob had attained.