Watch

The movement of a watch is the result of one geared wheel, set in motion by a spring, moving a second geared wheel which in turn causes a third wheel to revolve. Attached to the last wheel are the hands of the watch, indicating the hours and minutes needed to tell the time of day.

The spring that sets the geared wheels in motion, and the rest of the mechanism of the watch, have no intrinsic connection to the person and the action that he is performing at the hour indicated by the hands on the dial. The movement of the gears merely serves to point the hands of the instrument to certain hours, which thereby influence the plans and actions of its wearer.

This illustration serves as an answer to the following question about the commandment of tefillin, a mitzvah intended to facilitate the subjugation of one’s intellect and emotions to the Creator: “How can the donning of tefillin, which are merely compartmentalized leather boxes containing words written on parchment, have a connection with the feelings and intellect of the person wearing them?”

Every detail in the wearing of tefillin is precise and intimately linked with various levels of creation and existence; all of its facets activate mystical forces exerting a powerful influence on the wearer. Consequently, through the donning of the boxes on his head and arm, and the binding of leather straps on his hand, a person harnesses his “heart, soul and might,” the totality of his faculties, to the Will of G-d.1

Igros Kodesh of the Rebbe, Vol. 12, p. 210