Details About the Tefillin Boxes and Straps: Difference between revisions

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m (Text replacement - "Tefilin" to "Tefillin")
m (Text replacement - "S"A" to "Shulchan Aruch")
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# It is a good habit to test out the pen before beginning to write a passage. <ref> Shulchan Aruch 32:22 </ref>  
# It is a good habit to test out the pen before beginning to write a passage. <ref> Shulchan Aruch 32:22 </ref>  
# The passages for [[Tefillin]] must be written by a literate religious adult male Jew. <ref> Shulchan Aruch 32:30 and Shulchan Aruch 39:1 </ref>
# The passages for [[Tefillin]] must be written by a literate religious adult male Jew. <ref> Shulchan Aruch 32:30 and Shulchan Aruch 39:1 </ref>
# [[Tefillin]] written by a gentile or a Jew who does not believe in the entire Torah and its divinity are not kosher. <ref> Rambam Hilchot [[Tefillin]] 1:13 </ref> Women are exempt from wearing [[Tefillin]] and as such may not write [[Tefillin]]. <ref>Gemara Gittin 45b, S"A 39:1</ref>
# [[Tefillin]] written by a gentile or a Jew who does not believe in the entire Torah and its divinity are not kosher. <ref> Rambam Hilchot [[Tefillin]] 1:13 </ref> Women are exempt from wearing [[Tefillin]] and as such may not write [[Tefillin]]. <ref>Gemara Gittin 45b, Shulchan Aruch 39:1</ref>
# The passages should be written on 4 separate pieces of parchment for the [[Tefillin]] shel rosh and on the same piece of parchment for the [[Tefillin]] shel yad. <ref> Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, [[miscellaneous]] laws (of [[Tefillin]]), seif 3 </ref>
# The passages should be written on 4 separate pieces of parchment for the [[Tefillin]] shel rosh and on the same piece of parchment for the [[Tefillin]] shel yad. <ref> Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, [[miscellaneous]] laws (of [[Tefillin]]), seif 3 </ref>


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# Even though one is not obligated, it is praiseworthy to have one's [[Tefillin]] checked every year, particularly during the month of [[Elul]] and the aseret yimei teshuva. <ref> Sh"t Yechave Daat 1:49, http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=356 </ref>
# Even though one is not obligated, it is praiseworthy to have one's [[Tefillin]] checked every year, particularly during the month of [[Elul]] and the aseret yimei teshuva. <ref> Sh"t Yechave Daat 1:49, http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=356 </ref>
# It is proper to check one's Tefillin to make sure that they are still valid twice every seven years. However, if [[Tefillin]] get damaged by water then they should be checked immediately, if that is not possible then one may use them, however without making a bracha.  
# It is proper to check one's Tefillin to make sure that they are still valid twice every seven years. However, if [[Tefillin]] get damaged by water then they should be checked immediately, if that is not possible then one may use them, however without making a bracha.  
<ref> Kitzur S"A of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu 10:26 </ref>
<ref> Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu 10:26 </ref>
# If one has not gotten one's [[Tefillin]] checked for a long time and later finds out they were unkosher, one should increase one's Torah learning and some say one should take upon oneself to also wear Rabbeinu Tam [[Tefillin]] if one has not been already doing so. <ref> Sh"t Otzrot Yosef 3:8 </ref>
# If one has not gotten one's [[Tefillin]] checked for a long time and later finds out they were unkosher, one should increase one's Torah learning and some say one should take upon oneself to also wear Rabbeinu Tam [[Tefillin]] if one has not been already doing so. <ref> Sh"t Otzrot Yosef 3:8 </ref>


Revision as of 07:22, 18 November 2015

Halachot of the Boxes (Batim)

  1. The boxes should be black. [1]
  2. The Tefillin boxes must be square. [2]
  3. In normal circumstances, Sephardim will not have fulfilled their obligation of Tefillin, if they are written according to minhag Ashkenaz. If one has no choice, a halachic authority should be contacted. [3]

Halachot for the Scribe

  1. The passages must be written in the order of the Torah (Kadesh, VeHaya Ki Yiviyecha, Shema, and then VeHaya Im Shamoa). [4] It is preferable to write the passages for the arm Tefillin before writing the passages for the head Tefillin. [5]
  2. Those in the head Tefillin are written on four separate pieces of parchment, while those in the arm Tefillin are written on one piece of parchment. [6]
  3. The first three passages are Petuchot and the last one is Setumah. Bediavad, if the parsha which is supposed to be patuach is written satum or the satum parsha is written patuach the Tefillin are considered pasul.[7]
  4. The parchment must be made from the skin of a kosher type of animal or bird. Even if the animal is taref, it is permitted to use as long as the animal is from a kosher species. [8]
  5. The passages must be written with intent of writting them for the kedusha of Tefillin. [9]
  6. Before and while writing the passages for the Tefillin the sofer should say "I am writing for the sake of the holiness of Tefillin." [10]
  7. The passages must be written with one's right hand if one is right-handed or ambidextrous, however, a left-handed person must write the passages with his left hand. [11]
  8. The passages must be written with black ink. [12]
  9. It is a good habit to test out the pen before beginning to write a passage. [13]
  10. The passages for Tefillin must be written by a literate religious adult male Jew. [14]
  11. Tefillin written by a gentile or a Jew who does not believe in the entire Torah and its divinity are not kosher. [15] Women are exempt from wearing Tefillin and as such may not write Tefillin. [16]
  12. The passages should be written on 4 separate pieces of parchment for the Tefillin shel rosh and on the same piece of parchment for the Tefillin shel yad. [17]

Halachot of the Straps (Retzuot)

  1. The strap for the Tefillin for the arm needs to be at least long enough to be able to be wrapped around the upper arm and extend downwards to the hand and be wrapped around the middle finger three times. Though it would be preferable if it were long enough to additionally be able to wrap around the arm six or seven times. [18]
  2. The strap for the Tefillin of the head needs to be at least long enough to fit around the head plus the two Tefachim on each side hanging down. [19] The custom is that the right one be longer than the left one and that both go past the midsection. [20]
  3. The straps should be colored black. [21]
  4. The coloring should be done for the sake of the mitzva of Tefillin. [22]
  5. The coloring can be done by a women, or a child if the child is supervised by an adult who instructs him to paint it for his sake. [23]
  6. The coloring can be done at night. [24]
  7. One should ensure that the black of the straps faces outward. [25]
  8. The minimum width of the Tefillin straps is the width of a barley kernel, which is approximately a centimeter. [26]
  9. The straps of the Tefillin should be made from the skin of a kosher animal. [27]
  10. The strap of the Tefillin shel rosh should contain a knot in the shape of the hebrew letter dalet, and the strap of the Tefillin shel yad should contain a knot in the shape of the letter yod. In the end, these symbols and the Hebrew letter shin on the Tefillin shel rosh will complete the spelling of the name of Hashem. [28]

Borrowing Tefillin

  1. One may borrow somebody's Tefillin without the owner's permission, if as the owner is not there to ask permission from. [29] This does not apply if the owner placed them in a place where it is obvious he does not want them being used, or if someone uses them on a permanent basis. [30] Also, after borrowing the Tefillin one must place them back wherever one took them from. [31]
  2. One may not remove the borrowed Tefillin from the synagogue or the owner's home without permission. [32]
  3. Obviously one may not damage the Tefillin [33]
  4. One does not however fulfill one's obligation of Tefillin with stolen Tefillin and may not recite a bracha on them. [34]

Getting Tefillin Checked

  1. Even though one is not obligated, it is praiseworthy to have one's Tefillin checked every year, particularly during the month of Elul and the aseret yimei teshuva. [35]
  2. It is proper to check one's Tefillin to make sure that they are still valid twice every seven years. However, if Tefillin get damaged by water then they should be checked immediately, if that is not possible then one may use them, however without making a bracha.

[36]

  1. If one has not gotten one's Tefillin checked for a long time and later finds out they were unkosher, one should increase one's Torah learning and some say one should take upon oneself to also wear Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin if one has not been already doing so. [37]

Sources

  1. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 33:3, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 12
  2. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:39, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 13
  3. ↑ Halacha Brurah 32:148. See Yechave Daat 2:3 and 5:3 where Chacham Ovadia explains that LeKulei Alma the script itself is not a problem; rather, the issue is that Ashkenazi sofrim follow the Taz's peshara to be yotzeh both the Rambam and Rosh's opinions of a Parsha Stumah. Since the Shulchan Aruch explicitly rejects this peshara in Hilchot Sefer Torah, it is invalid for Sepharadim, thereby rendering the Tefillin Pesulim according to the Sephardi custom.
  4. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:1
  5. ↑ Rama 32:1, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 2
  6. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:2
  7. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 34:36, See Taz ibid. Yechave Daat 5:3, Ohr LeTzion vol. 2 pg 35, Iggros Moshe O.C. vol. 1 Siman 12
  8. ↑ Shabbos 108a, Shulchan Aruch 32:12, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 6
  9. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:19
  10. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 7
  11. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:5. See Mishna Brurah 32:18 who quotes the Pri Megadim that preferably one should not have a sofer who writes with the right hand and does other activities with the left hand or the opposite.
  12. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:3
  13. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:22
  14. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 32:30 and Shulchan Aruch 39:1
  15. ↑ Rambam Hilchot Tefillin 1:13
  16. ↑ Gemara Gittin 45b, Shulchan Aruch 39:1
  17. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, miscellaneous laws (of Tefillin), seif 3
  18. ↑ S:A 27:8. Mishna Brurah 27:31 says the custom nowadays is seven times.
  19. ↑ Mishna Brurah 27:44
  20. ↑ Mishna Brurah 27:41
  21. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, place of donning and how to don, seif 24, Shulchan Aruch 33:3 and Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, laws of the straps, seif 3 say that this is a halacha leMoshe miSinai. Mishna Brurah 33:19 says they should be as black as a raven and adds that one should be especially careful and make sure it stays black at the spot where one tightens the Tefillin as the paint there wears off easily.
  22. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 33:4, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, laws of the straps, seif 2. Rama writes that they are not even kosher bedieved if they are not colored black for the sake of the mitzva. Beiur Halacha 33:4 maintains they are "pasul" and says they should be repainted with the proper concentration and intent.
  23. ↑ Mishna Brurah 33:23
  24. ↑ Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg quoted in Mivakshei Torah volume 4 page 415.
  25. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 27:11. Mishna Brurah 27:38 says that one really only has to make sure that the part around the head and around the arm muscle has the black on the outside, but it looks nicer when the black faces outward everywhere and therefore we make sure to practice that way.
  26. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 10:13 writes that the minimum width of the Tefillin straps is the width of a barley kernel. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (comments on Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 10:16) writes that the size of a barley is one centimeter.
  27. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, laws of the straps, seif 2
  28. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Rephael Baruch Toledano, siman 10, laws of the straps, seif 1
  29. ↑ Rama 14:4, Chesed La'alafim 14:4 based on the idea that somebody is happy to have his belongings used for a mitzvah. Kaf Hachayim 14:19 says this only applies if the owner is not present to ask for permission.
  30. ↑ Kaf Hachayim 14:27
  31. ↑ Kaf Hachayim 14: 22
  32. ↑ Chesed La'alafim 14:4
  33. ↑ Kaf Hachayim 14:22
  34. ↑ Shulchan Aruch 25:12, Mishna Brurah 25:54
  35. ↑ Sh"t Yechave Daat 1:49, http://www.dailyhalacha.com/displayRead.asp?readID=356
  36. ↑ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu 10:26
  37. ↑ Sh"t Otzrot Yosef 3:8
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