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How should one tie his shel yad on his hand if his middle finger is splinted?

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Consult your local Rabbi. I had surgery on the back of my arm where the strap are and the posek of my city said it was fine as long as it didnt go between the box and the arm. Do not get advice for this from here. – user1292 Jun 18 '12 at 23:16
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@DoubleAA I know you're right but a source would make for an excellent answer :) – Hacham Gabriel Jun 18 '12 at 23:16
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Refuah shleimah! – Alex Jun 18 '12 at 23:17
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@HachamGabriel I have sourced it good enough for Ashkenazim I think. I'm 99% sure that R Ovadia has a long teshuva (unsurprisingly) where he is also meikil (unsurprisingly). I will keep an eye out for it. – Double AA♦ Jun 18 '12 at 23:22
Thank you, i will consult my rov when i get home from my conference. – Jggreenblatt Jun 18 '12 at 23:53
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2 Answers

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The Rama rules (OC 27:4 based on Teshuvat HaRashba 1:827) that there is only a problem of a chatzitza (separation between the tefillin and the skin) under the boxes not the straps. The Mishna Berura there (sk 16) notes that most later authorities only accept this for the parts of the straps that do not directly relate to the tying (ie. the parts between the box and the knots). In your case, where the potential chatzitza is very far away from the box, it shouldn't be much to worry about.

Furthermore, Rav Ovadia Yosef rules (Yabia' Omer 2 OC 2) that one need not remove his watch when putting on his tefillin because it is far enough away from the box. Seemingly he would agree that in your case (especially since there is a medical need) you may be lenient and not worry about a chatzitza.

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+1 for the answer, though I don't think the 2nd paragraph is relevant since the finger winding is part of the mitzva, whereas the arm winding is not. – YDK Jun 19 '12 at 15:41
@YDK You want to say that there is an area where chatzitza is not meakeiv in between two areas where it is meakeiv? – Double AA♦ Aug 3 '12 at 3:18
all I am saying is that you cannot bring a proof from something which is not a mitzva to something which is. – YDK Aug 5 '12 at 6:37
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Shalom, If you look in the Mishna Brurah quoted above (OC 27:4 MB sk16) you will see that you can be lenient with regards to chatzitzah in the place of the "krichos" but whatever is shayach to the "keshira" you should be machmir .

The question you have to ask is what is the distinction between what is shayach to the keshira vs what is shayach to the krichos?

It was pointed out to me that is OC 25:11 Mishna Brurah sk38 he brings the Tshuvas Mishkenos Ya'akov and says "his position is also like our minhag to initially wrap on the arm for chizuk since without that it will not endure and is not called "keshira". According to this MB it seems like all of the wrapping you do on your arm is shayach to the keshira and therefore you should be machmir not to have a chatzitzah.

You could make a chiluk between the two Mishna Brurah's but at face value it requires some work.

Now I would have said like Double AA but because of this MB I would want to do some more research before I would confidently state the MB's psak.

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Gabi, I don't think that is a proof. All the TMY is saying is that it is not a hefsek, but it isn't a requirement. I can theoretically wrap a handkerchief above the knot to hold it in place. In that case, putting on the handkerchief on is not a hefsek (nor is it a requirement) and the wrap around the arm is unnecessary. – YDK Aug 5 '12 at 18:53
@YDK Do you have a link to the MY offhand? – Double AA♦ Aug 6 '12 at 2:49
@DoubleAA, Siman 28: hebrewbooks.org/… – YDK Aug 6 '12 at 3:40
Thank you for the link to the TMY @YDK I read the tshuva and you're right he is talking about a hefsek between the brochas however I'm not sure that I agree that there's "no requirement". In the sentence that starts "וצ"ע לענ"ד אם יקדים" he refers to the "mitzvas keshira". Also the machlokes rishonim (Rambam/Rif vs Tur/Rosh) ends up being do you need to wrap the arm and the finger or just the arm. Also the title to his question is "when to make the bracha and what is the keshira. It seems like it is more than just hefsek bracha... Please let me know how you understand this! – Gabi Aug 8 '12 at 18:03
@Gabi, re your 1st question, I have already addressed- if the kesher is not tight, you haven't done the mitzva. but this can also be accomplished with the hankie. re your second question, the TMY is clearly talking about the upper arm. His point is that (acc. to some) so long as you have not wrapped the fingers, you have not done the full keshira. But he certainly isn't referring to the lower arm, or else the length of a strap would need to include those wrappings as well. – YDK Aug 8 '12 at 21:18

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