Also called "phylacteries": a religious object worn by Jewish men, usually during morning weekday prayers.
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Wearing Tefillin over toupe
If someone wears a toupe which is only removed twice a month, is there any way to still get the mitzvah of wearing tefillin? Removing the toupe every morning to put in the tefillin would be an extreme ...
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1answer
38 views
What kind of cleanliness is required to put on Tefillin?
The Rama says (OC 38:3) that one must protest a woman's putting on Tefillin. The Magen Avraham there (sk 3) says that this is...:
מפני שצריכין גוף נקי ונשים אינם זריזות להזהר...
...because ...
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3answers
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What do Sephardic sources have to say about women wearing t'filin?
This answer to another question about women and talit/t'filin says (about t'filin):
Because of the Rema is the foremost Ashkenazic authority of halakha, the great modern Askenazic poskim (R. Moshe ...
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Do the Gemara and the Rema prohibit, or encourage, women putting on talit and/or tefillin?
An article in Ynet Judaism (in Hebrew) addresses the resent controversy regarding the prayer of Women of the Wall at the western wall. And claims the following claims:
אף אחד גם לא הקריא להן את ...
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Putting on tefillin late
For whatever reason, I was unable to put on tefillin while davening shacharit this morning. However, I have access to tefillin now, and the sun has not yet set. After I put on the tefillin, what ...
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When did the Kanievsky family switch from Chasidic to Litvish?
R' Chaim Kanievsky shlita davens Ashkenaz and wears Ashkenazi tefilin. His grandfather z'l was a Chernobyler chasid. It's not clear to me how the Steipler Gaon ztz'l conducted himself with regards ...
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1answer
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What is the origin of the dispute on which way to wrap tefilin shel yad?
Non-Chasidic Ashkenazim wrap their tefilin shel yad inward toward the body when coming over the top of the arm, while Sefardim and Chasidim wrap outward away from the body when coming over the top of ...
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Prayer and tefillin for Jews who were not raised in religious Judaism? [closed]
I was born in a family who has abided by the Torah for more than five generations. Last weekend, I was approached by an Orthodox Jew to pray. As he began to place the tefillin, he asked me whether I ...
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1answer
29 views
Comparrison of Tefillin to the Beis HaMikdash
The Darchei Moshe in the beginning of Hilchos Tefillin, Siman 32, cites from the Mordechai (Halachos Katanos) the following: One has to make the mitzvah (of tefillin) "nice" on the outside, "and chol ...
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1answer
92 views
Why put shel-rosh straps behind the body when donning?
When I'm putting my t'fila shel rosh, it starts off before me, and I wish to fit it onto my head so that the knot is behind me, the box (bayis) before me, and the dangling straps before me: that's how ...
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3answers
189 views
Rashi's Daughters wearing Tefillin
There is a commonly held "tradition" that Rashi's daughters wore Tefillin.
One highly educated rabbi/professor has publicly stated that he's spent 35 years searching for a source but to no avail.
...
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1answer
63 views
Tefillin with chipped paint
Is there a problem with wearing tefillin whose paint has started to chip off? Would such a situation require one to get the tefillin repainted? Can someone still be yotzei by tefillin whose paint is ...
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1answer
49 views
Wearing pieces from two different sets of tefillin
Tefillin are usually thought of as coming in sets, one for the hand (shel yad) and one for the head (shel rosh). But is there any reason two sets can't be mixed and matched? May one wear tefillin ...
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2answers
462 views
Can a non-Jew don tefillin?
May a non-Jew or a person who is in the conversion process don tefillin? If not, what are the reasons that they cannot?
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Times where one must refrain from flatulence?
From my understanding one should refrain from passing gas during the amidah prayer and when wearing tefillin. Are there other times where one is adjured not to flatulate, perhaps when holding a sacred ...
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1answer
140 views
If you didn’t put on tefilin at shacharis, when should you? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Putting on tefillin late
Someone was unable to put on tefilin when he 'davened' (prayed) shacharis.
When should he put on tefilin — immediately when he has the ...
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2answers
148 views
Composition of Sofer's ink
What ingredients are currently used in the manufacture of ink for Safrus? Is there a different formulation for the paint that is used to dye tefillin straps/boxes?
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3answers
122 views
What is the Minimum Width of Tefillin Straps?
What is the minimum width of tefillin straps?
For example: if one's tefillin straps partially tore, how much is required to remain for the tefillin to remain Kosher?
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2answers
143 views
Speaking while wearing Tefillin - revisited
In today's day and age the vast majority of the time we only wear Tefillin when we are Davening. However, in theory, we should wear them all day (ibid). So what about the requirement not to speak ...
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3answers
282 views
Did Rabbi Dovid Feinstein of Uzda wear tefilin that were Ktav Ari or Ktav Beit Yosef? What about his son?
The biographical sketch of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that appears in the beginning of Igrot Moshe volume 8 states that his father, Rabbi Dovid Feinstein of Uzda, was born and raised Hassidic, but took on ...
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1answer
78 views
Wrapping up Tefilin to form dove's wings
Gemara Shabbos 49a mentions a story about Elisha Baal Kenafayim who was saved by his Tefilin turning into dove's wings. Magen Avraham Orach Chaim 28:4 says the Minhag is to wrap the Tefilin like ...
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0answers
70 views
Shin on Tefilin - changed in Belz?
I recently heard that in Belz they changed the Shin on the Tefilin Shel Rosh due to an old pair that was found that the Rebbi believed to be the true Mesorah. Is this true? How does the new Shin ...
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2answers
111 views
How long after the Torah was given did the Jewish people start wearing tefillin?
From one of the explanations of eating milky foods on Shavuos, we understand that it was not possible to do all the mitzvos connecting with preparing meat for food immediately after accepting the ...
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3answers
142 views
Are there standard sizes for tefilin batim (leather cases/housings) today?
I just looked down at the little plastic cover on my arm-tefilin and it had the number 4 on it. I assume that's a size ... while tefilin must be square, there are definitely a variety of sizes out ...
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3answers
164 views
Writing on t'filin straps
Is there any problem with having stray marks or writing on the underside of a t'filin strap?
If it is in a non-essential location (such as down at the end of a long strap) is it preferable to cut it ...
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2answers
111 views
Any reason not to put your tefilin inside your car's spare tire when driving?
For cars that store their spare tire in a well inside the trunk, that seems like a good place to put my tefilin while driving -- it takes up no extra space (if they fit in the middle of the tire), ...
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5answers
140 views
Do Tefilin need to be painted with “special” ink?
When painting tefillin, are there any requirements regarding the ink (other than the need to be black)? Or is any ink okay to use?
Like in the comments to this answer, shoe polish is recommended. Is ...
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3answers
331 views
Cutting Tefillin Retzuos
As we know, the outside of the tefillin's retzuos (phylacteries' straps) must be black. Lately, I've noticed that the very end of the retzuah of my shel yad (tefillin of the arm) is cracking and ...
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0answers
71 views
Tefillin on top of a wig if someone can only wear Tefillin once a day
As a rule, there shouldn't be anything that is a separation between a man's head and the tefillin, so seemingly a wig would be a problem. In Igros Moshe Orach Chaim Chelek 4 Siman 40 Ois 18, Rabbi ...
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5answers
319 views
Why do some people wrap their Tefilin around their arms 8 times?
I have seen people who wrap the Tefilin 7 times around their arm and some that wrap it 8 times around their arm. Why do the people who wrap it 8 times do so?
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1answer
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Tefilin and clothes
Is there is any "dress code" or limitation regarding what to wear (I mean at the minimum) when the time comes to put on the tefelin?
I see many people putting them on wearing pajamas for example... I ...
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1answer
124 views
Why remove tfilin before talis?
I've heard why we put on the talis before tfilin (tadir or maylin bakodesh), but why take it off in the reverse order?
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2answers
179 views
Tefilin - broke left middle finger, and it's now splinted
How should one tie his shel yad on his hand if his middle finger is splinted?
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2answers
134 views
Red string on Tefillin arm?
I've heard a man shouldn't wear anything on his left arm (as a bracelet, watch, etc) while having tefillin tied on. If this is true, would it be completely wrong to wear a red string on the left arm ...
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1answer
132 views
No mitzvah to wear tefillin every day?
I heard that the Bet HaLevi and the Peri Megadim hold that there is no Mitzva for a person to don Tefilin everyday. Can someone source these opinions and explain exactly what they are meaning to say?
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Is there a deeper significance of squares and cubes?
I've noticed that many of the structures in the Mishkan as well as elsewhere in Judaism are cubes and squares, or multiples of cubes and squares.
The luchot are two half-cubes which combine to make ...
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2answers
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Are Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin really Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin?
I once heard from a Sofer the shocking revelation that Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin do not actually follow Rabbeinu Tam's opinion. Is that correct? Did I misunderstand? Are there any Soferim in our ...
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1answer
174 views
Wearing Tefillin the Wrong Way
If:
A) You don't have your Tefillin and the only pair available for you to borrow is for the opposite hand you generally use (ie, your dominant hand), or
B) You have a cast or splint on your arm or ...
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5answers
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Where can I buy kosher Tefillin scrolls?
Can anyone recommend a place/person to get kosher tefillin? I heard about the fraud with scrolls.
There is no sofer or judaica store near me.
Please include information about why you recommend the ...
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2answers
161 views
Contemporary rabbinic views on social pressure to get people to do Mitzvoth
Background
While on vacation recently, I was walking down the street with a newly acquainted co-traveler, when we were approached by a young Lubavitch Yeshivah student encouraging Jewish men to lay ...
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6answers
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Can you recommend an alternative outer talit bag?
I need to replace my outer talit bag - the one that most people have as a brittle, transparent, zippered bag with gold piping (e.g.). I am tired of having these bags break on me, and I don't have a ...
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1answer
138 views
Illness with Talit and Tefillin
If one is wearing Talit and Tefillin and suddenly becomes violently ill, what should one do? One cannot enter a bathroom with them on; however, one also runs the risk of fouling himself, or ...
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3answers
350 views
Should I wear tefillin during Chol HaMoed?
If I don't have a known family minhag regarding this, how should I decide whether to wear tefillin during Chol HaMoed? Which communities generally follow each option, and what are the reasons behind ...
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2answers
181 views
Shachris in the Dark
When do people who live in places where it is dark for days Daven Shachris and put on Tefillin?
Please provide a source (Mareh Makom).
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2answers
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bracha on tefillin while sitting
The shulchan aruch apparently writes (by hilchos tzitzis) that one should stand while reciting birchas hamitzvah. Tefillin are a mitzvah. So why is the Sfardic minhag to sit while putting them on and ...
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4answers
200 views
God's Pair of Teffilin
How when moshe turns his head not to see God's face, he sees He's got on teffilin? I thought God had no physical form.
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2answers
105 views
Is checking the parshios a hefsek?
Are you required to make another bracha on your tefillin if you take them off to check the parshios?
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1answer
172 views
Speaking while wearing Tefillin
Is there a real halachic source for the widespread practice not to speak while wearing tefillin? Of course, one is required to keep his mind on the tefillin, and may not get drawn into conversations ...
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1answer
106 views
Baal haTanya's donning shel yad seated
I have heard that the baal haTanya put on his t'fila shel yad while seated (as S'faradim do).
Does anyone have a source for this (or for the opposite: that he put on his shel yad standing)?
If he ...
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2answers
115 views
Can tefillin be what covers our heads?
If we have our heads covered by a kippa/yarmulka to remind that HaShem is above us, does wearing tefilin fulfill that requirement?
