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Rabbi Shimon Eider's book, Student Edition of Halachos of Tefillin, dates to 1985. In it (section Ⅲ D 7), he writes:

Some Poskim hold that one should sit while putting on the Shel Yad and stand while putting on the Shel Rosh; this is the minhag of Sefardim. Other Poskim hold that one should stand while putting on both the Shel Yad and Shel Rosh; this is the minhag of Ashkenazim.

The claim that Sephardic Jews customarily sit, and Ashkenazic Jews customarily stand, while donning the hand-t'filin accords also with what I have always understood to be the case (for what it's worth). There's a little more information on this practice elsewhere on Mi Yodeya.

However, in the past year or so, I have seen three or four Sephardic Jews in Ashkenazic synagogues donning the hand-t'filin while standing. While it's possible that they have decided to follow the custom of the community in which they're participating (an idea with halachic basis in some contexts), I wonder whether there is more to it than that. Specifically:

Has any Sephardic rabbi ruled, specifically citing the custom of sitting to don hand-t'filin, that Sephardic Jews should ignore that practice and stand (either generally, or in an Ashkenazic synagogue)? What are the details of this ruling and who issued it?

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    Possible duplicate of Sephardic communities that stand to put on hand-t'filin Jan 15, 2016 at 1:05
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    @sabbahillel, how is this a duplicate at all? They're asking completely different questions.
    – msh210
    Jan 15, 2016 at 4:22
  • Maybe there's a concern of "lo sisgodedu," and that these Sephardim you saw putting on tefillin while standing were doing so because of this?
    – ezra
    Oct 19, 2017 at 17:42

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