Editing Tefillin (section)

==Use==
[[File:Jew_in_Podolsk.jpg|thumb|Old man with a tefillin in Podolsk, {{circa|1870{{ndash}}1880}}]] 
[[File:Tefillin-shel-yad.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Arm-tefillin with ש (shin) pattern, according to one of the [[Ashkenazim|Ashkenazi]] opinions]]
Sometimes tefillin were worn all day, but not during the night. Nowadays the prevailing custom is to wear them only during the weekday morning service,<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Shulchan Aruch]] [[Orach Chayim]] 37:2</ref> although some individuals wear them at other times during the day as well. Observant Jews make a tremendous effort to don Tefillin at the appropriate time every morning,<ref name="Tefillin">{{Cite web |title=Tefillin |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tefillin |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> even in crowded airports. Tefillin are not donned on [[Shabbat]] and the major festivals because these holy days are themselves considered "signs" which render the need of the "sign" of tefillin superfluous.

On the fast day of [[Tisha B'Av]], [[Ashkenazi]]m and some [[Sephardim]] do not wear tefillin during the morning ([[Shacharit]]) service and they are worn instead at the afternoon service ([[Mincha]]).<ref>Shulchan Aruch OC 555:1.</ref> Other [[Sephardi]]m (following the [[Kabbalah]]) wear tefillin at Shacharit as usual.<ref>{{cite web |author=Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman |title=The Laws of Tisha B'Av |publisher=Ohr Somayach |url=http://ohr.edu/1098}}</ref>

===Chol HaMoed===
{{see also|Chol HaMoed#Tefillin}}

On [[Chol HaMoed]] (intermediate days) of [[Pesach]] and [[Sukkot]], there is a great debate among the early [[Posek|halachic authorities]] as to whether tefillin should be worn or not. Those who forbid it consider the "sign" of intermediate days as having the same status as the festival itself, making the ritual of tefillin redundant.<ref name="koltorah">{{cite web|url=https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/tefillin-on-chol-hamoed-by-rabbi-howard-jachter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719233158/https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/tefillin-on-chol-hamoed-by-rabbi-howard-jachter|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 19, 2018|title=Tefillin on Hol Hamoed|last=Jachter|first=Howard|date=April 7, 2001|publisher=Kol Torah: Torah Academy of Bergen County}}</ref> Others argue and hold that Chol HaMoed does not constitute a "sign" in which case tefillin must be laid.<ref name="koltorah"/> Three customs evolved resulting from the dispute:
*''To refrain from wearing tefillin'': This ruling of the ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'' is based on [[kabbalah]] and the [[Zohar]] which strongly advocate refraining from laying tefillin on Chol HaMoed. This position is maintained by [[Sephardic Jews]] and is also the opinion of the [[Vilna Gaon]] whose ruling has been almost universally accepted in [[Jews|Israel]].<ref name="koltorah"/>
*''To wear tefillin without reciting the blessings'': This is the opinion of, among others, Rabbi [[Jacob ben Asher]] (Ba'al ha-Turim), Rabbi [[Moses ben Jacob of Coucy|Moses of Coucy]] (''Semag'') and Rabbi [[David HaLevi Segal]] (Turei Zahav). The advantage of this compromise is that one avoids the transgressions of either not donning tefillin or making a blessing in vain.<ref name="koltorah"/>
*''To wear tefillin and recite the blessings in an undertone'': This opinion is the ruling of [[Moses Isserles]] who writes that this is the universally accepted practice among [[Ashkenazic Jews]].<ref name="koltorah"/> However it may have been in his time, this is no longer universally the case, since many Ashkenazim refrain from wearing it or wear it without a blessing during Chol HaMoed.

In light of the conflicting opinions, the ''[[Mishna Berura]]'' (early 20th-century), following the second compromise practice above, recommends Ashkenazim make the following stipulation before donning tefillin: "If I am obligated to don tefillin I intend to fulfill my obligation and if I am not obligated to don tefillin, my doing so should not be considered as fulfilling any obligation" and that the blessing not be recited.<ref>''[[Mishna Berura]]'' 31:8</ref>

=== Laws and customs regarding putting on tefillin ===
{{See also|List of Jewish prayers and blessings#tefillin|l1=List of Jewish prayers and blessings: Tefillin}}
[[File:IDF soldier put on tefillin.jpg|thumb|[[Israel Defense Forces]] soldier [[Asael Lubotzky]] prays with tefillin.]]

Standard [[Ashkenazi]] practice is to put on and remove the arm tefillin while standing in accordance to the ''Shulchan Aruch'', while most [[Sephardim]] do so while sitting in accordance with the [[Isaac Luria|Ari]]. All, however, put on and remove the head tefillin while standing.<ref name="Grinṿald2001pg.36">{{cite book|first=Zeʾev|last=Grinṿald|title=Shaarei halachah: a summary of laws for Jewish living|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Txt4EidAVFEC&pg=PA36|access-date=4 July 2011|date=1 July 2001|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|isbn=978-1-58330-434-1|page=36}}</ref> Halacha forbids speaking or being distracted while putting on the tefillin.<ref name="Grinṿald2001pg.36"/> An Ashkenazi says two blessings when laying tefillin, the first before he ties the arm-tefillin: ...''lehani'ach tefillin'' ("to bind ''tefillin''"), and the second after placing the head tefillin: ...''al mitzvat tefillin'' ("as to the commandment of ''tefillin''"); thereafter, he tightens the head straps and says "''Baruch Shem Kovod..."'' ("blessed be the holy name").<ref name="Kitov2000">{{cite book|first=Eliyahu|last=Kitov|title=The Jew and His Home|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQNG3I9ZLVUC&pg=PA488|access-date=4 July 2011|year=2000|publisher=Feldheim Publishers|isbn=978-1-58330-711-3|page=488}}</ref> The [[Sephardic]] custom is that no blessing is said for the head-tefillin, the first blessing sufficing for both.<ref name="Kitov2000"/> Sephardim, [[Chabad]] and followers of the [[Vilna Gaon]] only recite the blessing on the head-tefillah if they spoke about something not related to tefillin since reciting the blessing on the arm-tefillah.<ref>See Shulchan Aruch OC 25:5 and commentaries there.</ref>

The arm-tefillin is laid on the inner side of the bare left arm, right arm if one is left handed, two finger breadths above the elbow, so that when the arm is bent the tefillin faces towards the heart.<ref name="JewishEncyclopedia"/> The arm-tefillin is tightened with the thumb, the blessing is said, and the strap is immediately wrapped around the upper arm in the opposite direction it came from in order to keep the knot tight without having to hold it. Some wrap it around the upper arm for less than a full revolution (the bare minimum to keep the knot tight) and then wrap it around the forearm seven times,<ref name="Tefillin"/> while others wrap it around the upper arm an additional time before wrapping it around the forearm. Many Ashkenazim and Italian Jews wear the knot to be tightened (not to be confused with the knot on the base which is permanently tied and always worn on the inside, facing the heart) on the inside and wrap inward, while most Nusach Sephard Ashkenazim and Sephardim wear it on the outside and wrap outward.<ref name="JewishEncyclopedia"/>

Then the head-tefillin is placed on the middle of the head just above the forehead, so that no part rests below the hairline. A bald or partially bald person's original hairline is used.<ref name="Jacobs1987">{{cite book|first=Louis|last=Jacobs|title=The book of Jewish practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPW0BFLYb4kC&pg=PA35|access-date=4 July 2011|date=1 June 1987|publisher=Behrman House, Inc|isbn=978-0-87441-460-8|page=35}}</ref> The knot of the head-tefillin sits at the back of the head, upon the part of the [[occipital bone]] that protrudes just above the [[nape]]. The two straps of the head-tefillin are brought in front of the shoulders, with their blackened side facing outwards.<ref name="JewishEncyclopedia"/> Now the remainder of the arm-tefillin straps are wound three times around the middle finger and around the hand to form the shape of the Hebrew letter of either a ''[[Shin (letter)|shin]]'' ({{Script/Hebrew|ש}}) according to Ashkenazim, or a ''[[dalet]]'' ({{Script/Hebrew|ד}}) according to Sephardim. There are various customs regarding winding the strap on the arm and hand.<ref name="Kitov2000"/> In fact, the arm strap is looped for counter-clockwise wrapping with Ashkenazi tefillin while it is knotted for clockwise wrapping with Sephardic and [[Hasidic]] tefillin. On removing the tefillin, the steps are reversed.<ref name="JewishEncyclopedia"/>

Earlier, Yemenite Jews' custom was to put on arm-Tefillah and wind forearm with strap, making knot on wrist not winding a finger, and then put on head-Tefillah all made in sitting position. {{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
Later, Yemenite Jews followed by ''Shulchan Aruch'' and put on arm-Tefillah, making seven windings on forearm and three on a finger, and then put on head-Tefillah. Because according to the ''Shulchan Aruch'' head-Tefillah and arm-Tefillah are two different commandments, if both Tefillin aren't available, then one can wear the available one alone.<ref>Shulchan-Aruch 27</ref>

German Jews also did not tie a finger earlier. But later they put on arm-Tefillah with a knot on biceps while standing, then put on head-Tefillah, and after that they wind seven wraps around forearm (counting by the seven Hebrew words of {{Bibleverse|Psalms|145:16|HE}}), and three wraps around a finger.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Rodrigues-Pereira family Tefillin .jpg|thumb|Tefillin wrapping custom of the Rodrigues-Pereira family]]

Some [[Spanish and Portuguese Jews|Western Sephardic]] families such as the [[Jacob Rodrigues Pereira|Rodrigues-Pereira family]] have developed a personalized family wrapping method.<ref>{{Cite web|title=London Sephardi Minhag - Tephillin|url=https://sites.google.com/site/londonsephardiminhag/tephillin|access-date=2020-06-13|website=sites.google.com|language=en-US}}</ref>