Editing Tefillin (section)

=== 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>