The Obligation and the Mitzvah
Q: It is well known that there is a mitzvah to wear tefillin all day, and that this was indeed the practice in earlier times. Why, then, don’t we encourage the public-especially yeshiva students-to wear tefillin all day?
A: According to many halachic authorities, the Torah requires men to wear tefillin daily for just a single brief moment, ideally during the recitation of the Shema, where the mitzvah of tefillin is mentioned.
Our Sages taught: “Whoever recites the Shema without tefillin is as one who testifies falsely about himself” (Berakhot 14b). Beyond that, wearing tefillin fulfills a mitzvah, so if someone removes his tefillin and wants to put them on again, he recites another blessing. But this is voluntary, as the obligation is fulfilled in a single moment.
Others halachic authorities say one must ideally wear tefillin all day, just as one is obligated to learn Torah all day. Still, someone who wears tefillin even for a moment, is considered to have fulfilled the mitzvah.
Past Practice
In the days of the Mishnah and Talmud, many men wore tefillin all day. Thus, our Sages detailed laws about removing tefillin before entering a bathroom or eating, and praised various Tannaim and Amoraim who never walked four cubits without tefillin.
However, from the period of the Mishnah through the Rishonim, many did not wear tefillin at all, or only rarely. Our Sages considered one who does not wear tefillin to be an unlearned person (am ha’aretz). They also said that any mitzvah over which Israel did not sacrifice themselves during periods of persecution-such as tefillin-remained weak in their hands. Indeed, Gaonic and early medieval sources report that there were communities where tefillin were scarcely observed for generations. Rabbi Moshe of Coucy (author of Sefer Mitzvot Gadol) undertook a journey from France to Spain to encourage the masses to keep this mitzvah.
Why People Neglected Tefillin
Many excused their neglect by saying they could not maintain the bodily purity required for tefillin, nor prevent distracting thoughts. They relied on the Talmudic teaching:
“Rabbi Yannai said: Tefillin require a clean body like Elisha the Winged One… What is a clean body? Abaye said: not to pass gas in them. Rava said: not to fall asleep in them” (Shabbat 49a). (Rashi explained: this means that one must not pass gas while wearing them, nor experience a seminal emission in his sleep). It is worth noting that in the past, bathrooms were not adjacent and readily available as they are today, and people often had to hold themselves in for long periods of time; therefore, it was much more difficult for them to keep their bodies from passing gas.
However, the early authorities wrote that such concerns do not justify neglecting the mitzvah entirely. When one cannot maintain cleanliness, he should simply remove the tefillin, and wear them at other times. But those who avoided tefillin argued that since they could not maintain the proper physical and mental state, and constantly removing them was difficult, it is better that they not put on tefillin at all, rather than put them on and compromise their sanctity.
What Is Considered Improper Distraction?
The prohibited form of distraction (hesech ha’daat) while wearing tefillin, includes forbidden thoughts about sexual matters, or inappropriate joking (Shulchan Aruch O.C. 38:4). Someone deeply troubled or preoccupied with bodily concerns or in his distress, to the point that his heart completely turns away from Torah, is considered to be diverting his attention from the tefillin (Rema 38:1).
Some authorities required that a person must at all times remember that the tefillin are on him, not letting more than about a minute pass without awareness. But most authorities rejected this stringent view, pointing out that people historically wore tefillin while working, which was not considered a distraction. Thus, normal worldly involvement is not incompatible with wearing tefillin. However, those who avoided putting on tefillin could argue that one should be stringent and think about the tefillin at every moment, and since they were unable to do so, they refrained from wearing tefillin altogether.
The Rishonim’s Instruction: Wear Tefillin During Shacharit
As a response to the widespread neglect, the Rishonim ruled that although tefillin require bodily cleanliness and attentiveness, the extra caution is required only for someone who wears them all day. However, during the time of the morning prayer, a person is able to maintain a clean body and remember that the tefillin are upon him and not divert his attention from them; therefore, it is obligatory for everyone to put them on during the morning prayer (Rosh, Tefillin 28; Sefer Mitzvot Katan 153; Shulchan Aruch 37:2).
The View That One Should Not Wear Tefillin All Day-Because of Deceivers
Some authorities even wrote that one should not wear tefillin all day, to avoid giving an opportunity for frauds to appear righteous by wearing tefillin publicly. The Jerusalem Talmud says: “Why were they not maintained? Because of the deceivers” (Berakhot 2:3), and there a brief version of a story is brought, which is expanded in Pesikta Rabbati (Ish Shalom, section 22):
“There was once a man traveling with a sum of money. As Shabbat was about to begin, he needed to deposit it with a trustworthy person from the local inhabitants. He saw a man wearing tefillin on his head, understood from this that he was God-fearing, and entrusted the money to him.
When he came after Shabbat to retrieve his money, the man denied having ever received a deposit. The traveler said: “I did not trust this man himself, but rather the tefillin on his head, because of which I assumed he was God-fearing.”
In his great distress, he wrapped himself in his tallit and said: “Master of the Universe, I trusted only in Your holy Name that was upon his head.” As he dozed off, Elijah of blessed memory, appeared to him and said: “Go to that man’s wife and tell her that her husband asked that she return the money from a certain place. And this is the sign: that they ate chametz on the night of Pesach, and they ate a certain food on Yom Kippur night.”
The wife brought him the money. When the swindler returned home and heard from his wife that she had returned the money to the traveler, he became angry and struck her. She said to him: “Why are you hitting me? He gave me signs that only you and I know.”
And thus wrote Rabbeinu Yerucham (Toldot Adam ve-Chava, path 19, 5), the Magen Avraham, and the Eliyah Rabbah (37:2): that even someone who knows he can maintain bodily cleanliness should not wear tefillin all day, so that swindlers will not have a way to pose as righteous people and deceive others.
However, most halachic authorities maintain that our Sages meant only that one should not rely on someone as being righteous merely because he wears tefillin all day-because of the existence of deceivers-but they did not mean to say that wearing tefillin all day is prohibited (HaTerumah; Rosh; Beit Yosef 37:2).
Custom in Practice
In practice, the custom of the majority of Jews, from the time of the Rishonim until today, is to wear tefillin only during the morning prayer. Most rabbis and yeshiva students follow this practice. Those who wish to wear tefillin all day may do so, but it is not encouraged publicly. Historically, some wore tefillin all day, while others did not wear them at all. The Rishonim established the custom that all Jews should wear tefillin during the morning prayer, and since then, observant Jews have worn tefillin daily during Shacharit with great care.
Yeshiva Students
Some authorities argue that students of Torah do not need to wear tefillin more than once a day, since the purpose of tefillin is “so that the Torah of the Lord shall be on your lips” (Exodus 13:9), which they fulfill by learning Torah. Rabbenu Yonah, Mordechai, and the Shulchan Aruch support this. Nevertheless, other authorities, including the Pisikta Zutarta and later halachic authorities, maintain that even Torah students are obligated to wear tefillin. And thus wrote the Gaon Rav Shmuel bar Ḥofni, the Agur, and the Tur (38:10).
Jews Who Sin Through Their Bodies
Our Sages said that an average person, whose merits and sins are equal, is judged toward the side of merit. But if among his sins there is a sin included in the category of ‘poshei Yisrael b’gufo‘ (“one who violates Israel with his body),” such as a “karkaphta d’lo manach tefillin” (a head that does not put on tefillin), his judgment is not tilted to the side of merit; rather, they are judged for Gehenna (Rosh Hashanah 17a).
Some hold that “one who violates Israel with his body” refers only to someone who did not put on tefillin all his days (Rif, Rambam, Ramban, and others), while others say that even if he did not put on tefillin for one day, he is considered “one who violates Israel with his body,” provided that he was able to put them on and chose not to do so out of disgust and contempt for the mitzvah (Rabbeinu Tam, Yere’im, Manhig, Rashba, Ritva, Ran, and others).
Combat Soldiers - The Righteous of Israel With Their Bodies
Just as one who transgresses and does not put on tefillin is considered as having sinned in a mitzvah that is fulfilled with his body, so too - and even more so - soldiers who endanger their lives in defense of the people and the Land, since they risk their bodies, are considered the righteous of Israel with their bodies. And the measure of goodness is greater than the measure of punishment, and the mitzvah has the power to tilt them to the side of merit, and grant them eternal life in the Garden of Eden.
In addition, during their military service they fulfill two mitzvot about which our Sages said that they are equivalent to all the mitzvot: saving Israel from its enemies, and settling the Land.
“And All the Peoples of the Earth Shall See”
In these years, in which we find ourselves in a difficult war with our enemies, we must gird ourselves with inner strength that comes from deep faith in God, and in the mission of the people of Israel to bring justice and blessing to the world. Through the mitzvah of tefillin, we can connect to the foundation of faith, and through this, the name of God will be called upon us, and our enemies will fear us, as it is said: “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of you” (Deuteronomy 28:10). Rabbi Eliezer the Great said: “These are the tefillin of the head” (Berakhot 57a). And from this, through the mitzvah of the tefillin of the arm as well, we will merit that our hands be strengthened to defeat our enemies, and to build our Land.
This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.
