Putting on tefillin is one of the Torah’s most important positive mitzvot. Our Sages point out that the verse itself connects tefillin with the entire Torah: “And it shall be ... as a sign upon your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, so that the Torah of G‑d will be in your mouth.”1 Because this mitzvah is so significant, it should be done with care and devotion.2

The mitzvah actually includes two obligations: wearing the arm tefillin (shel yad) and the head tefillin (shel rosh).3 It applies to all Jewish males from bar mitzvah age (13) and up.4

In this article, we’ll review the general laws of putting on and taking off tefillin.

What Days Are Tefillin Put on?

We put on tefillin every day except for Shabbat and holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot.5

Tefillin are worn on Chanukah and Purim.

On the ninth of Av, tefillin are put on in the afternoon by Minchah.6

Chol Hamoed:

Tefillin are called an ot, a "sign" of the bond between G‑d and the Jewish nation. Since Shabbat and Yom Tov serve as a sign of this bond, we don't wear tefillin on those days. The question is whether Chol Hamoed, which shares many of Yom Tov's characteristics, is also considered a sign, and this is precisely where the customs diverge.7

The Sephardic8 and Chassidic9 (including Chabad10) communities, as well as the general Ashkenazic community in Israel, have the custom to not put on tefillin on Chol Hamoed.11 Kabbalah also states that you shouldn’t put on tefillin on Chol Hamoed.12

Many13 Ashkenazi communities outside of Israel do put on tefillin on Chol Hamoed. Some put them on but don’t recite the blessing.14 Those who do put them on remove them before the Hallel prayer.15

If your custom is to wear tefillin on Chol Hamoed and you’re visiting a synagogue that doesn’t, put on your tefillin privately.16

From What Time Can Tefillin Be Worn?

Tefillin are not worn at night.17 (See Why No Tefillin at Night or on Shabbat?)

You can begin to put on tefillin in the morning from the time known as misheyakir, when there is sufficient daylight to recognize an acquaintance from a distance of about four cubits.18

The exact time of misheyakir varies by location and season and is subject to differing halachic calculations, so you’ll need to check a reliable Jewish calendar that follows your community’s custom. (See here for the halachic times in your location.)

Before this time, you can’t wear tefillin, even without a blessing, with one primary exception: if you must begin traveling on foot before misheyakir, you can put on tefillin without a blessing and then, when misheyakir arrives, adjust them and recite the blessing. This leniency does not apply if you’re traveling by vehicle, such as by car, train or plane, where you’re sitting and there’s a possibility that you may fall asleep.19

If you must begin praying before misheyakir, start the daily prayers without tefillin and put them on once the proper time arrives, preferably between Yishtabach and Yotzer Or.20

If you know in advance that you’ll be unable to wear tefillin at all during the daytime, you can put them on when you wake up, even before dawn, and recite a blessing, though it’s preferable for a Torah scholar to refrain from doing so.21

If you mistakenly recited the blessing before misheyakir, you don’t repeat the blessing later.22

Until When Can I Put on Tefillin?

Tefillin can be worn during the day until sunset. Once sunset begins and it’s the time of bein hashmashot, you shouldn’t put them on.23

If you missed wearing tefillin the entire day, some permit putting them on (without a blessing) after sunset, as long as it’s still before nightfall (tzeit hakochavim).24 After nightfall, it’s too late; you can’t put on tefillin even if you haven't worn them during the day.25

Do I Need to Put on Both Arm and Head Tefillin?

You should put on both. But if you only have one tefillin, either the shel yad or the shel rosh, you should wear the one available and recite the appropriate blessing. The same applies if both are available, but, due to circumstances beyond your control (such as an injury to the arm or head, G‑d forbid), you can wear only one of them.26

What Prayers Are Recited When Wearing Tefillin?

You’re supposed to wear tefillin while reciting Shema and the Amidah (Shemoneh Esrei) during the morning prayers. So before the morning prayers, after putting on your tallit, put on your tefillin.27 (Typically, since they’re needed for Shema and the Amidah, tefillin are worn throughout the entire Shacharit service.)

If you must choose between praying the Amidah with a minyan or waiting in order to obtain tefillin (for example, if you forgot your tefillin at home, and retrieving them would cause you to miss the minyan), you should wait until you have tefillin and pray alone. The only exception is if waiting would cause you to miss the proper time for prayer altogether.28

What to Say if Putting on Tefillin Not in the Context of Prayer?

When putting on tefillin not in the context of prayer, the custom is to recite all three sections of the Shema.29 If that isn't possible, then try for two,30 and if you can’t do two, then just recite the first paragraph.

Where to Put the Tefillin

Right-handed people wear the hand tefillin on their left arm, and left-handed people place it on their right arm. (If you’re ambidextrous or not sure if you qualify as right- or left-handed, consult a rabbi.)31

Tefillin Shel Yad: The arm tefillin (shel yad) is placed on the bicep, on the upper arm below the midpoint of the bone between the elbow and the shoulder, in the area where the muscle naturally bulges.32 The tefillin should be more than two fingerbreadths away from the elbow.33

Intention To Have When Putting on Tefillin

When putting on tefillin, have in mind that:

  • G‑d commanded us to write the four passages of the tefillin, which contain the unity of His Name and the account of the Exodus.
  • He commanded us to place the tefillin on the arm, corresponding to the heart, and on the head, corresponding to the mind, in order to remember the miracles and wonders that He performed for us.
  • These miracles express His unity and that He possesses the power and sovereignty to act in the upper and lower worlds as He sees fit.34

You should therefore subjugate to the Holy One, blessed be He, the soul that “lives” in the mind, as well as the desires and thoughts of the heart, directing them toward the service of G‑d. Through putting on tefillin, we remember the blessed Creator and diminish our pursuit of physical pleasures.

The Blessing on the Arm Tefillin

Before tightening the strap of the arm tefillin, recite the blessing “Lehoniach Tefillin.”35 If you forgot to recite the blessing before tightening the arm tefillin, you can still say the blessing afterward, even if you already put on the head tefillin.36

Don’t speak between the blessing of Lehoniach and fastening the shel yad, not even about tefillin matters, unless for some reason speech is unavoidable in order to proceed.

If you did speak:

If you spoke about tefillin-related matters, you need not repeat the blessing. However, if it was about unrelated matters, you need to repeat the blessing of Lehoniach on the hand tefillin.37

Once the tefillin box is fastened to the bicep, this blessing is no longer repeated, regardless.

After the blessing is recited, the strap around the arm is tightened (and wrapped around the bicep two more times, as per the Chabad custom), then wrapped around the forearm seven times. There are many different traditions for binding the arm and forming a knot. See here for a detailed guide.

After the tefillin are wrapped until the hand, put on the tefillin of the head.

Placement of head tefillin: After securing the arm tefillin, place the head tefillin (shel rosh) on the head, centered “between the eyes,” i.e., above the forehead but not below the natural hairline (or, in the case of balding, where the hairline originally was). You should align the middle of the head tefillin to be parallel with the point “between your eyes.” Some people use a mirror to ensure that the tefillin are perfectly aligned in the middle of the head. The knot of the head tefillin rests at the back of the head, on the protruding part of the skull just above the nape. The two straps are then brought forward over the shoulders, with their black side facing outward.38

After the head tefillin are placed, complete the tying of the arm tefillin by wrapping the remainder of the strap three times around your middle finger, like this: once around the base, then once just above the first joint, then one more time around the base. You’ve got some strap left over, so wrap it around your palm and tuck in the tail end.

See here for a detailed guide.

You may not interrupt between arm and head tefillin

Sephardic and Chassidic authorities, including Chabad, as well as some Ashkenazic communities, maintain that the single blessing said over the arm tefillin is intended to cover both the arm and head tefillin.39

In many Ashkenazic communities, however, the custom is to recite a second blessing, “Al Mitzvat Tefillin,” upon placing the head tefillin, before tightening it. Because of the halachic uncertainty surrounding the necessity of this second blessing, it is customary to add the phrase Baruch shem kevod malchuto le’olam va’ed after the second blessing.40

Although the arm and head tefillin are technically two distinct mitzvot, they are regarded as one continuous act. So put on the head tefillin right after the arm tefillin, without interruption.

If you did speak and interrupt, then the requirement to repeat the berachah depends on the nature of the interruption:

  • If you interrupted with matters necessary for putting on tefillin:
    If you spoke in order to facilitate the mitzvah (for example, asking for help or clarifying something needed to put on the tefillin properly), then, after the fact, the interruption isn’t considered significant, and the original blessing on the arm tefillin remains valid for the head tefillin.41
  • Unrelated matters:
    If you spoke about something unrelated to tefillin, the original blessing is considered interrupted. A blessing must then be recited on the head tefillin.42

Responding to Kaddish, Kedushah, or Barchu Between the Arm and Head Tefillin

Many hold that you should not respond to Kaddish, Kedushah or Barchu between placing the arm tefillin and the head tefillin. Rather, you should remain silent and listen attentively. This applies according to both Ashkenazic and Sephardic practice.43

However, in the Siddur of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the Alter Rebbe), which represents his final halachic ruling, he writes that those who follow the Sephardic and Chabad custom not to recite a separate blessing on the head tefillin unless an interruption occurred, should nevertheless respond if they hear Kaddish, Kedushah or Barchu during this time. Practically, this is the Chabad custom.44

Even then, only limited responses are given:

  • For Kaddish, answer only Amen Yehei Shmei Rabbah and Amen to De’amiran Be’alma.
  • For Kedushah, answer only the sections beginning with Kadosh, Baruch and Yimloch.

In this respect, the interruption is treated similarly to an interruption during the blessings of Shema.

Blessing if one responded

If you did respond to Kaddish, Kedushah or Barchu, it’s considered an interruption between the blessing on the arm tefillin and the placement of the head tefillin. You would need to say an additional blessing on the head tefillin before tightening it.

  • Ashkenazic custom: Both Lehaniach Tefillin and Al Mitzvat Tefillin are recited.45
  • Chabad custom: Only Al Mitzvat Tefillin is recited.46
  • Sephardic custom: No new blessing is recited.47

In practice, many Ashkenazim recite only Al Mitzvat Tefillin in such a case.48

Going to the Bathroom and Repeating Blessing if Tefillin Are Removed

If you removed your tefillin with the intention of putting them back on within three hours, you don’t recite a new blessing when re-wearing them within that time. If, however, you did not intend to put them back on within three hours, or you intended to do so but actually re-wore them after three hours had passed, a new blessing is required.49

All of the above applies only if you didn’t enter a bathroom between removing and re-wearing the tefillin. If you did go to the bathroom in the interim, you must repeat the blessing when putting them on again, regardless of how much time passed.50

Here, “going to the bathroom” refers specifically to entering a regular restroom with a toilet, where it’s forbidden to wear tefillin. Since tefillin have to be removed before going to the bathroom, putting them on again is considered a new act with a new blessing.

Can I Recite the New Blessing on Tefillin During Prayer?

If you went to the bathroom in the middle of the prayers and need to make a new blessing (or even if you didn’t, but for whatever reason you just obtained tefillin in the middle of prayers), it depends on where you’re holding in the prayers. (Note: Some of the instructions below can also be found in a standard annotated Tehillat Hashem siddur.)

During Pesukei Dezimra:
If you receive or remember to put on tefillin in the middle of Pesukei Dezimra, you should put them on without a blessing. Between Yishtabach and Yotzer Or, adjust the tefillin and then recite the blessing.51

During the blessings of Shema:
If you receive tefillin after beginning Yotzer Or but before Shema, you can put them on and recite a blessing between Yotzer Hame’orot and Ahavat Olam, or between Ahavat Olam and Shema, but not in the middle of a paragraph.52

During Shema and afterward:
If you receive tefillin from Ve’ahavta and onward, you can put them on with a blessing even in the middle of a paragraph.53

Between Geulah and the Amidah:
If you put on tefillin between the conclusion of Ga’al Yisrael and the Amidah, you should put them on without reciting a blessing.54 The blessing should then be recited after completing the Amidah.

Taking off Tefillin

When removing the tefillin (whether after the conclusion of prayers or otherwise), take them off in the reverse order in which they were put on. First, remove the straps of the arm tefillin from your finger, then remove the head tefillin and put it away, then remove the arm tefillin.55