Should a person don tefillin on Shabbat and holidays as he does on the weekday? Should a person wear tefillin at night as well as the daytime?[1] Are women commanded to don tefillin just like the man? Those are the questions that are being debated on today’s daf TB Eruvin 96.
To understand the proof that a person should don tefillin on Shabbat and holidays as he does on the weekday, you have to know that women are exempt from positive time bound commandments. “With regard to all positive, time-bound mitzvot, i.e., those which must be performed at specific times, men are obligated to perform them and women are exempt.” (TB Kiddushin 29a, Sefaria.org translation) If tefillin is a mitzvah that is not time bound (meaning in this case that one puts on tefillin every day with no exceptions), then women are obligated to put them on just like men. The Gemara brings the story about King Saul’s daughter Michal to prove that women are obligated to put on tefillin.
“Rather, we must say that it is this tanna who maintains that Shabbat is a time for phylacteries, as it was taught in a baraita: Michal, daughter of Kushi, King Saul, would don phylacteries (tefillin), and the Sages did not protest against her behavior, as she was permitted to do so. And similarly, Jonah’s wife would undertake the Festival pilgrimage and the Sages did not protest against her practice. From the fact that the Sages did not protest against Michal’s donning phylacteries, it is apparent that these Sages hold that phylacteries is a positive mitzva not bound by time, i.e., it is a mitzva whose performance is mandated at all times, including nights and Shabbat. There is an accepted principle that women are obligated in all positive mitzvot not bound by time.
“The Gemara rejects this contention: But perhaps that tanna holds in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yosei, who said: It is optional for women to place their hands on the head of a sacrificial animal before it is slaughtered. Although only men have this obligation, women may perform that rite if they wish. Similarly, women may perform other mitzvot that they have no obligation to fulfill.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Tefillin are not worn on Shabbat and holidays. Rabbi Akiva
gives the reason why they are not. “And does Rabbi
Akiva really hold that Shabbat is a time for donning phylacteries?
Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Akiva says: I might
have thought that a person should don phylacteries on Shabbatot and
Festivals. Therefore, the verse states: “And it shall be for a sign for
you on your arm, and for a remembrance between your eyes, so that God’s law
shall be in your mouth; for with a strong arm God brought you out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:9). The obligation to
don phylacteries applies when Jews require a sign to assert their
Judaism and their status as the Chosen People, i.e., during the week, excluding
Shabbat and Festivals, as they are themselves signs of Israel’s status
as the Chosen People and a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. Consequently,
no further sign is required on these days. This teaching proves that Rabbi
Akiva maintains that Shabbat is not a fit time for donning phylacteries.” (Sefaria.org translation) The sign of tefillin on Shabbat and holidays is
superfluous since those days are signs unto themselves.
When comes to tefillin
are the intermediate days of the holiday more like a weekday and a person
should wear tefillin or are they more
like the holiday and we shouldn’t don them? There are different traditions.
Ashkenazi Jews do put on tefillin during the intermediate days, while Sefardim
and Hasidim don’t. (Shulkan Arukh, Orekh Hayyim, 31:1-2)
Although the Shulkan Arukh, Orekh
Hayyim, 38:3 vehemently prohibits women from taking on this mitzvah of tefillin, women throughout history must
have. There’s a tradition that Rashi’s daughters put on tefillin. My synagogue Beth Am in Cleveland had a bar mitzvah
school for students who were 12 when I was that age. Mrs. Leven taught me how
to put on tefillin! Tosefot ד"ה לא סלקא דעתך לא רבי מאיר סבר לה כרבי יוסי asks an interesting question.
If you’re not obligated to observe a mitzvah and decide to do so, should you
say the require blessing? The lineup breaks down like this. Rebainu Tam (Rashi’s
grandson) and the Rema gloss on the Shulkhan Arukh say yes and Rambam and the Shulkhan
Arukh says no.
When I taught my bnai mitvah class, I instructed both the boys and the girls how to put on tefillin and say the requisite blessings. Without knowing it then I was following Rebainu Tam (Rashi’s grandson) and the Rema. So I was in pretty good company.
[1] One does not put on tefillin at
night lest he falls asleep and treats the tefillin in a very disrespectful
manner. If one is wearing his tefillin, he doesn't have to remove them at
nightfall; however, one doesn't teach this halakha to the masses. (Shulkan Arukh, Orekh Hayyim, 30:2)
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