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I was
surprised to realize that the standard size teffilin used by Anash nowadays didnt fit on the area kosher for
putting on the shel yad.
Let me elaborate for those unfamiliar with the details. The only place kosher for putting on the shel yad is on the
lower part of the biceps. As the AR explains in Shulchan Oruch (27:2), to determine the right place, one should
divide the length of the upper arm in half, the bottom half down until the lower end of the muscle (but not all
the way down to the elbow) is the place for the teffilin shel yad. That means that the entire teffilin including the
base (the titurah and maavarta) must be on this spot. Even if a drop of the teffilin is over or under this spot, the
mitzva is not fulfilled (AR 27:14 re: the shel rosh. MB ibid SK 4, 33, 34, Biur Halacha S.V. Babosor and S.V. Ad
Sof). [Although there is a shita that the maavarta is not considered part of teffilin, and hence does not have to be
on the muscle, this is apparently a daas yochid]. See attached diagrams.
[The GRA holds that it is kosher to go up past the center of the upper arm, and the MB says that bedieved one
may rely on this. But the AR clearly accepts the view of the Shulchon Aruch that allows only the lower half of
the upper arm].
Are many of
our Bar
Mitzva boys
not wearing
Teffilin?!
letters to fit in smaller battim. After much effort I finally located a Lubavitcher sofer in E. Yisroel who wrote me
a beautiful pair of smaller parshiyos to fit in the smaller teffilin.
It should be noted that there is an easy way around this. The hiddur of big teffilin only applies to the shel rosh.
There is no halacha that the shel rosh and shel yad have to be the same size. So if the batim machers made the
shel rosh large and the shel yad small we would fulfill all hiddurim and requirements. Alternatively the battim
could be made the full 4x4 cm but the tuturah and maavarta could be made very thin. (I heard that this is what
Rav Osdoba does).
It should also be noted that the amount of space available for the head teffilin is not clear. The MB (ibid 27:33 and
Biur Halacha there) brings a machlokis if it can be placed on the entire upper part of the head or only on half that
area. According to the latter view, a Bar mitzva boy is best to get the shel rosh smaller to.
In conclusion, the custom as it stands today that all Bar Mitzva boys regardless of size are given the big teffilin
seems to be a BIG PROBLEM!
Isser Z. Weisberg, Toronto