Rosh Chodesh - Tefillin Removal (Continued)

Q. As previously, we remove the Tefillin on Rosh Chodesh before Musaf. At what point before Musaf should they be removed?

A. The Mishnah Berurah (OC 25:58) cites two customs. The Magen Avrohom (423:6) writes that the tefillin should be removed after Kaddish, just before Musaf. That is preferable because the kabbalists write that tefillin should be worn while four Kadeishim are recited. (The four Kadeishim would be Kaddish after Yishtabach, Shemoneh Esrei, Krias Hatorah and Uva Litzion.) On the other hand, the Pri Migadim and Elya Rabba maintain that the tefillin should not be removed before Kaddish so there should not be a separation between Kaddish and Musaf. The Pri Migadim recommends removing the Tefillin before “Yehi ratzon shenishmor chukecha” (Let it be Your will that we guard your laws), because in Eretz Yisrael there was a custom to recite this phrase with a blessing when removing the tefillin. Others would only unwrap the tefillin from the fingers before reciting this phrase (MB, OC 424:10).

It should be noted that Rav Soloveitchik followed the Elyah Rabbah and removed his tefillin before kaddish because Kaddish is related to the Musaf that immediately follows, and therefore it is improper to interrupt between Kaddish and Musaf (Nefesh HaRav, pp. 115-116).

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