Leaving Home Wearing Tefillin

It is very commendable to leave one's home for the synagogue each morning while wearing one's tallit and tefillin.[1] As the Zohar teaches, "One who leaves his home and enters the synagogue not wearing his Tallit and Tefillin, and then recites the verse, ‘Eshtachaveh El Heichal Kodshecha B'yiratecha...,’ the Holy One blessed be He says that such a person has no fear of heaven and is merely speaking lies and giving false testimony."[2] On the other hand, it is taught that one who leaves his home wearing a tallit and tefillin in the morning is accompanied to the synagogue by God and two angels,[3] one on each side, who bless him.[4] It was indeed the custom for centuries in many Jewish communities where Jews lived amongst themselves for men to leave their homes each morning wearing their tallit and tefillin.[5] A number of sources specifically indicate that it is also commendable to return home following services while still wearing one’s tallit and tefillin.[6]

The significance of leaving one’s home wearing tefillin each morning can be seen in the following incident. There is a recorded case about a person who vowed to recite Tehillim in the synagogue before services each morning, even before the crack of dawn. He soon realized, however, that by doing so he would be unable to continue his practice of leaving home while wearing a tallit and tefillin. This is because he would be leaving his home each morning long before the earliest time that one is permitted to put on a tallit and tefillin. As such, he asked the rabbis if he could annul the vow he made to recite Tehillim in the synagogue each morning. The rabbis ruled that he may certainly annul his vow as it was completely invalid in the first place! This is because one cannot make a vow, even one to do a mitzva, if it compromises the performance of a mitzva of greater importance.[7]

Closely related to the mitzva of leaving one’s home each morning wearing one’s tallit and tefillin is the mitzva to be among the first ten to arrive at the synagogue. In fact, there is much discussion as to which mitzva takes precedence.[8] According to most authorities, the mitzva to be among the first ten in the synagogue each morning takes precedence over the mitzva to leave one’s home wearing tallit and tefillin should only one of these two mitzvot be possible to perform. This is because being among the first ten in the synagogue is a Talmudic enactment,[9] while leaving home while wearing Tefillin is more of a Kabbalistic one. Talmudic enactments almost always take precedence over kabbalistic ones. Nevertheless, the Arizal was especially careful to enter the synagogue each morning while wearing his tallit and tefillin and he felt that doing so takes precedence over being among the first ten in the synagogue.[10]

It goes without saying that those who pray vatikin each morning, and leave for the synagogue before the earliest time that one is permitted to put on tallit and tefillin, are not subject to any rebuke. Nevertheless, if possible, when the time for donning one’s tallit and tefillin arrives, one should leave the synagogue sanctuary to put them on, and then return to the sanctuary to continue one’s prayers.[11]

With minor exception, the custom of leaving one's home wearing a tallit and tefillin each morning has all but disappeared. This is especially true in the Diaspora. Among the reasons for this is the fact that Jews have historically lived among non-Jews, who were not always too welcoming or accommodating to say the least. One who lives among non-Jews who would ridicule him for wearing his tallit and tefillin in the street is not required to do so.[12] Even in such circumstances, however, one should put on one's tallit and tefillin at home and then cover them on the way to the synagogue, such as with a hat and jacket, or the like.[13] Similarly, one who must pass dirty or foul-smelling areas on the way to the synagogue might be advised to forgo putting on his tefillin at home.[14] Nevertheless, if one is able to cover the tefillin shel yad with one’s shirt and the tefillin shel rosh with a hat, or even with one's hand, one should do so. One may then proceed to the synagogue in that manner even if there may be foul matter in the streets. There is no need to completely refrain from wearing one's tefillin in the street for this reason.[15]

Although it may appear otherwise, there is actually little justification for not wearing one's tallit and tefillin to the synagogue each morning if one is able to do so. Indeed, it is an explicit ruling in the Shulchan Aruch. It might just be, however, that once the practice ceased being observed (due to anti-Semitism and the like), reviving it was difficult and met with hesitation. There are also authorities who justify, and even outright recommend, not wearing one’s tallit and tefillin to the synagogue nowadays lest doing so be perceived by onlookers as an act of religious arrogance. It might also be that the cold weather where many Jews lived for thousands of years, such as in Eastern Europe, made wearing tefillin outdoors impractical. One who is unable to wear one's tallit and tefillin to the synagogue each morning, can still comply with the custom to some degree by putting on one's tallit and tefillin at the entrance of the synagogue, or some other side room in the building, and then enter the sanctuary while wearing them. In fact, there is actually much merit in doing so.[16]

There is no inherent advantage to wearing one's tallit, without tefillin, to the synagogue, such as on Shabbat and Yom Tov mornings, though many Chassidic authorities encourage one to do so.[17] The practice of wearing a tallit in the street on Shabbat nowadays is probably a remnant of when Jews lived in places that lacked an Eruv and were unable to carry their tallit to the synagogue. It is also a way of avoiding having to fold one’s tallit, something that many authorities forbid doing on Shabbat. Those who follow this ruling generally wear their tallit home after services and then put it somewhere for the remainder of Shabbat. They then fold the tallit following the recitation of Havdala in order to promptly begin the new week with the performance of a mitzva.^[18] So too, there are those who prefer to recite the Shabbat day Kiddush at home while still wearing their tallit. Wearing the tallit home after services allows those with this custom to effortlessly do so. It is interesting to note that Rabbi Yom Tov Schwarz was opposed to the practice of wearing a tallit in the street, calling it a chilul Hashem in the eyes of the non-Jews.[19]

[1] Beit Yosef, OC 25; OC 25:2; Mishna Berura 25:8.

[2] Zohar, Va'etchanan 265; Zohar Chadash, Teruma.

[3] Some sources say four angels.

[4] Darkei Moshe, OC 25:2; Machatzit Hashekel, OC 25:3; Kaf Hachaim (Palagi) 10:24.

[5] Aruch Hashulchan, OC 25:2.

[6] Ateret Zkeinim, OC 25; Kitzur Shla cited in Piskei Teshuvot 25:6.

[7] Magen Avraham, OC 25:3.

[8] See: Kaf Hachaim, OC 25:18; Kaf Hachaim (Palagi) 10:25; Halichot Shlomo, Tefilla 4.

[9] Berachot 47b; OC 90:14; Mishna Berura 90:47.

[10] Magen Avraham, OC 25:3, 90:28; Mishna Berura 90:47; Aruch Hashulchan, OC 25:5; Eliya Rabba 25:6; Ot Chaim 25:3.

[11] Magen Avraham 25:3; Mishna Berura 25:8; Aruch Hashulchan 25:5; Kaf Hachaim, OC 25:17.

[12] Magen Avraham 25:5; Mishna Berura 25:5. See also Kaf Hachaim, OC 25:15, 16.

[13] Ben Ish Chai, Vayera.

[14] Mishna Berura 25:8,10; Levushei Mordechai 1:6.

[15] Mishna Berura 25:8, 43:20; Kaf Hachaim, OC 25:21.

[16] Magen Avraham, OC 25:5; Mishna Berura 25:8,10; Shulchan Aruch Harav, OC 25:6-8; Minhag Yisrael Torah, OC 25:1.

[17] See Kaf Hachaim, OC 25:20; Piskei Teshuvot 25:6; Minhag Yisrael Torah, OC 25:1.

[18] Derech Hachaim 97:12. Others fold it immediately upon the conclusion of Shabbat (or immediately upon returning home from the synagogue), even before reciting Havdala. There is also a custom to fold one’s tallit while reciting va’yihi noam at the conclusion of Ma’ariv in order to demonstrate that until this time weekday activities were forbidden and are now permissible once more. Folding one’s tallit promptly following the conclusion of Shabbat is said to be a segula for one’s wife to live a long life and a segula for shalom bayit. For more on Shabbat and folding a tallit see my “Shu”t Hashulchani.”

[19] Cited in: Eyes to See (Anayim Lirot), Recovering Ethical Torah Principles Lost in the Holocaust by Rabbi Yom Tov Schwarz, translated & edited by Rabbi Avraham Leib Schwarz, Urim Publishers, 2004. The chapter is entitled “Concerning the New Custom of Wearing a Tallis in the Street on Shabbos."