לעילוי נשמת

יואל אפרים בן אברהם עוזיאל זלצמן ז”ל

Question: I (an Ashkenazi) accidentally said the bracha of Al Mitzvat Tefillin on my tefillin shel yad and realized right before putting on the shel rosh. What should I have done in regard to brachot—repeat it for the shel rosh? Say L’haniach Tefillin on the shel rosh? Something else?

Answer: The Gemara (Menachot 36a) lists “L’haniach Tefillin” as the bracha for the shel yad and “Al Mitzvat Tefillin” for shel rosh, but one way of learning the Gemara is that one makes two brachot only if he speaks between putting on the two (see Rashi ad loc.; Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 25:5). For Ashkenazim, when one speaks, he needs to repeat “L’haniach Tefillin” along with “Al Mitzvat Tefillin” for the shel rosh (Rama ad loc.).

There is much discussion on related perplexing matters, including the following: Why, for Sephardim, is there one bracha for two mitzvot (shel yad and shel rosh—see Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvot, Aseh 12-13)? A major approach (see Mahari Halevi in Taz, Orach Chayim 25:6) is that while there are two mitzvot, they are very similar and also intrinsically designed to be connected. Why, for Ashkenazim, can there be (if one speaks) two brachot for the shel rosh? There are different positions as to why there are two different brachot for the shel yad. Tosafot (Brachot 60b) says that “L’haniach Tefillin” is formulated as a bracha for the beginning of the process of putting on tefillin and “Al Mitzvat Tefillin” is for the end of the process. Mahari Halevi (ibid.; see earlier sources in Rosh, Tefillin 15) explains how each tefillin require both brachot—with each adding a different element (see also Aruch Hashulchan, Orach Chayim 25:10)—but they were instituted in a way that normally L’haniach Tefillin “extends forward” and Al Mitzvat Tefillin “stretches backward.”

After this small glimpse at the fundamental analysis of the brachot, we approach sources on our case—when one recites “Al Mitzvat Tefillin” on the shel yad. Most poskim (see Machazik Bracha 25:7) assume that “Al Mitzvat Tefillin” works bedieved for Sephardim as the single bracha. Certainly—according to the Mahari Halevi (but likely even for others)—Al Mitzvat Tefillin takes effect if said while putting on the shel yad as well. Despite this, if one catches the mistake before fastening the shel yad, it is best to recite “L’haniach Tefillin” before fastening it, so that bracha is said at its right time (Michtam L’David, Orach Chayim 12). Rav Shabtai Ventura (cited ibid. 11) assumes that when one thought he was making his first bracha on the shel yad, it does not work for the shel rosh, which makes it necessary to make both brachot on the shel rosh—L’haniach Tefillin because it was not done yet and Al Mitzvat Tefillin because he lacked intent for the shel rosh.

Michtam L’David argues forcefully because we assume that both brachot relate and work for both tefillin. Therefore, he says that in our case, one only recites “L’haniach Tefillin” on the shel rosh. The Michtam L’David is accepted by the Shaarei Teshuva (25:5), Chida (Machazik Beracha ibid.) and the Malbim (Artzot Hachayim 25:5).

The Michtam L’David includes a chiddush. We have already seen why not to repeat “Al Mitzvat Tefillin,” namely, because it already took effect and counts for the shel rosh as well. One could have said, then, that there is no need to say “L’haniach Tefillin” for the shel rosh—as the shel rosh already has a bracha—so why recite an additional, less than fully appropriate bracha? However, the Michtam L’David is supported by the halachot that one who spoke between the shel yad and shel rosh repeats “L’haniach Tefillin” (Rama, Orach Chayim 25:9) and that one who has only tefillin shel rosh makes both brachot (ibid. 26:2). (One might be able to deflect these proofs, but that is beyond our present scope.)

In the final analysis, you should have followed the prevalent opinions among the Acharonim and said only “L’haniach Tefillin” when putting on the shel rosh. (Presumably, in deference to those like Rashi who say there is only one bracha on the two tefillin, one should say, “baruch shem kevod malchuto …” after putting on the shel rosh with L’haniach Tefillin—see Rama, Orach Chayim 25:5.)

Rabbi Mann is a dayan for Eretz Hemdah and a staff member of Yeshiva University’s Gruss Kollel in Israel. He is a senior member of the Eretz Hemdah responder staff, editor of Hemdat Yamim and the author of “Living the Halachic Process, Volumes 1 and 2” and “A Glimpse of Greatness.”