Me’ah She’arim, Jerusalem—One of the arguably most important possessions of any observant Jewish male over the age of 12 years and 11 months (or even earlier, for some of Sephardic or German descent) are his tefillin, or phylacteries. Sourced originally as Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai, the production of tefillin is often a complicated and expensive process, mainly due to the nuanced requirements of the writing of the scrolls within and the shaping of the external boxes, and, with time, a lot of work is required to keep them in working order. In fact, tefillin boxes so easily become pasul (not kosher), that most sofrim (Jewish ritual scribes) advise having them checked inside and out approximately twice every five years.
Given the difficulty of keeping the tefillin boxes themselves kosher, it was especially shocking when rabbinic leaders discovered, a few months ago, that one of the makers of retzu’ot (straps) had begun to use a new problematic manufacturing process, which effectively causes tefillin with even the most kosher boxes to become pasul, because they are wrapped with these straps.
Rabbi Simcha Reizner, a sofer at Me’ah She’arim 72 in Jerusalem, explained the issue with the new manufacturing process. Halacha requires retzu’ot to be black on at least one side. Previously, this would involve painting and sponging black dye, followed by polish, directly onto the hide which would become the straps, allowing them to be the proper color and shiny in appearance as well. This process is extremely complex, and also decently expensive, due to its individualistic manufacture, and tefillin are already one of the most pricey Judaic religious articles.
In order to try to cut down the costs of production, one manufacturer of tefillin straps began about three years ago to put a strip of black plastic on top of undyed leather, and attach it by heat or glue, rather than the traditional method of dye and polish. While these retzu’ot do retain a shiny, black look for longer, the plastic layer can break within a few months, especially if the tefillin are exposed to higher-than-normal heat. As soon as the plastic layer breaks, the tefillin are undoubtedly pasul, and many believe that the plastic layer on the straps renders the tefillin un-kosher as soon as they are tied.
A few months ago, rabbinic leaders in Israel, including the leadership of the Eda Haredit of Jerusalem, became aware of this issue and issued consumer warnings about these problematic straps. Along with this, many sofrim in Israel, who had previously adopted these retz’uot due to their reduced price and pristine rabbinic certification, issued an instant recall on their tefillin. Others, relying on the one posek who allows the use of these straps until the plastic layer cracks, did not, and many still to this day refuse to replace the retzu’ot, claiming they were not problematic and still are not.
Even though public awareness in Israel for these problematic tefillin straps has been improving since the issue was originally discovered, there has been almost no effort to bring this issue to the attention of Jews of the Diaspora. This is especially problematic, given that many often have their tefillin checked and retz’uot replaced while visiting Israel on an organized program or personal pilgrimage. So, what should one do if they replaced tefillin straps in Israel within the past few years?
Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, author of sefarim on shemitta and Halacha for observant IDF soldiers, religious leader of Alon Shvut in the Gush Etzion, and renowned Halacha expert and posek in the Israeli Religious Zionist spectrum, advised JLNJ Israel that there are two types of tefillin straps that were created by this manufacturer. One type is black on both sides of the strap, meaning that the retz’uot were dyed before the plastic layer was added. These, according to Rav Rimon, are far from mehudar, but are not technically pasul. On the other hand, retz’uot that are comprised of undyed leather and a black plastic layer above, ones which are only black on one side of the strap, are unquestionably pasul and should be replaced as soon as possible.
Rabbi Rephael Hirsch, a Sofer in Fair Lawn (http://www.newjerseysofer.com/), wanted to bring to readers’ attention a more serious issue with these particular retzu’ot. Even if the straps of tefilin are technically Kosher (as in, they are black-on-black as explained above), if the manufacturer of the retzu’ot misrepresented them during the sale, this can call into question other potential issues during their creation. “The issue isn’t even about the plastic… Since the person misrepresented the retzu’ot, his integrity is in doubt, and we can no longer trust anything he said about the retzuot. We don’t know if the source of leather is in fact an animal hide for tefilin, or if they were tanned and processed leshem mitzva, as is required. For this reason, these retzu’ot should be considered pasul, even if they might technically be Kosher.”
Rabbi Reizner explained to JLNJ Israel that it is very easy for the layman to identify whether their tefillin have the problematic plastic straps. One should simply fold the straps with the black surfaces facing each other, and then release them after a few seconds. If the straps have faint lines from the folding, then they are most likely not problematic, as the layer of paint and polish above the leather would be affected by even the smallest folding. However, if the retzu’ot do not have even a faint remnant from the folding, then they are likely from the problematic manufacturer and should be replaced as soon as possible (especially since, if they are only black on one side, they render the tefillin completely pasul).
Rav Rimon advises any readers who have purchased tefillin straps in the past three years from an Israeli sofer, or from a sofer in the Diaspora who uses the same manufacturers, and has any doubt as to their kashrut, to have them checked by their local Orthodox rabbi or trusted sofer.
By Tzvi Silver/JLNJ Israel
