Donning Tallit and Tefillin
|
| Please note that this page contain the name
of God. If you print it out, please treat it with appropriate respect. |
A tallit is worn at morning services, both on weekdays and on
Shabbat, and also on the night of Yom Kippur. Tefillin are worn at morning
services on weekdays only.. For more information, see
Signs and Symbols. Tallis and tefillin should
be put on before you begin prayer, and tallis should be put on before tefillin.
Donning a Tallit
Stretch the tallit before you, holding it with both hands, and recite this
blessing:
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe |
asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu l'hit'ateif ba-tzitzit
Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to wrap ourselves
in the tzitzit |
After reciting the blessing, throw the tallit over your shoulders like a
cape and bring your hands together in front of your face briefly, covering
your head. Then adjust the tallit comfortably on your shoulders.
The blessing above is often embroidered on the atarah of the tallit, that
is, on the ornamental area at the neck of the garment. If you are planning
to embroider this yourself, please take particular care to alter the Names
to avoid the risk that something disrespectful might happen to the tallit
and thereby to the Names.
The way I usually see it on an atarah replaces the Yod-Yod above (which is
actually a substitution anyway) with a Dalet-Yod, and the Eloheinu changed
to Elokeinu (the Heh replaced with a Qof). See the
Hebrew Alphabet page if you're not familiar
with the letter names.
Laying Tefillin
The process of laying tefillin is difficult to explain with words alone.
You should have someone experienced show you how to do it if you have never
done it before. The instructions below merely provide a broad overview.
Roll up your sleeve and place the hand tefillin loosely around the bicep
of your non-dominant arm (left arm if you are right-handed; right arm if
you are left-handed) and recite this blessing:
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe |
asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu l'hani'ach t'filin
Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on tefillin |
After reciting the blessing above, tighten the strap and wind it around the
forearm. Wrap the rest of the strap temporarily around the palm of the hand
(not around the fingers yet! That comes later).
Then take out the head tefillin and place it loosely on the head, above the
hairline between the eyes. Recite the following blessing:
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe |
asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu al mitzvat t'filin
Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us about the mitzvah
of tefillin |
Barukh Sheim k'vod mal'khuto l'olam va'ed
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever |
Tighten the straps and drape the excess straps forward over your shoulders,
hanging loosely in front of your chest.
The excess hand strap is then unwrapped from around the palm and rewrapped
around the fingers. Once it is properly wrapped around the fingers, recite
this prayer:
V'eiras'tikh li l'olam
I will betroth you to me forever |
V'eiras'tikh li b'tzedek uv'mishpat uv'chesed uv'rachamim
I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice and in kindness
and in mercy |
V'eiras'tikh li be'emunah v'yada'at et Adonai
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and you will know the Lord |
Removing Tefillin
Remove the tefillin in the reverse order of the procedure above: first unwrap
the fingers, rewrapping around the palm, then remove the head tefillin, then
remove the hand tefillin.
© Copyright 2006 (5766), Tracey R
Rich
|
