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Question: Right before entering shul for Shacharit, I realized I forgot my tallit and tefillin (=t&t). If I would go home to get them, I would effectively miss tefilla b’tzibbur (it was the last minyan). What is preferable – to daven at home with t&t or daven in shul without them?

Answer: If you were just missing a tallit, it would clearly be better to daven with a minyan (Ishei Yisrael 12:19). Arguably, it is improper to recite Kri’at Shema (=KS), whose third parasha commands to wear tzitzit, without a tallit on, like doing so without tefillin is (see Berachot 14b). However, not all agree that it is an issue because the mitzva applies only if one is wearing a four-cornered garment (Tosafot ad loc.). Furthermore, you presumably are fulfilling the mitzva with your tzitzit. While we are somewhat concerned that the tzitzit garment is not large enough for the mitzva (Darchei Moshe, Orach Chayim 8:3) and there are other advantages to davening with a tallit (including covering one’s head with it), most Ashkenazi single men demonstrate that this is far from critical, as they men rely on the assumption they are big enough (see Living the Halachic Process III, F-7).

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Regarding tefillin, we mentioned the gemara that it is problematic to do KS without them, because it contains their commandment. Important sources (see Tosafot ad loc., Shulchan Aruch, OC 25:4) extend this to Shemoneh Esrei (=SE). This is not an absolute rule, as we recite KS without tefillin when sof z’man KS is before our davening and we will later repeat KS with tefillin on (see Yabia Omer I, OC 4). Which is stronger – the preference to daven with a minyan (Shulchan Aruch, OC 90:16) or reciting KS/SE with tefillin?

The Magen Avraham (66:12) writes that one who is waiting to borrow tefillin should forgo SE with a minyan in order not to daven without them. His source is based on what we might call the halachic transitive property of inequality: If one enters shul when the congregation is about to start SE of Shacharit, he must not skip straight to SE because the importance of davening SE immediately after mentioning geula is greater than that of davening SE with a minyan (Shulchan Aruch, OC 111:3). Nevertheless, if one attains tefillin between geula and SE, he should put on the tefillin at that point, despite the resulting break (ibid. 66:8.). This shows that the importance of davening with tefillin is greater than the proximity of SE to geula. If SE with tefillin is of greater importance than the proximity of geula and tefilla, and that proximity is of greater importance than SE with a minyan, it follows that davening SE with tefillin is more important than davening SE with a minyan.

We have shown (Living the Halachic Process IV, A-3) how to deflect the Magen Avraham’s proof and pointed out that some disagree with him, but the Mishna Berura (66:40) and most Acharonim (see Ishei Yisrael ibid.) accept his ruling. However, especially because the Magen Avraham is already a chiddush, we need not extend the choice to prefer the tefillin over minyan to your case because you would lose other things as well. Although we consider minyan more important for SE than for being able to recite other devarim shebekedusha (see Chayei Adam I:19:1), it is very possible that the Magen Avraham would agree that the two together are more important than tefillin for davening. You can add to that the value of davening in a shul (Shulchan Aruch, OC 90:9). Therefore, we would recommend to stay in shul rather than daven at home and put on t&t and repeat Kri’at Shema after going home.

You may have overlooked better alternatives. Many shuls have spare pairs of t&t or people to borrow from at some point in tefilla. (In order to make a beracha on a tallit and fulfill the mitzva, one must acquire it temporarily (ibid. 14:3); for tefillin, it just must not be stolen (ibid. 25:12).) Another possibility was to return with t&t and although not making it to SE with the tzibbur, partake in some of the devarim shebekedusha. (You would just need to ensure that you did not miss sof zman KS or tefilla.)

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