Ask the Rabbi: Forgot to Remove Tefillin Before Musaf of Rosh Chodesh | Rabbi Daniel Mann | Beit Midrash

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Question: Davening Shacharit at home on Rosh Chodesh, I realized during the first beracha of Musaf that I forgot to remove my tefillin and took them off before the next beracha. Was that correct?

Answer: We have to investigate two independent topics, and then be practical about preferences in navigating the "conflict."
Removing tefillin before Musaf: The idea of taking off tefillin before Musaf appears in the Beit Yosef (Orach Chayim 25) as a minhag. He does not cite a source, and in looking for a reason, proposes that since Kedusha of Musaf is introduced (for Sephardim and Nusach Sephard) with a reference to Hashem’s keter (crown), it is inappropriate that we should be wearing our "crown" – tefillin. He cites Chol Hamo’ed’s lack of tefillin as a similar idea. The Rama (ad loc.) says that it although it follows that in places that do not recite "Keter …" in Kedusha, one should leave his tefillin on, the minhag is still to take them off. The same should apply to one who is davening without a minyan and thus Kedusha. The Taz (ad loc. 16) does not find the minhag compelling because Musaf should not elevate more than Chol Hamo’ed, and still many have the minhag to don tefillin then. The Levush (ad loc. 13) says that it is because Musaf, which mentions the day’s special korbanot, gives it an aura of Yom Tov. (I will add a supplementary point. Since we are careful to have tefillin on only for Kri’at Shema, Shemoneh Esrei (=SE), three Kedushot and four Kaddeishim (see Rama ibid.), by Musaf, there is little need to keep them on (see Mishna Berura 25:55).). Most poskim treat removing tefillin before Musaf as a not very important minhag (ibid. 61), despite strong Kabbalistic sources (see Kaf Hachayim, OC 25:94) that elevate its importance.
Hefsek (interruption) in tefilla: While hefsek in SE is severe (Berachot 33a), there are different levels of hefsek. The most severe is to speak, whereas walking to a different place is more lenient and permitted for significant but modest need (Mishna Berura 104:10). While performing actions can be even more lenient, it depends how involved the action is. It seems clear that certain actions are too trivial to require special permission (e.g., wiping off some sweat). The Shulchan Aruch (OC 97:4) allows adjusting one’s tallit but not returning it if it fell (unless the situation harms his concentration – Mishna Berura, ad loc. 16; see also Mishna Berura 96:7 regarding picking up a siddur that fell to the floor). Taking off tefillin thus seems to require real need.
There is a machloket among poskim if one can do actions to enhance tefilla that if not done, will not cause a critical lacking in it (see Ishei Yisrael 32:21 regarding going to get a siddur to help with Al Hanisim; SE is valid without it). One could then say that if tefillin on during Musaf has some sort of negative impact on SE, then it should be appropriate to remove them within it, to fix the rest of SE. If it is just a mild preference to take them off and especially if the issue relates more to the tefillin than to the tefilla, then it is no worse than the siddur on the floor, and one should remove it only after SE. While one can bring arguments one way or the other, the Mishna Berura (25:61) states clearly that since removing the tefillin is just a minhag, one who forgot does not remove them during SE.
After the fact, do not be too concerned that you removed them. Simple, well-intentioned hefsek does not disqualify SE (Shulchan Aruch, OC 104:6; see Mishna Berura ad loc. 25). Furthermore, it is possible that in your lack of certainty, you were considered one whose concentration is affected (see Mishna Berura 96:7, Ishei Yisrael 32:5; see Piskei Teshuvot 25:28 regarding this case). A compromise semi-removal, which some Acharonim advocate in borderline cases (see Kaf Hachayim, OC 25:99) would have been even easier to justify. One can move the tefillin shel rosh out of a position of mitzva relevance and slip a sleeve or cloth under the shel yad to make a chatzitza. This is likely not a hefsek (see above).