Beit Midrash

  • Jewish Laws and Thoughts
  • Various Subjects
To dedicate this lesson

How Are Tefillin Manufactured A Tefillin Shoppers Guide

A Tefillin Shoppers Guide, What are the important Halachot Which one should know before purchasing Tefillin?

undefined

Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff

5768
Question: I am in the process of purchasing tefillin for my son. This is a major purchase since I hope that he will use these tefillin for many, many years to come, and tefillin are such an important mitzvah. Therefore I have been making a lot of inquiries as to what to look for. Unfortunately, the more questions I ask, the more confused I become. Rather than gaining clarity, I am hearing many unfamiliar terms such as avodas yad (handmade), devek bein habatim (glue between the compartments of the tefillin shel rosh), perudos (separated), and gasos batim (hide of a mature animal). Could you please explain what I should be looking for in my search for mehudar tefillin?

Answer: Your questions are all very valid, and I am very glad that you have provided me the opportunity to explain these issues. Your quest is also complicated by the fact that because most tefillin are made in Eretz Yisroel, it is sometimes difficult for someone in chutz la'aretz to find out all the details about their manufacture, especially since some rabbanim and poskim have never seen a pair of tefillin made! However, I hope to present you with enough halachic and practical basics to assist you in your search.

First, we need to understand the basics of tefillin manufacture.
As we will see, many details of the halachos of tefillin are halacha le'Moshe mi'Sinai, meaning, that they were taught to Moshe Rabbeinu directly by Hashem even though there is no reference or even allusion to these halachos in the written Torah. The Rambam counts ten such examples (Hilchos Tefillin 3:1).
There are four places in the Torah where the mitzvah of tefillin is mentioned, twice in Parshas Bo, a third time in Parshas Va'eschanan and a fourth time in Parshas Eikev. Handwritten copies of these four sections of the Torah are placed inside specially made cases and this comprises each of the tefillin worn on the arm and the head.

COMPONENTS OF THE TEFILLIN
Tefillin have three major components:
1. The Parshiyos (singular, parsha). These are the parchments on which the sofer painstakingly and carefully writes the four sections of the Torah mentioned above. For the tefillin shel yad (arm tefillin), all four parshiyos are written on one piece of parchment, whereas for the tefillin shel rosh (head tefillin), each parsha is written on a separate piece of parchment.



2.The Batim (singular bayis). These are the housing of the parshiyos. The bayis itself has three subcomponents. (a) The Ketzitzah, the cube-shaped box inside which the parshiyos are placed. (b) The Titura, the base on which the ketzitzah rests. (c) The Ma'avarta (Aramaic for "bridge"), the extension of the titura through which the straps are inserted. In good quality tefillin, the entire bayis, that is the ketzitzah, titura, and ma'avarta, are all made from one piece of hide.

3. The retzuos, the straps.



MANUFACTURE OF THE HIDE
Every pair of tefillin contains parts made from three different types of animal hide: the parchment on which the parshiyos are written; the thick hide from which the batim are manufactured; and the softer leather used for the retzuos.

The parchment, the hide and leather used for making tefillin and all other devarim she'bi'kedusha (holy items) must come from a kosher species, although not necessarily from an animal that was slaughtered in a kosher way (Shabbos 108a; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 32:12).
Tefillin must be manufactured "lishma," for the sake of the mitzvah. Practically speaking, this means that the beginning of each process should be performed by an observant Jew who declares that the production is for the sake of the mitzvah of tefillin (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 32:8).
Modern tanning of hide for parchment, batim and straps is a multi-stage process. For this reason, it is preferable that each step be performed, or at least begun, by an observant Jew lishma. Because of this, one of the questions to be ascertained when purchasing tefillin is to what extent an observant Jew was involved in the processing of the hide. This issue impacts on the question of machine-made vs. hand-made parchment and retzuos, which I will discuss later.

WRITING THE PARSHIYOS
Before starting to write, the sofer must state that he is writing these parshiyos for the sake of the mitzvah of tefillin (see Rosh, Hilchos Sefer Torah Ch. 2; Tur Orach Chaim Chapter 32). In addition, every time he writes any of the names of Hashem he must first state that he is writing the name for kedushas Hashem. If he did not make these statements verbally, it is questionable whether the tefillin are kosher (see Rama, Orach Chaim 32:19; Rabbi Akiva Eiger comments on Shulchan Aruch 32:8).

The parshiyos must be written with meticulous care since an error that affects the kashrus of a single letter invalidates the entire tefillin (Menachos 28a). Thus, if only one letter is missing or written incorrectly, the tefillin are posul and the person who wears these tefillin has not fulfilled the mitzvah (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 32:23). Furthermore, all the brachos he recites on the tefillin are in vain.
Here are some examples of mistakes that can occur while writing tefillin. If two letters touch one another, the tefillin are posul (Menachos 34a; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 32:4).
The same thing is true if the sofer intended to write one letter and instead wrote something that looks like a different letter or does not meet the halachic requirements of how the required letter must be written. For example, if a sofer intended to write the letter "zayin" and made it so long that it could be read as a "nun sofis," the tefillin are invalid. Similarly, if the sofer intended to write the letter "reish" that is supposed to have a rounded upper right corner, and instead wrote it with a square corner, the tefillin are invalid.
Sometimes the letters of the parshiyos may seem perfect and yet the tefillin are absolutely posul. For example, the letters written in tefillin (as well as sifrei Torah and mezuzos) must be written or formed directly. A letter cannot be formed indirectly by scratching off ink around the letter until only the letter remains. This halacha is called "chok tochos," which literally means, "he hollowed out the inside."
(The origin of this expression is from a case in the Gemara where a get was written by carving a piece of wood until the letters projected. This get is invalid since the letters of the get were not written but formed indirectly by removing the area around them. This does not fulfill the Torah's requirement that a get be written [Gemara Gittin 20a]. "Writing" requires that the letters must be formed and not created indirectly.)
Similarly, if a sofer wrote the letter "dalet" instead of a "reish," it is halachically invalid to erase the sharp corner of the "dalet" and form a "reish" (Tur Orach Chaim Chapter 32, quoting Sefer HaTerumos). If someone did this, he has not written a "reish" but rather he formed a "reish" indirectly and this is not considered "writing." Any tefillin, sefer Torah or mezuzah made this way will be invalid (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 32:18).
If a sefer Torah was written through "chok tochos," the letter can be erased and rewritten. However, if this problem occurs in tefillin or mezuzos, the parsha will often be irreparable (Taz 32:16), and the parsha will have to be put into sheimos (genizah).

WHY CAN'T THIS MISTAKE BE CORRECTED?
Halacha requires that the parshiyos of tefillin and mezuzos be written in the order in which the words appear in the Torah (Rishonim, quoting Mechilta, end of Parshas Bo). This requirement is referred to as being written "ki'sidran," in their proper sequence. For this reason, if a letter was skipped and filled in afterwards, the tefillin or mezuza is posul and cannot be corrected. Similarly, if a "reish" was mistakenly written as a "dalet," and the problem was discovered after more letters were written, the parsha is posul unless one erases all the letters written after the invalid "reish."
The law of ki'sidran (in their proper sequence) applies only to tefillin and mezuzos. Sifrei Torah, megillos, and other holy writings do not have this rule and their letters may be written out of order. Therefore if some of their letters become posul, they can be corrected.
Here is another case where the buyer is completely dependent on the integrity of the sofer. After investing many hours writing a beautiful parsha, a sofer checks the parsha and discovers that one of its letters was written incorrectly in a way that might invalidate the parsha. He takes the parsha to his rav, who paskins that the parsha is indeed posul and cannot be rectified. If the sofer lacks integrity, what is to stop him from fixing the invalid letter so that it now appears a hundred percent kosher?
Fortunately, tefillin and mezuzos purchased from reputable sources should not have problems of dishonesty like that just described. However, one should still try to find out about the sofer whose tefillin one's son will be wearing. Although it is difficult to check whether someone is a yarei Shamayim, one should at least attempt to ascertain whether the sofer appears to be a yarei Shamayim.
Furthermore, the sofer must be thoroughly familiar with the halachos of writing tefillin or he will certainly produce posul tefillin. There are literally hundreds of ways that a non-knowledgeable sofer can write tefillin that will be invalid. Thus, when purchasing tefillin one must insist that the sofer who wrote them is knowledgeable in the halachos of safrus and that he has up-to-date certification from a recognized organization or posek to be a sofer. Some of these organizations insist that the sofrim they certify take periodic continuing examinations to ascertain that they are still competent in the halachos required for their profession.
When parents of a soon-to-be Bar-Mitzvah bochur begin researching to purchase tefillin for their son, they should be aware that if they are looking for a "bargain," they will be sacrificing quality. Tefillin should be viewed as a long-term investment since a good pair should last many decades. That means that buying a more mehudar pair of tefillin that costs perhaps $400 more than a minimally kosher pair, will translate into spending approximately a nickel a day if the tefillin are worn for the next thirty years.
What other investment costs only a nickel a day!

A MODERN INNOVATION IN HALACHA
After the sofer finishes writing the tefillin parshiyos, he reads them over several times and then they are checked by a specially trained examiner, or even better, by two trained examiners. In our era, the checking process has been tremendously enhanced by a modern innovation – computer-checking. The written parshiyos are scanned into a computer that has a program comparing the written parshiyos with the computer's version. The computer checks for missing and extra letters and words, for poorly and mistakenly formed letters, for connected or cracked letters and for other errors.
Experience has proven that computers have an infinite attention span and never get distracted by boredom or exhaustion. (Of course, the computer's proper performance depends on an alert operator). So it is common for computers to catch mistakes that humans overlook. There is a recorded instance of a pair of tefillin that was checked nine different times without discovering that a word was missing, until it underwent a computer-check! When purchasing tefillin, one should insist that the parshiyos be computer-checked.
However, one may not rely only on a computer-check of the tefillin since, at present, computers cannot check for certain items such as proper spacing between letters and words.
It should be noted that neither the examiner nor the computer can detect certain problems that occur, such as letters written out of order and letters formed through "chok tochos" (scratching out or erasing to create letters, instead of writing). This is why the sofer's yiras shamayim and his halachic knowledge are absolutely indispensable.

MANUFACTURE OF THE BATIM
Until now we have discussed the preparation of the parshiyos that go inside the batim of the tefillin. Now we will investigate the complicated process of making proper tefillin batim. The manufacturer of batim is generally referred to by the Yiddish term "batim macher."
Several basic types of tefillin batim are manufactured. The highest quality batim are called "gasos," large ones, because they are made from the hide of mature (large) cattle. Their leather is high-quality and very durable. From the buyer's perspective, these batim are well worth the higher cost. In additional to their superior durability, gasos batim have halachic advantages. Furthermore, they can be repaired easily if the tefillin are damaged. These are the type of batim purchased by people concerned about doing mitzvos properly.

ANOTHER MODERN INNOVATION
In fact, gasos batim are a relatively new development made possible through the invention of the modern hydraulic press. Until this invention, the tough gasos hide could not be worked into the intricate shapes required for the shaping of tefillin. Only today can tons of pressure be applied to the leather with a hydraulic press to produce the finest tefillin from the thick hide of gasos animals.
Gasos batim take several months to manufacture. Since the hide is very strong and tough, each step requires moistening it to make it malleable, forming it with the assistance of molds and a hydraulic press, and then allowing several weeks for the hide to dry.
Forming the separate sections of the tefillin shel rosh into four compartments is a delicate task. The hide must be bent and squeezed into separate compartments without tearing it. Although one internal tear does not invalidate the batim, more than one tear can render the bayis posul. For this and other reasons, one must be confident in the expertise, halachic knowledge and yiras shamayim of the batim macher.

THE SHIN OF THE SHEL ROSH
There is a halacha le'Moshe mi'Sinai that the tefillin shel rosh must have the letter "shin" on each side, a normal three-headed shin on the right side of the wearer, and an unusual four-headed shin on the left side (Tosafos, Menachos 35a, quoting Shimusha Rabba; Rambam, Hilchos Tefillin 3:1). The commentaries cite many reasons why the left side of the tefillin must have a four-headed shin (see Smag, Smak, Beis Yosef, Bach). Some say that the four-headed shin is reminiscent of the letter shin as it appeared in the luchos. Since the letters were carved through the stones of the luchos, the letter shin appeared to have four legs and heads (Taz 32:35).
There is a dispute among early poskim whether the shin on the tefillin can be made completely by molding them. According to the lenient opinions, one can simply take a mold, soften the leather, push the mold onto the bayis and press out the shin on the tefillin shel rosh (Or Zarua, quoted by Darkei Moshe 32:18; Beis Yosef). However, the accepted practice is to be machmir and form the letter in a direct way first (many Rishonim quoted by Beis Yosef; Magen Avraham 32:57). This is done by painstakingly picking and pulling the leather until a kosher shin has been directly formed by hand. Only after the shin has been formed to the point that it is a halachically kosher letter is the mold applied to enhance and beautify it. This is permitted since the minimum halachic requirements of the letter "shin" have been already created manually and directly. It is worthwhile to clarify how the shin of the tefillin one purchases was manufactured.
The dispute whether the shin may be molded takes us back to a previous discussion. Creating the shin through a mold is an act of "chok tochos," indirectly creating a letter. As mentioned before, letters written for a sefer Torah, tefillin, mezuzos or a get, are invalid when written as chok tochos. If so, why do so many poskim rule that the shin of the side of the shel rosh may be created through a mold?
The answer is that the Torah never states that one must "write" a shin on the side of the tefillin. The halacha le'Moshe mi'Sinai merely states that there must be a shin on the side of the tefillin, without specifying that the shin must be written there. Therefore the lenient opinions contend that there is no requirement to "write" a shin on the tefillin and it is sufficient for the shin to be made in any way, even through "chak tochos." As mentioned above, we paskin that the shin should be formed in a direct way first.

THE TEFILLIN MUST BE SQUARE
There is another halacha le'Moshe mi'Sinai that the tefillin must be perfectly square (Menachos 35a). The Rishonim dispute whether min haTorah both the bayis and the titura must be square, or only one of them. Since this matter is a controversy, and furthermore, since some opinions require that they must both be square, we rule that both the bayis and the titura must be perfectly square.
The width of the bayis must be the exact same measurement as its length, and there may be no nicks, indentations, or bulges that ruin its perfect squareness. The height of the tefillin does not need to be the same as the width and length (Rambam, Hilchos Tefillin 3:1).
Similarly, the titura is shaped so that its length and width are equal.
In order to get the four compartments of the shel rosh to form a perfect square, many batim machers paste the sections of the bayis together to help them hold together. Although there is much halachic controversy about gluing the compartments together, many prominent poskim in earlier generations permitted it (such as Yeshuas Yaakov 32:24; Shu"t Chasam Sofer Orach Chaim #5, however cf. Vol. 6 #68; Shu"t Beis Yitzchok, Orach Chaim 7:6; Daas Torah 32:40).
Other poskim permit gluing the compartments only if the paste is applied to less than half the height of the wall of the compartment and is not applied along the outside edges. However, since there are poskim who disapprove using any paste, it is certainly a hiddur not to use any at all (Chayei Odom 14:4). These batim are referred to as "perudos ad hatefer ligamri," which literally means, separated completely down to the stitch, referring to the stitching on the top of the titura (which will be explained later).
Germane to this discussion is a well-known response from Rav Chaim Volozhiner. When asked whether pasting the compartments of the shel rosh together is permitted, he responded that he would not permit it because the two gedolei hador of the previous generation, the Vilna Gaon and the Shaagas Aryeh, both contended that pasting the compartments invalidates the tefillin.
In earlier generations, when tefillin batim were made from much softer calf leather or even flimsier parchment, it was very difficult to make tefillin that would remain square if the compartments were not pasted together. However, today's gasos batim are kept square through the stiffness of the hide and the pressure of the hydraulic press. Since the gasos batim are not dependent on paste to hold their shape, many contemporary poskim contend that one should refrain from placing any paste in the batim.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH GLUING THE COMPARTMENTS TOGETHER?
The problem is that the shel rosh is required to have four separate compartments, one for each parsha. The poskim who prohibit pasting the compartments contend that this makes them into one connected compartment, thus invalidating the tefillin. Those who are lenient contend that pasting the compartments together does not halachically make them into one compartment.
The compromise position contends that the compartments are considered separate if they are pasted less than half way up and the outside edge is clearly not connected. This makes the batim noticeably separate, which they contend is all that is required. One should ask one's rav whether one should request batim in which no paste was used at all.
At this point, the batim are almost ready except that they need painting and the parshiyos have not yet been inserted. We have not yet discussed the processing of the retzuos, the finishing and sewing of the titura, and various other hiddurim of tefillin. These subjects will have to wait until next week.

This Shiur is published also at Rabbi Kaganof's site
את המידע הדפסתי באמצעות אתר yeshiva.org.il