Menachot

R. Hisda said, If a man spoke between the putting on of the [hand-] tefillah and the [head-] tefillah, he must make another blessing.1 [Evidently] only if he spoke, he must [make another blessing], but not if he did not speak. But R. Hiyya the son of R. Huna sent [from Palestine] the following decision in the name of R. Johanan: Over the hand-tefillah one must say, ‘Blessed [art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe,] who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast commanded us to put on the tefillin’. Over the head-tefillah one must say, Blessed . . . who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast given us command concerning the precept of the tefillin!’ — Abaye and Raba both said, It means, if he did not speak [between one tefillah and the other] he must only recite one blessing, but if he did speak he must recite the two blessings. 2 One taught: If a man spoke between [the putting on of] one tefillah and the other tefillah, he has committed a transgression and returns home on account of it from the battle line.3 One taught: When a man puts on the tefillin, he should put on first the hand-tefillah and then the head-tefillah, and when he takes them off, he should take off first the head-tefillah and then the hand-tefillah. Now it is right that when he puts them on he should put on first the one on the hand and then the one on the head, since it is written, And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand,4 and then it says, And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes;4 but whence do we know that on taking them off he should first take off the one from the head and then the one from the hand? — Rabbah said, R. Huna explained it to me. The verse says, And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes, that is to say, so long as they are ‘between thine eyes’ both shall be there. 5 Our Rabbis taught: When must one recite the blessing over the tefillin?6 At the time when it is proper to put them on.7 Thus, if a man rises early to go out on a journey and is afraid his tefillin might get lost,8 he should put them on, and as soon as the proper time arrives he should touch them9 and recite the blessing over them. And until when must one keep them on? Until sunset. R. Jacob said, Until every foot has left the market.10 But the Sages say, Until the time when people go to sleep. The Sages and11 R. Jacob, however, admit that if a man took them off in order to enter a privy or a bath-house and in the meantime the sun had set, he has not to put them on again. R. Nahman said, The halachah agrees with R. Jacob, since R. Hisda and Rabbah b. R. Huna used to say the evening prayer while still wearing them.12 Another version reads: R. Nahman said, The halacha does not agree with R. Jacob.13 the hand-tefillah, which blessing serves for the head-tefillah too. If, however, one interrupted with talk between one tefillah and the other then the second blessing must be recited before putting on the head-tefillah. So Rashi and Alfasi, but v. Tosaf. s.v. tk. unto his house (Deut. XX, 8), which is explained by R. Jose as alluding to the man who is afraid because of his transgressions. V. Sot. 44a. expression ‘and they shall be’, which is in the plural. Accordingly the head-tefillah must never be alone upon the person; therefore it should be put on last and taken off first. him. V. Ber. 9b.