Remove Tefillin for Hagbah

Question: After doing hagbah, the gabbai told me that I should have removed the tefillin straps from my hand. Is this necessary?

Answer: The Gemara (Arachin 3b) teaches that the kohanim did not wear the tefillin shel yad while performing the avoda, as this would constitute a chatzitza, a separation between the bigdei kehuna and their skin. Elsewhere, the Gemara (Zevachim 19a) teaches that kohanim, leviyim and yisraelim were exempt from wearing tefillin during the avoda. Rashi explains that this follows the rule of osek bemitzva, patur min hamitzva, one who is engaged in performing a mitzva is exempt from another. Rambam (Klei Hamikdash 10:6) adds that the kohanim could, if they wished, wear the tefillin shel rosh during the avoda.

Sefer Haeshkol (Tefillin 30) records the practice of removing the tefillin straps from one’s hand during duchening, reflecting the precedent of the kohanim during the avoda in the Beis Hamikdash. However, the Kaf Hachaim (OC 128:81) questions this practice, noting that the concern of chatzitza does not apply nowadays, since kohanim are not wearing the bigdei kehuna.

R’ Ephraim Greenblatt (Noam 10, Gelila 7; Rivevos Ephraim 8:128) cites R’ Ovadia Hedaya, who suggests that the custom of removing the tefillin straps when performing hagbah or gelila may have developed by analogy with duchening. At the same time, R’ Greenblatt quotes R’ Binyamin Zilber (Beis Baruch YD 31:219), who writes that he is unsure of the true basis for this custom, suggesting that some people may simply remove them in order to grip the sefer torah more easily.

The Aderes (Tefillas Dovid 22:17) was critical of removing one’s tefillin before performing hagbah or gelila, maintaining that it is incorrect to do so. He writes that one should only remove them if leaving them on is particularly uncomfortable, adding that he himself would always keep them on. Similarly, R’ Avraham Zev Schneebalg (Orchos Yamim OC 41) suggests that some people remove the straps merely to free their hand more fully, but stresses that there is no halachic requirement to do so.

In conclusion, it is not necessary to remove the tefillin straps from one’s hand before performing hagbah or gelila, though one should do so if it will help them grip the Torah better during hagbah.

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