Question: My son’s bris was on Rosh Chodesh. When it was my first son’s bris, the mohel told me to leave my tefillin on. Should I have put them back on after mussaf for the bris?
Answer: The Shach (YD 265:24), Magen Avraham (25:28),
Shulchan Aruch Harav (OC 25:38) and Mishna Berura (25:55) write that when there
is a bris following shacharis, one should not remove one’s tefillin
until after the bris. The Shach explains that as the Torah
describes both tefillin and the bris milah as an ois
(sign) it is appropriate to perform the bris while wearing tefillin.
R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos Vehanhagos 2:502) justifies the
practice of those who remove their tefillin, writing that it is
important not to be distracted while wearing them. He suggests that the minhag
to keep them on is specifically for the father, sandek and those
involved with the bris.
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 31:1) writes that the reason why we
do not wear tefillin on Shabbos is due to Shabbos being an ois. Based
on this, various acharonim disagreed with this minhag, writing
that wearing tefillin while performing the bris is akin to
wearing them on Shabbos. Nonetheless, R’ Eliezer Waldenberg (Tzitz
Eliezer 14:4) and R’ Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer OC 3:5) quote the Chida (Maris
Ha’ayin Likkutim 40) who explains that we should always have two mitzvos
that serve as witnesses, be they tefillin and bris, or Shabbos
and bris. R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe 4:101:4) gives a different
explanation. The ois is having a bris rather than the action of
performing it (see Teshuvos Vehanhagos 1:596; Kaf Hachaim OC 25:92).
The Kaf Hachaim (OC 25:96) writes that if one is making a bris
on Rosh Chodesh, one does not put their tefillin back on. R’ Ovadia
Yosef (ibid.) notes that there are those that disagree with the Kaf Hachaim,
though writes that he witnessed many gedolim who did not put their tefillin
back on for a bris.
In conclusion, one should not put one’s tefillin back
on for a bris after they have taken them off on Rosh Chodesh.
