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DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION
Siman כ״ט · No berakha when removing the tefilin (אין מברכין בחליצת התפילין)
אין מברכין בחליצת התפילין — one says no berakha when removing the tefilin, even on the eve of Chabbat at בין השמשות (removal is not a mitsva: סילוק מצוה)
סימן כ״ט · סעיף אחד
אין מברכין בחליצת התפילין
🌱 Introductory level · Beginners
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A siman of a single seif, yet it touches a point everyone lives each morning: since one recites a berakha when putting on the tefilin, does one also say one when taking them off? The answer is clear — no — and it reveals a yesod: a berakha accompanies the fulfilment of a mitsva, not its removal (סילוק מצוה). Vocalized Hebrew text, clear English translation and explanations on the absence of a berakha at removal (and the case of the בין השמשות of the entry of Chabbat), with a section of practical cases.
Topic: One says no berakha when removing the tefilin — removal is not a mitsva (סילוק מצוה), even at the בין השמשות of the entry of Chabbat
Source: שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן כ״ט · סעיף אחד
Compiled by: Rav Yossef Haim Samama
DAAT · daattorah.com
The previous siman taught us how to remove the tefilin — the של ראש first, standing, with the respect of the משמוש (siman 28). There remains a natural question: since one recites a berakha when putting them on, does one also say one when taking them off? The Shulchan Aroukh rules in a word: no. One says no berakha when removing the tefilin — for the removal (סילוק) is not a mitsva: the mitsva is to wear them, and the berakha is said עובר לעשייתן, before the act, at the putting on, not at its end. And even when one is required to take them off — on the eve of Chabbat, at בין השמשות, at the entry of the holy day which is no longer זמן תפילין — one adds no berakha. What remains at the heart, in place of words, is awareness and gratitude: one has merited (זוכה) to bear the sign (אות) on the arm and the head. We study here at the level of principle; for the finer conduct, one refers to the ruling of the Rav.
📑 Study outline
A. אין מברכין בחליצה — no berakha at removal: removal is not a mitsva (סילוק מצוה), the berakha accompanies the fulfilment (עובר לעשייתן), not the removal; even at the בין השמשות of the entry of Chabbat (single seif)
+ Practical cases and comprehension questions
A. No berakha when removing the tefilin — סילוק מצוה (single seif)
Original text (single seif)
[א] וּבוֹ סָעִיף אֶחָד. אֵין לְבָרֵךְ שׁוּם בְּרָכָה כְּשֶׁחוֹלֵץ תְּפִלִּין, אֲפִלּוּ כְּשֶׁחוֹלְצָם עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת.
[1] It contains a single paragraph (סעיף אחד). One says no berakha when removing (חליצה) the tefilin, even when one removes them on the eve of Chabbat at בין השמשות (the twilight at which Chabbat enters).
סִלּוּק מִצְוָה (silouk mitsva) — the "removal" of a mitsva — one recites a berakha over the fulfilment of a mitsva, said עוֹבֵר לַעֲשִׂיָּתָן ("before doing it" — Pesaḥim 7b): thus, at the putting on of the tefilin, one blesses « לְהָנִיחַ תְּפִלִּין ». But to remove the tefilin is not itself a mitsva: it is the end of the mitsva, not a new one. And there is no berakha over the סילוק. That is why removal — like leaving the soucca, or taking off the talit — carries no berakha.
What this seif says:
- No berakha at removal: in removing the tefilin (חליצה) one says no berakha — unlike the putting on.
- The yesod: removal is not a mitsva (סילוק מצוה); the berakha accompanies the fulfilment (עובר לעשייתן), not the end.
- Even at בין השמשות: even when one removes them on the eve of Chabbat, at the entry of the holy day — the moment when one must take them off — one adds no berakha.
בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת שֶׁל עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת — the twilight at which Chabbat enters — Chabbat (like Yom Tov) is not זמן תפילין: the tefilin are an אות (a "sign"), and Chabbat is itself an אות — two signs do not overlap (see siman 31). One therefore removes the tefilin before the entry of Chabbat. The seif specifies that even in this removal imposed by the time, one says no berakha: the principle "no berakha over the סילוק" holds here too.
The seif in one sentence: one says no berakha when removing the tefilin — for removal is not a mitsva (סילוק מצוה) — even when one removes them on the eve of Chabbat at בין השמשות.
Practical cases
Case 1 — Removing the tefilin after prayer
Situation: the prayer over, one removes the tefilin. One wonders: should one, as at the putting on, say a blessing?
Conduct: no — one says no berakha at removal. The berakha is said עובר לעשייתן, at the putting on (« לְהָנִיחַ תְּפִלִּין »), because one then fulfils the mitsva; removing the tefilin is the end of the mitsva (סילוק מצוה), and over the סילוק there is no berakha. One removes the tefilin with respect — the של ראש first, with the משמוש (siman 28) — but without a word of berakha.
Case 2 — Removing them on the eve of Chabbat (בין השמשות)
Situation: one was still wearing the tefilin as Chabbat drew near, and one must remove them at the entry of the holy day, at בין השמשות.
Conduct: one removes them (Chabbat is not זמן תפילין: it is itself an אות — see siman 31), but here too without any berakha. This is precisely the case the seif takes care to cite: although the removal is here imposed by the time, it remains a סילוק — and one adds no blessing to it.
Case 3 — Gratitude, in place of a berakha
Situation: in the absence of a blessing at removal, how should one live this moment inwardly?
Conduct: the absence of a berakha does not mean the absence of awareness. One may, at the moment of removal, awaken in the heart a הודאה — the gratitude of having merited (זוכה) to bear the אות on the arm and the head, close to the heart and the mind. It is in this spirit that siman 28 recommends the משמוש (touching the tefilin): a gesture of attachment that carries the mitsva through to its end. For the concrete manner of removing and storing the tefilin, one refers to the ruling of the Rav.
Comprehension questions
Check your understanding:
- Does one say a berakha when removing the tefilin? Why does the answer differ from the putting on?
- What are סילוק מצוה and עובר לעשייתן? How do they illuminate the absence of a berakha at removal?
- Why does one remove the tefilin on the eve of Chabbat? To which siman does this point refer?
- Even in this removal imposed by the time (בין השמשות), does one add a berakha?
- In place of a berakha, what may one cultivate inwardly at the moment of removal (the spirit of the משמוש, siman 28)?
Going further
If you wish to deepen this siman:
- 📚 Level 2 — Lamdan: for the pilpoul — אין מברכין על סילוק מצוה and the yesod of עובר לעשייתן (מנחות ל״ו); the comparison with leaving the soucca and taking off the talit; בין השמשות של ערב שבת — why one removes them (שבת אות, and it is not זמן תפילין, סימן ל״א); and the gratitude of the heart
- ✨ Level 3 — Synthesis: for review and quick memorization
- 👑 Level 4 — Daat HaRav (the Alter Rebbe): the shitah of the Shulchan Aroukh HaRav — אין מברכין בחליצת התפילין, the removal at the בין השמשות of the entry of Chabbat, and the spirit of gratitude at the close of the mitsva
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DAAT · רב יוסף חיים סממה
Talmid Chacham · Teacher of shiurim in halakha and Chassidut
סימן כ״ט · סעיף אחד · Level 1 — Introduction
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DAAT · רב יוסף חיים סממה
Talmid Chacham · Teacher of shiurim in halakha and Chassidut
סימן כ״ט · סעיף אחד · Level 1 — Introduction
♥ Support DAAT