Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 42 - Whether it is Permissible to Convert Arm-Tefillin into Head-Tefillin

SECTION 42 Whether it is Permissible to Convert Arm-Tefillin into Head-Tefillin. (1–6)

1 It is forbidden to convert a head-tefillin into an arm-tefillin,1 even if one has no arm-tefillin and has two head-tefillin. It is even forbidden to take a strap from head-tefillin and use it for arm-tefillin.2 [The rationale is that] one may not lower anything from a higher level of holiness to a lesser level. The holiness of the head-tefillin is higher [than that of the arm-tefillin], for the greater part of [G‑d’s] name שד"י is on the head-tefillin: the shin is [embossed] on the cube, and its knot [is shaped like a] dalet. The arm-tefillin, by contrast, has only the yud [in its knot].

Conversely, it is permissible to convert an arm-tefillin into a head-tefillin, by making four compartments within it.3 [Moreover,] if [the tefillin] are new, [i.e.,] they have never been worn, it is permissible to convert even a head-tefillin into an arm-tefillin by overlaying it with a single piece of leather, so that externally it appears as one compartment.4 The fact that there are four compartments inside is not significant after the fact, as explained in sec. 32[:72]. Even though [the cube] was intended and prepared to be used for the head-[tefillin], this is not an instance of lowering something from a higher level of holiness to a lesser level of holiness, because designation [alone] is of no consequence.5

2 If, at the outset, one specified that he desired the option of converting [a head-tefillin] into an arm-tefillin, he may do so, even if someone later wore it on his head.6

3 [The following rules apply if] the strap of the arm-tefillin was severed near the knot, whereupon the [lower] end was brought to the top and used for the knot, [leaving] the upper end now to become [the] lower [end].

The piece of strap7 which [before] being severed had constituted the knot may not be tied now to this lower end, since this would lower its level of holiness. For previously it had been used for the knot and the yud [of G‑d’s name], whereas now it will be used [merely] for winding [the straps] around his fingers. Instead, [this part of the strap] should be set aside.8

If the [remaining part of] the strap is not long enough [to reach the fingers], one should not wind it around his [fore]arm as many times [as he ordinarily does].9

4 If a cloth was designated to be permanently used to wrap up one’s tefillin and not merely as a temporary measure, and was then used once to wrap up tefillin, it may not be used for a mundane purpose,10 e.g., to hold money. [This rule applies] even if one wrapped [the tefillin] in the cloth as an unspecified temporary measure, without intending that the cloth be designated exclusively for this purpose forever.

[There are, however,] exceptions. [For example:] At the outset,11 one stipulated that he would be able to use [the cloth] to hold money whenever he desired; or at the time he wrapped the tefillin in it, he had in mind that he was wrapping them in it with the intent of removing them afterwards, whereupon it would revert to its mundane status, just as before he had wrapped [the tefillin] in it.

If one made a satchel12 to be used for tefillin, he may not use it [for mundane purposes once tefillin were held in it], even if he placed them in it with the intent of removing them.13 The same principle applies if one added something to an existing satchel [to make it fit] for tefillin. Once he placed them in it, even with the intent of removing them, he may not [use it for mundane purposes] unless he first removes what he had changed [to make it fit for tefillin].

If, however, one never used [the object] to hold tefillin, [the fact that] it was [merely] designated [for this purpose] does not cause it to be forbidden [for mundane use].14 [This applies] even if one makes a new satchel to be used for tefillin.

Similar [rules apply] even if one repeatedly used [a satchel or a cloth] to hold tefillin temporarily, but never designated it for that purpose before using it to hold them, nor did he intend to use it permanently for that purpose while it was being used to hold the tefillin. [In this case] it may be used for a mundane purpose even while it is being used for a sacred purpose; e.g., one may use it to hold both tefillin and money at the same time. If, however, one placed [tefillin] in it even once with the intent of placing them there permanently, this is regarded as if it was both designated and [used for that intent], and it is forbidden [for mundane use].

All the above applies to a cloth or a satchel that one owns; one cannot cause an object belonging to another to be forbidden. [The only exception is] a thief who stole a cloth and made it into a satchel for tefillin. This [satchel] becomes forbidden [for mundane use] because the thief acquires it [as his own]15 by changing its state.

5 If a minor places tefillin in a cloth that he designated for that purpose, it becomes forbidden [for mundane use]. In contrast, something that becomes forbidden [for mundane use] by designation alone, as will be explained [in the next subsection], does not become forbidden through being designated by a minor. For though the actions of a deaf-mute, a mentally incompetent individual, and a minor are [halachically] significant, their intent is not,16 even if that intent is verbalized.

6 Some authorities maintain that the statement that merely designating an object [for a sacred purpose] does not disqualify it for mundane use [unless it was actually used for that purpose] applies only to an object designated to become [merely] an auxiliary to a sacred object,17 e.g., a satchel for tefillin. Similarly, tefillin straps18 are considered as auxiliaries to a sacred object, but not as sacred objects themselves.

[These authorities maintain that different rules apply] if something was designated to become a sacred object itself. For example, it is forbidden to write mundane matters on parchment that was processed for a Torah scroll, tefillin, or mezuzos, unless a stipulation was specified to this effect [at the outset]. Such an object may, however, be lowered to a lesser level of holiness, as is evident from the law that allows new head-tefillin to be converted into arm-tefillin,19 even though [the head-tefillin] themselves are a sacred object. Similarly, though the sanctity of a Torah scroll surpasses that of tefillin and mezuzos, parchment that was processed for use in a Torah scroll may be [used for them], as stated in sec. 32[:11]. A get,20 by contrast, is not considered a sacred object at all; it may not be written on parchment processed for a Torah scroll unless one stipulated [this at the outset].

Other authorities maintain that even with regard to a sacred object itself, solely designating it as such is of no consequence unless one puts it to actual use as a sacred object, such as by beginning to write a Torah scroll, tefillin, or mezuzos on the parchment. The same laws apply to other Biblical texts, even if written on paper. [Once one has started writing,] it is forbidden to write mundane matters on such [parchment or paper], even if one stipulated this at the outset. For all authorities agree that a stipulation does not allow one to use a sacred object itself for a mundane purpose while it is being used for a sacred purpose.

With regard to things which are [merely] auxiliary to a sacred object, by contrast, all authorities agree that a stipulation is effective even while they are [available for use for a] sacred [purpose].21 (They may be used, however, only when they are not being used for their mitzvah-purpose, as with the crowns of a Torah scroll that are taken and placed on the heads of bridegrooms,)22 as explained in sec. 154.23 One may not, however, use [such objects] for a undignified purpose, as will be explained in sec. 151.24

With regard to objects which are auxiliary to a mitzvah,25 e.g., tzitzis, a shofar, a lulav, or a Chanukah lamp, all authorities agree that there is no need at all for a stipulation [at the outset]. Even if they were made for [the mitzvah] without any specification, and they were in fact repeatedly used for their respective mitzvos, they may be used for mundane purposes — provided one does not use them [for mundane purposes] while they are being used for a mitzvah; for example, by tying an object with strands of tzitzis that are attached to a garment, as explained in sec. 21[:1].26 (Needless to say, [this proviso applies to] things which are auxiliary to intrinsically sacred objects; e.g., [it is forbidden] to tie up something in a strap which is connected to the tefillin one is wearing. Even a stipulation is of no consequence in such a case, for this is considered disrespectful to the mitzvah.)27

With regard to actual practice, though the halachah follows the second approach, one should be stringent and follow the first approach.

Nevertheless, it has become customary in the present era to write gittin28 and amulets on parchment that was processed for the sake of a Torah scroll. Since this has become accepted practice, this is considered as if a stipulation was made to that effect at the outset; when the scribes prepare [the parchment], they prepare it with the intent that it be used both for sacred and mundane purposes, for that is the common practice.

(The same rationale may be applied to [explain] the practice followed by many people, to use their tefillin satchel [for mundane purposes] while traveling. Since this has become the accepted practice, it may be regarded as if a stipulation was made at the time [the satchel] was made or purchased, permitting it to be used [for mundane purposes] on a journey as is customary.)29