Menachot 36a (לו.) — the Talmud in English

Rav Ḥisda said: If one spoke between

the placement of the

tefillin

of the arm and the placement of the

tefillin

of the head,

he must recite the blessing again

over the tefillin of the head!

And we inferred:

If he spoke, yes,

he must recite a blessing over the tefillin of the head; but if

he did not speak, he does not

recite a blessing over the tefillin of the head.

And this is difficult:

But Rav Ḥiyya, son of Rav Huna, sent the following teaching in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Over the tefilla of the arm one says: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to lay tefillin”; over the tefillin of the head one says: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the mitzva of tefillin.”

And it is proven from the words of Rav Ḥiyya that whether he spoke or whether he did not speak, he recites two blessings, one over the tefillin of the arm and one over the tefillin of the head? And we answer:

Abaye and Rava both said

to explain that if

he did not speak

between the placement of the tefilla of the arm and the tefilla of the head,

he recites one blessing

only over the tefillin of the arm, and with this blessing he also exempts the tefillin of the head; and only if

he spoke

between the placement of the tefilla of the arm and that of the head,

he recites two blessings

that is, he recites over the tefillin of the head the blessing, “Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the mitzva of tefillin,” in addition to the blessing he recited over the tefillin of the arm. This is what Rav Ḥiyya sent: that in this case, where he spoke, he should recite two blessings.

A tanna taught: If one spoke between

the placement of the

tefilla

of the arm

and

the placement of the

tefilla

of the head, and did not recite a blessing over the tefillin of the head,

he has committed a transgression

for he became obligated to recite a blessing over the tefillin of the head, and it follows that he put on the tefillin of the head without a blessing ;

and he returns because of it

because of this transgression

from the battle array

as explained in tractate Sotah [44a] concerning the verse, “Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house.” This refers to one who is fearful because of sins in his possession; and this transgression of putting on the tefillin of the head without a blessing is likewise considered a transgression with regard to requiring one who fears it to return home.

A tanna taught:

When one puts on tefillin,

he puts on

the

tefillin of the arm

first,

and afterward he puts on

the

tefillin of the head. And when he removes

the tefillin,

he removes

the

tefillin of the head

first,

and afterward he removes

the tefillin

of the arm.

And we raised a question concerning this:

Granted,

what they say,

“When he puts them on, he puts on the tefillin of the arm and afterward he puts on the tefillin of the head,”

we learn this from

as it is written

in the verse:

“And you shall bind them as a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”

Thus, the verse specifies for us the order of putting on tefillin: the tefillin of the arm first, and afterward the tefillin of the head.

But

this law,

“When he removes them, he removes the tefillin of the head and afterward he removes the tefillin of the arm”—from where do we derive it?

Rabba said: Rav Huna explained it to me:

we learn the order of removing the tefillin from the fact that

the verse says:

“And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” As long as they are between your eyes, there should be two!

If he removes the tefillin of the arm first, he will remain with only one tefilla between his eyes.

The Sages taught: Tefillin

that one put on before dawn when the time for tefillin had not yet arrived,

from when does he recite the blessing over them? From the time he puts them on!

From the time the point arrives at which it becomes possible to put them on, namely, when he can recognize an acquaintance standing at a distance of four cubits.

What are the circumstances? He rose early to set out on a journey

before the time for putting on tefillin,

and feared that they might be lost

if he carried the tefillin in his hand;

he puts them on

his head without a blessing.

And when their time arrives, he feels them and recites the blessing over them.

For feeling them is considered like putting them on.

And until when may he wear them? Until sunset. Rabbi Yaakov says: Until the foot has departed from the marketplace

after nightfall [half an hour, as we say in tractate Shabbat 21a concerning the Hanukkah lamp].

And the Sages say: Until bedtime

he may leave them on until he goes to sleep.

And the Sages and Rabbi Yaakov agree that if he removed them in order to go to the lavatory or to enter the bathhouse, and the sun had set, he does not put them on again

after sunset

and wear them

because night is not the time for tefillin. [And there is no need to remove them, for even according to the one who says that night is not the time for tefillin, the prohibition at night applies only to putting them on; if they are already upon him, he does not transgress] a prohibition. See the book Taharat HaKodesh here, and the Bi'ur HaGra, section 30, subsection 2.

Rav Naḥman said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Yaakov, who said

that one may wear tefillin until the time when the foot has departed from the marketplace; and proof that this is the halakha is that Rav Ḥisda and Rabba bar Rav Huna would pray while wearing them

they prayed while wearing tefillin

in the evening

the evening prayer.

Some say: Rav Naḥman said: The halakha is not in accordance with Rabbi Yaakov.