עברית
Prayer and Blessings
Covering the Eyes While Saying the Shema with the Right Hand
Question
Hello! My son is 13 and has started putting on tefillin. I saw him reciting the Shema of Shacharit with his left hand—where he puts on the tefillin... he remembers that this is what his teacher told him. Isn't it a mistake to cover one's eyes with the right hand and not the left? Thank you very much
Answer
Greetings, indeed, one should cover the eyes with the right hand (Mishnah Berurah, Siman 61, Se'if 17), and even a left-handed person should cover his eyes with the right hand according to the world (Ohr Yossef Chai, Parashat Va'era, Section G; and this is also the ruling in Responsa Be'er Moshe, Part 2, Siman 5, Section 7, and in the book Orachot Rabbeinu, Part 1, page 53, where it is noted about Rabbi Yisrael Kanievsky, zt"l, who was completely left-handed and would place his right hand over his eyes when reciting the first verse).
