עברית
Prayer and Blessings
Can a Left-Handed Person Wear a Right-Handed Person's Tefillin When They Have No Other Tefillin?
Question
I understand that tefillin are placed on the weaker hand, meaning a left-handed person places Tefillin on their right hand. My question is, in a case where a left-handed person forgot their tefillin and there is no other left-handed person around, can they fulfill their obligation by using a right-handed person's tefillin (i.e., on their left hand)? If not, should they only put on the head tefillin? Thank you very much.
Answer
Greetings,
A left-handed person cannot wear a right-handed person’s tefillin on their left hand, as in this way they do not fulfill the mitzvah even post-factum, and if they did so, they must put on the tefillin again on their right hand with a blessing (Mishnah Berurah 27:24, Biur Halacha there s.v. maniach, and Halacha Berurah there 20).
Therefore, if they have no option other than to wear the tefillin of a right-handed person, they should put the tefillin on their right hand and turn the tefillin box so that the part where the strap goes through faces down toward the hand, and the tefillin box that contains the parchments should face up toward the shoulder, so that the connection of the strap is next to the heart (Halacha Berurah there 11).
Best regards,
Hillel Meirs
