How to Put on Tefillin for a Righty
Tefillin are an essential part of the Jewish prayer services called shacharis. The tefillin are composed of two small boxes, each of which contains a small paper bearing words of scripture. To put on the tefillin properly, one box must be placed on the head and one on the arm along with a very specific tying procedure. The manner and process involved differs whether you are a righty or lefty, so knowing the correct steps is crucial. Once you are filled in, putting on your tefillin is not difficult at all.
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Instructions
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Lift your left sleeve until you can see your upper arm. Slip your left hand into the ring of the hand tefillin and move it up until the tefillin box sits on your exposed upper arm. This part of the tefillin is called the "tefillin shel yad," the "tefillin of the hand."
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Arrange the straps of the tefillin shel yad so they hang down below your arm and tug them until the box is held firmly on your bicep. Say the first blessing of the tefillin service while you tighten the strap. The blessing is, "Blessed you are, my God, who is King of the world and made holy us with the commandment and instruction to don tefillin."
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Pull the strap to your left, away from your body and bring it up around your upper arm. Pass the strap between the tefillin shel yad and your elbow on the upper side of your arm.
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Wrap the strap around your arm so the leather is touching your elbow then bring the strap back up around your arm. The strap should be to the right of your elbow when it comes to rest on top of your arm.
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Pass the strap around your lower arm seven times and hold the remaining length of strap in your left palm. The seven wraps should be situated between your elbow and your wrist with a small space between each wrap.
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Slip the second part of the tefillin, the tefillin shel rosh, onto your head. "Shel rosh" means "of the head" and therefore the box should rest on your head, particularly on the hair, just before the hairline on your forehead.
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Say the second blessing, which is "Blessed you are, my God, who is King of the world and made us holy with the commandment to us about tefillin." Adjust the strap around your head after saying the blessing until the strap knot sits just below the hair on the back of your neck. Move the straps over your shoulders and say "Blessed be His name whose glorious kingdom goes forever and ever" to complete the blessings on the tefillin.
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Let go of the strap in your left palm and bring across your palm. Pull the strap behind your hand, then down over the crook of your thumb so the strap hangs over your palm again.
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Wrap the strap behind your hand again and feed it through your first and second fingers. Secure the strap by wrapping it around the second or middle finger three times. Make the first wrap below the knuckle, the second above and the final wrap just around the very lowest portion of the finger.
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Pull the strap in back of the ring or third finger and pass the strap behind your hand. Bring the strap over the top of your hand, over the crook of your thumb and drape down your palm.
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Wrap the leftover length of strap around your hand until you have a tail of 3 inches or so remaining. Slide the tail into one of the wraps to secure the strap and the ties in place.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice tying your tefillin several times before attempting to do so during the morning services to make things go faster during the prayers.
Do not talk until you have finished tying your tefillin in place.
