Bal Tosif – Do Not Add!
‘Shabbos Is Not The Time For Tefillin’
(Shabbos 61a)
The Gemara cites a machlokes whether Shabbos is a time for wearing tefillin. As we all know, the accepted custom is not to wear tefillin on Shabbos. What isn’t clear, though, is whether it is simply unnecessary to wear tefillin on Shabbos or actually forbidden to do so.
The Gemara (Eruvin 96a, Menachos 36b) cites two reasons why tefillin are not worn on Shabbos. First, the Torah states, “They shall be for you as a sign upon your arm” (Shemos 13:9). The Gemara explains that tefillin must be worn as a sign on weekdays, but Shabbos is itself a sign, and therefore tefillin are not worn.
The Rishonim (Smag, positive commandment 3; Rabbeinu Bachaye, parshas Lech Lecha) add that on weekdays, we have two “witnesses” who testify that we are servants of Hashem: bris milah and tefillin. We don’t need three witnesses, though, so on Shabbos – which is “a sign between Me and you” (Shemos 31:13), we don’t need to wear tefillin.
No Bris Milah, No Tefillin
The Terumas Hadeshen (Teshuvos 2:108, cited in Birkei Yosef 31) asks whether an uncircumcised Jew must wear tefillin on Shabbos. According to halacha, if two brothers die as a result of bris milah, Heaven forbid, the third brother may not be circumcised. On a regular weekday, such a person has only one “witness” – tefillin. On Shabbos, he has an opportunity to have two – Shabbos and tefillin – if he wears tefillin. So should he?
The Terumas Hadeshen says no, explaining that the Smag spoke about two witnesses by way of aggadah. He never intended it to serve as the basis for a halachic conclusion. Thus, an uncircumcised Jew is exempt from wearing tefillin on Shabbos.
The Radvaz (Teshuvos 2:334) adds that even if one accepts the aggadah of two witnesses at face value, an uncircumcised Jew is still exempt from wearing tefillin on Shabbos. The Gemara (Nedarim 31b) states that a person who makes a neder not to let the uncircumcised benefit from his possessions may allow an uncircumcised Jew to benefit from his possessions. The obligation a Jew has to have a bris – even if he is unable to perform it – is a sign of the covenant between Hashem and the Jewish people (and he is not called uncircumcised).
Interestingly, the Rokeach (30, cited in Aruch HaShulchan) explains that bris alone is an insufficient sign since it testifies only to the covenant Hashem forged with us. Tefillin testify also to yetzias Mitzraim, as does Shabbos. Therefore, the sign of Shabbos can take the place of tefillin.
Based on the Zohar
The Mechaber (Orach Chayim 31:1) rules quite clearly that it is forbidden to wear tefillin on Shabbos. “Shabbos is itself a sign,” the Mechaber explains. “By wearing a different sign, one denigrates the sign of Shabbos.”
The Vilna Gaon (ibid.) points out that there is no source for this ruling in the Rambam or Tur. Rather, the Mechaber draws this ruling from the Midrash Ne’elam, the Zohar’s commentary on Shir HaShirim, which is cited at length by the Beis Yosef. This is one of the very few halachos that the Mechaber draws from the Zohar rather than the Shas.
Bal Tosif
According to the Mechaber’s explanation, wearing tefillin on Shabbos is not a Torah prohibition (see Aruch Hashulchan; Levush, ibid). However, the Magen Avraham (ibid.) cites the Rashba, who maintains that it’s a violation of bal tosif, the prohibition against adding to the mitzvos.
The Magen Avraham adds that a person violates this prohibition only if he wears tefillin with the intent to fulfill a mitzvah. If he puts them on without this intent, he is exempt (see Eruvin 96a). He also hasn’t demeaned the sign of Shabbos since he didn’t intend to wear the tefillin as a sign.
Nevertheless, the Mishnah Berurah (sk 5) rules that wearing tefillin publicly, even without intent to fulfill a mitzvah, is an issur derabanan of maris ayin (doing something that appears to be forbidden).
Tefillin Are Not Muktzeh
The Acharonim debate whether tefillin are muktzeh (see Orach Chayim 308:4). The Biur Halacha writes that since it’s permitted to wear tefillin without intending to fulfill a mitzvah, they are not considered kli she’melachto l’issur (utensils of forbidden usage) and therefore are not muktzeh. In cases of necessity, therefore, one may rely on this reasoning. If, for example, a person finds tefillin in a forest on Shabbos and fears they may be desecrated if he leaves them where they are, he may wear the tefillin as clothing to preserve them.