- Question: [Tuesday, 18th Adar, 5781]
Must one stand prior to repositioning his head tefillin if they have gone below the hairline or out of place?
Answer:
Seemingly this is not required, and the custom is not to be stringent in this, unless one actually moves it from his head and puts it back on.
Explanation: See the previous question-and-answer that there is no actual Talmudic obligation to stand while putting on the tefillin and it is done as a custom and tradition of Jewry. Seemingly, this tradition of standing is only regarding when one initially puts on the tefillin, or removes it and then puts it back on. However, so long as it is still on one’s head and arm, and one is simply repositioning it, then the custom and tradition never became accepted to require standing, even though in truth if the tefillin is out of place it is as if it is not being worn.
Sources: Setimas Kol Haposkim! Throughout the laws of tefillin when the Poskim discuss repositioning the tefillin while they still remain on the arm or head no one ever mentions a need to stand.
