Halacha2goThe one minute halacha

Using Another’s Tefilin

We may use another’s tefilin if we do not have our own pair, since the halachah is, “Nicha lay l’inish layavid mitzvah bemamonay,” a person is glad when a mitzvah is done with his money or possessions. Therefore, we can assume that a person would not mind if his tefilin are used by another Jew to do a mitzvah. However, there are a number of conditions that must be met: Firstly, borrowing another’s tefilin without his knowledge and explicit permission should not become habitual; it should only be b’akra’ei, done temporarily, if we do not have our own tefilin for some reason. Secondly, we should put away the tefilin properly, and not leave them unwound. Thirdly, we may not take them out of the shul, even if we plan on bringing them back; we may use them only in the room where the owner left them. According to many opinions, we are required to put them back in the same spot where we found them. The fourth condition is that we can only make the assumption that a person would approve of our using his tefilin if he is not present; if the owner is present, we should ask express permission before using his tefilin. There is a minority opinion among poskim that even if a person yells, “I do not let you use my tefilin!” we may use them anyway, but the majority of poskim disagree.