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Does a mourner wear tefillin?

by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg

  

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When Ezekiel was told by G-d not to mourn for the death of his wife,1 he was instructed:2 "Be silent from groaning, do not practice rites of mourning for the dead, don your glorious headgear [i.e. Tefillin]..." From this verse it is inferred that a mourner does not wear tefillin.

This rule only applies to the first day of shivah -- the only day of mourning which is biblically mandated.3

Footnotes

  • 1. See the context in Ezekiel to understand the reason for this instruction.
  • 2. Ezekiel 24:17.
  • 3. While this is normative halachah, there are some chassidim, Chabad included, who don tefillin in private after the burial (if it is before sunset).

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RELATED CATEGORIES

Life Cycle » Death » Mourning
Life Cycle » Bar/Bat Mitzvah » Tefillin
Tefillin
Black leather boxes containing small scrolls with passages of the Bible written on them. Every day, aside for Sabbath and Jewish holidays, the adult Jewish male is required to wrap the Tefillin--by means of black leather straps--around the weaker arm and atop the forehead.
Ezekiel
1. Major Jewish prophet who lived in the 5th century BCE. 2. One of the 24 books of the Bible, containing the prophecies which Ezekiel transmitted.
G-d
It is forbidden to erase or deface the name of G-d. It is therefore customary to insert a dash in middle of G-d's name, allowing us to erase or discard the paper it is written on if necessary.