Tefilin: Replacing: Tefilin You Had To Take Off or That Fell Off

If you take off your tefilin because you have to, such as to go to the bathroom, or if one or both of the tefilin fall or slide off your arm or head, say: 
  • Both blessings again when you replace the head tefila (tefila shel rosh) on your head.
  • Only the first blessing when replacing the arm tefila (tefila shel yad) on your arm.
  • Each blessing in its correct place if you took off both.
Reason We say the blessing again for tefilin that fell off because there was discontinuity in thought (hesech da'at) when they fell off.
Note If you took the tefilin off between bar'chu and the end of amida and replaced them without saying the blessings:
  • Wait until after you have finished the amida, and then
  • Move each of the tefilin slightly, first the arm tefila and then the head tefila, and
  • Say the appropriate blessings.