Question:
I was once told that a bracha over the tefillin shel rosh should be made silently?
Is this correct?
What about saying the bracha loud enough so someone can say amen?
Answer:
There are different opinions if the teffilin shel rosh needs its own bracha or if it included in the bracha of the teffilin shel yad. The Shulchan Aruch say to make only one bracha, however the Rama and the Ashkenazi custom is to make two brachos. However although this is the way he Askenazim pasken, they still say “Boruch shem” because of the other opinions.
There are poskim (although the minority) that say that we should also say the bracha quietly so that another person won’t say Amen.
Sources:
S.A. O.C. 25-5, Rema ibid, Pri Megadim Eshel Avraham 25- 10, kitzur Shulchan Aruch 10-4
