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Does this make my teffilin pasul?

Question:

While I was praying shacharit I had an open cut on my arm and a drop of blood was transferred from the cut to underneath the bayit shel yad teffilin that caused a light stain. Does this cause an issue of being pasul? Also is there a halachic way to clean off the blood from the bayit shel yad or it can't be done?

 

Answer:

Hello,

First of all your tefillin are not pasul. If the blood is thick enough that you can scratch it off, then it would be a chatzitza, (a separation between the tefillin and the person) and it should be removed by scratching it off. If, however there isn’t any real blood there, and it is only a discoloring, then it isn’t a chatzitza. The blood can be removed either by scratching it off, or by making a tissue only slightly moist with peroxide, which will remove any blood. As a side point one has to be very careful not to get the tefillin boxes wet, as this can negatively affect them because it can change the shape of the leather.

Best wishes

Sources:

שולחן ערוך יורה דעה הלכות נדה סימן קצח סעיף יז "צבע שצובעות הנשים על פניהן וידיהן ושער ראשן, אינו חוצץ. וכן מי שהוא צבע וידיו צבועות, אינו חוצץ. ובש"ך שם ס"ק כא "ושער ראשן. אף על פי שחופה רוב השער או כולו והרי הוא כגופו של שער שאינו חוצץ והשער הוא כגופו של אדם ועוד שהמראה מן הצבע אין בו ממש ואינו דומה לדיו שחוצץ דהתם יש ממשות הדיו כ"כ ר' ירוחם והרמב"ן והרשב"א:"

 

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