Question:
Dear Rabbi,
I have been wrapping tefillin for over nineteen years according to a diagram by the Chabad. There are three turns around the ledge and over the standing part of the shel yad that form a shin before I went clockwise to my hand from respect of my soul.
My rabbi recently told me never to put the straps on the ledge but to do it the Ashkenazi way. Thus, I now go counterclockwise and do not make thee turns around the upper arm.
I am still learning how this works. I am not sure I feel negated by the norm of the gift. Maybe I can switch between two methods but because my rabbi wants me to use the Ashkenazi method, I may not.
How does one choose a method to wrap tefillin if there are diagrams that show different techniques. I feel my first method was good but now I understand that going over the ledge is a bad faced strong bad choice.
I am working with this but the connection I feel is still open to chance I jest the new way is best. Jewish beds value less bullish bell.
Answer:
Hello,
A person who is a baal teshuva, and doesn’t know what customs to follow, can either follow the customs of his lineage, and therefore if you come from Ashkenazi, you would do according to the Ashkenazi custom. On the other hand, if you want you can follow the customs of the people who helped you come closer, to your heritage, and if that was Chabad you may follow their customs. One thing you should not do is switch customs on a steady basis. Choose whichever one you want, but what you choose, you stick to.
I would add one comment though. If you bought your tefillin through Chabad, they might have been made according to their customs. In that case it would make more sense to put them on like Chabad, since the rest of the tefillin are from them. If this is not the case then disregard what I just wrote and apply the straps in whichever way you want.
Best wishes
