We filed down the teeth of the pliers
so they shouldn't scratch the straps. If by chance the paint of the straps gets a little
scratched you can fix it with a black marking pen. Remember to say
"l'shem kedushat tefillin" prior to any touch up. A good idea, for someone who
can't file his pliers, is to just wrap the teeth with a little bit of tape. It's not difficult to adjust the knot;
just follow these instructions and you will be on your way to wearing perfectly fitting tefillin.
Notice how
the strap we are working with
is wrapped in an "S" shape.
We are just manipulating this strap.
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First you must say " l'shem kedushat tefillin "
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1. We will now explain how to enlarge the knot. (once you understand this, shortening the knot will be just as easy) First, taking care the tefillin is sitting on a safe, stable place, the head knot is turned on its side. Then you simply take the right curve of the "S" and pull it to the right, pulling out a length of strap from the bottom of the "S". The amount that you pull should be the amount that is needed for the enlargement. |
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2. Notice the loop. We have pulled enough for the enlargement. |
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3. Now take the left curve of the "S" and pull. Concentrate your force on pulling out the loop that you made in the previous step. Make sure that it's snug. Don't worry about using a little bit of force; you won't rip the straps. |
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4. Last, just pull out the loop you made in the left curve of the "S" by pulling the top of the "S" to the right until it's snug. |
That wasn't so hard. For shortening the straps it's the same procedure. You must just work it backwards. First you pull from the top the amount that you want to shorten and then you pull out the loop from the bottom. | |