We are continuing in siman 23, discussing the halachos of bal tosif. The Chayei Adam writes that if one wears both Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin due to the safeik of which opinion is the correct way to fulfill the mitzvah, its is not bal tosif, because the person is wearing both in order to fulfill the mitzvah. However, if one wears two pairs of Rashi tefillin, or two pairs of Rabbeinu Tam tefillin, or one takes two kosher lulavs, they have transgressed the issur of bal tosif.
The Chayei Adam adds that even if a person does not have the intent to add to the mitzvah, they still transgress the issur of bal tosif. The Chayei Adam explains that this point is based on the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah which explains that when a person adds to a mitzvah after the mitzvah has passed, they only transgress bal tosif if they have explicit kavanah to be adding to the mitzvah. For example, if they wish to add another day to Sukkos, they would need to sit in the sukkah with explicit intent to add to the mitzvah of Sukkos. However, during the timeframe of the mitzvah, if one adds to the mitzvah, they transgress bal tosif even without kavanah. Thus, for example, if a person puts on two pairs of tefillin simultaneously, they transgress bal tosif even without explicit kavanah.
The Gemara in Eruvin discusses a person who finds tefillin on Shabbos outside of an eruv, where the tefillin are in a place of bizayon. One may bring the tefillin back into the city by wearing them, because wearing something is not considered carrying. The Gemara discusses whether there is an issue of bal tosif. According to one opinion, Shabbos is a zman of tefillin (tefillin should technically be worn on Shabbos), except that Chazal exempted a person from tefillin. Thus, there is no bal tosif in wearing the tefillin, because one should technically be wearing tefillin anyways. According to another opinion, Shabbos is not a zman of tefillin, so wearing tefillin on Shabbos should be an issue of bal tosif. The Gemara responds that according to the opinion that Shabbos is not a zman of tefillin, a person in this situation should wear the tefillin with the intent to wear it as clothing rather than to fulfill a mitzvah.
The Gemara then discusses wearing multiple pairs of tefillin at once, in order to bring the tefillin back to the city faster. The Gemara says that if Shabbos is not a zman tefillin, there is no issue to wear two pairs of tefillin, but if it is a zman tefillin, it should be bal tosif to wear two pairs. However, there are other Gemaras which indicate it would not be bal tosif, so we will need to discuss this further in the upcoming shiurim, be’ezras Hashem.
Summary
- When one adds to a mitzvah during the timeframe of the mitzvah, they transgress bal tosif even without kavanah. However, when one adds to a mitzvah after the timeframe of the mitzvah, they only transgress bal tosif if they have explicit kavanah.
- The issur applies when one wishes to make a mitzvah larger than the commandment in the Torah, not when they add to it due to a safeik as to how the mitzvah is correctly performed.
