I remember in yeshiva one day as a bris was about to start after minyan, someone came around and told everybody, "take off your tefilin!"
Recently I saw R' Moshe Feinstein explaining why we leave them on. R' Moshe writes (IIRC) that we don't have tefilin on shabbos because both are signs of the covenant, but circumcision is 24/7 so by nature it's non-exclusive, and in fact it is therefore appropriate to keep tefillin on at a Bris.
(I'm talking here about the ordinary people watching in shul. I certainly understand why the father, mohel, and sandek would have theirs off, as they're busy dealing with a baby!)
So which is it? On or off? Why? Is R' Moshe differing with some well-known posek here, or common practice?
Answer
Summarizing from others' answers:
Classical glosses to the Shulchan Aruch say to leave tefilin on. (Shach YD 265:24, Magen Avraham OC 25:28).
However some Hassidic thinkers said they should be removed. (Appears to originate with R' Shmelke of Nikolsberg, and is cited in the Ziditchover Rebbe's "Ateres Tzvi" as the practice of the Chozeh of Lublin and the Sassover Rebbe.)
Yet other Hassidic authorities left their tefilin on. (Os Chayim 25:18 quoting Bnei Yissoschar and Divrei Chaim (the Sanzer Rebbe).)
So all the non-Hassidic sources say to leave them on; the Hassidic sources are mixed on the issue.
The simplest reason to remove them would be that circumcision is already a sign of the covenant, so no need to double it up with tefilin -- just as tefilin aren't worn on shabbos (both signs of the covenant).
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein writes in defense of the leave-tefilin-on practice that circumcision is inherently 24/7 and hence doesn't conflict with other signs of the covenant.
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