Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
In the wake of some complaints about Chabad's tefillin stands being a public nuisance, an increasing number of Israelis have been inspired to put on tefilllin. Here are three examples among many tefillin stories that have been sent to me in recent days.
Rabbi Shimon Binstock of Toronto wrote as follows: "An Israeli came to me with a surprising story. He told me that he had not put on tefillin in 40 years but with the controversy over tefillin stands he was motivated to return to the mitzvah, starting now, before Shabbat."
A mother named Sara wrote: "My son and two friends took a trip to the Kinneret (Lake Tiberias). During the three days they were there, they were approached eight times and asked: Do you have tefillin? Would you be willing to put them on? The ones promoting this mitzvah were not standing by a tefillin stand but walked along the shore seeking those who had yet to don tefillin that day, even as the sun was about to set." (Note: the mitzvah of tefillin can only be performed during daylight hours.)
On Friday at the Shuk HaCarmel (Carmel Market) in Tel Aviv, the local Chabad emissary was surprised when several youths approached his tefillin stand with a table. They informed him that they wanted to operate a tefillin stand of their own. And so it was. They received several pairs of tefillin and kippot (skullcaps) from the emissary and became emissaries themselves for several hours.
These stories remind us of who we really are and how mitzvah performance among Israelis increases daily. Shavua tov.
