Tefillin Mistaken for Giveaway Leads to Spiritual Return

Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, a Chabad emissary in New Jersey who directs "LifeTown", a center for people with special needs, shared an unusual story that began with a troubling incident and ended with an unexpected spiritual awakening.

The episode started when a pair of tefillin (phylacteries) disappeared from a public tefillin station at the community center. The station allows any Jewish visitor to stop and perform the mitzvah of putting on tefillin, and the missing set prompted concern among staff members.

After extensive searches throughout the building yielded nothing, the team reviewed security camera footage to determine what had happened.

The video revealed a surprising scene: a staff aide who had accompanied a group of visiting students approached the tefillin station, examined the tefillin, picked them up, placed them in her bag, and left.

Center officials immediately contacted the school that had sent the group. School administrators were shocked and embarrassed by the revelation and questioned the aide. Initially, the woman explained that she had assumed the tefillin were available as free items for anyone who wanted them.

But the story took a more distressing turn: before the school could even reach her, she had decided she had no use for the tefillin and simply threw them in the garbage.

The incident was particularly painful because sacred ritual objects had been carelessly discarded. The school administration immediately took full responsibility for the mishap and promptly paid for a new, high-quality pair of tefillin to replace the lost set.

When the replacement tefillin arrived and sat on Rabbi Grossbaum's desk awaiting placement at the public station, an idea occurred to him that would set off a moving chain of events. He thought of Billy Spiro, a father whose family had been involved with the organization for many years. Billy had recently become an active volunteer in the community, distributing Shabbat kits, packages for the sick, and helping with various activities.

Over the years, as is customary in encounters with Chabad emissaries, Billy had repeatedly been offered the opportunity to put on tefillin, but he always politely declined. Only recently, when asked again, did he open up about his real reason. "I want to tell you why I always refuse", Billy explained. "Several unpleasant experiences over the years have made me overly concerned about germs. The thought of putting on tefillin that other people have worn is very difficult for me".

Rabbi Grossbaum accepted his honesty, but made a mental note: if he ever had the opportunity to obtain a completely new pair of tefillin that no one had ever worn, he would approach Billy again.

Now, with the brand-new tefillin on his desk, the rabbi knew Billy was scheduled to arrive at LifeTown that morning. He called before Billy arrived and offered him the chance to put on the new tefillin that no one had ever touched. Billy, who typically hesitated, agreed immediately without reservation.

When Billy arrived, the two put on the tefillin together in what proved to be an emotional moment. he shared that this was the first time he had put on tefillin since his bar mitzvah, decades earlier. Seeing how moved Billy was by the experience, the rabbi asked: "If you had your own pair of tefillin, so that concerns about germs wouldn't be an obstacle, would you be willing to put them on regularly?" Billy asked for time to think. The very next morning, he called back with excitement: "Zalman, if you get me a pair of tefillin, I commit to putting them on regularly".

Through an organization called the Tefillin Bank, a personal pair was obtained for him. In the meantime, he was loaned the new tefillin that had been purchased as replacements. The entire story took on even deeper spiritual significance when it emerged that the day he put on tefillin for the first time in decades was the 15th of Av, a date that, according to Hasidic teaching, represents the greatest light emerging from the darkness and brokenness of Tisha B'Av, just as the painful theft had become an opening to light and lifelong connection.