A Story of Love (Your Neighbor As Yourself)

Could this happen anywhere else?

Chabad custom is that the Bar Mitzvah boy begins to put on Tefillin two months in advance of the big day.  It is a training of sorts.  The first day is marked by a little simcha, some L’chaim and the young man repeating from memory a portion of a discourse he’ll recite in full at his Bar Mitzvah.

Oh. And having the Tefillin is important, too.  The Tefillin I had ordered, a special pair (a long story with the Rebbe for another time) was late in being ready.  In fact it was only on Thursday that the Tefillin would be ready and Menny, our soon to be Bar Mitzvah, would be putting on his Tefillin on Friday morning, January 1, 2021.

We were celebrating this occasion with our family pod in Florida.  But how to go get the Tefillin in time?  Of course, Menny could have used my Tefillin.  But, there is something special about using one’s own Tefillin for the first time.

It seemed like all hope was lost.  No mail on New Years and even express shipping wouldn’t get to Atlanta (where we would return on Sunday) until sometime the following week.

Thursday December 31, 6:00 PM – I ask my BIL to post to the Shluchim chat group in Florida to see if someone may be coming from NY.

6:05 PM – He gives me a phone number of a woman who would be traveling that night.

6:06 PM – I call her. I don’t know her.  She doesn’t know me. She says sure. She says I’m leaving to the airport in 15 minutes.  She is in Crown Heights. The Tefillin are in Crown Heights.  She says, have them deliver it to me asap.  She then says, actually, let me go pick it up. Where is it? Turns out it is across the street from where she is.  

6:30 PM – She texts me from the Uber. She has the Tefillin.  Will be arriving in Coral Springs, 15 miles south of where we are, around 2 AM.  

January 1, 11:30 AM – Tefillin have arrived. They’ll be in the car in the driveway. Unlocked. Come and get them when you are able to.

7:00 AM – Tefillin in hand retrieved.

Hashem is at work. The connection is real.

A woman I don’t know, who doesn’t know me.  Is in the right place at the right time. Agrees to alter her plans.  To carry something with her on a plane. So that a young boy can have the joy and excitement to put on his own Tefillin for the first time. Kindness. Divine Providence. Grateful.

Enjoying what
you've read?

Here's more.

September 2, 2022

The Evolution of Awareness

Rabbi Schusterman

There are certain Torah teachings that stand out for me as being most enjoyable with the insights of...

August 25, 2023

Be in your discomfort – Preparing for Rosh Hashanah 5784

Rabbi Schusterman

I’ve never related to people who dislike the marking of their birthday.  I find my birthday...

January 30, 2020

Bring it down to Earth

Rabbi Schusterman

While the Torah comes from Heaven, it was given on this Earth.  It can be tempting to want to soar...