The Tefillin that helped cope with Life and with Death
The Tefillin that helped cope with Life and with Death By Rabbi Zushe Greenberg
In June 1996, I received a phone call from a man, Joe, who lived in my community. I was surprised by his call. I was ‚not well acquainted with him, but at one point I had helped‚ his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. He said, "Rabbi, I'm sick. If it's not too hard for you, could you please stop by and visit me?" Of course I went to his home. Upon my arrival, I learned that he was receiving chemotherapy treatments for cancer, and that his prognosis was not favorable. He lay in bed as we talked about his illness, and I told him that Judaism teaches us never to give up on life. I tried to cheer him up and when I left he was already in better spirits. The following week, when I was at Joe's bedside, he received ‚a call from a lifelong friend, David who lives in New York. When Joe told him, "The Rabbi is here" he handed the phone to me and said, "My friend wants to talk to you." David, a fellow Jew, had only one question for me, " Rabbi, I believe I know something that would give Joe additional‚strength. Why don't you suggest that he should start putting on Tefillin?" "He doesn't own a pair of Tefillin" I thought aloud. "I'll buy him one!" replied David, who wraps Tefillin each day. I turned to Joe, "David wants to buy you Tefillin, will you use them?" To my pleasant surprise, Joe immediately agreed. Tefillin signifies the directing of ones emotional and intellectual powers to the service of G‑d in all that we think, feel and do. It is a mitzvah that has been observed and treasured for thousands of years. Now it would reach another Jew, a man in his 60's, who had never done it before. After the Tefillin arrived, I returned to Joe's home each morning, and taught him how to wrap the leather straps and place the Tefillin boxes on his head and arm (facing his heart). He was excited and eager to learn how pray and recite the complete Shma. I saw firsthand the pleasure and spiritual strength he derived from this Mitzvah. He felt that the Tefillin gave him a strong connection