וקשרתם אתם לאות על ידכם והיו לטוטפת בין עיניכם וגו' (יא-יח)
The mitzvah of Tefillin is one that has been handed down from father to son, from generation to generation. It is an “ois” a sign from Heaven, that Hashem chose us as his nation and we look to him - our Father in Heaven - to protect and sustain us throughout our long and bitter exile. Tefillin is the mark of a Jew. It is told that the saintly R’ Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev ZT”L once saw a simple Jew drop his Tefillin. The man gently lifted them up and lovingly kissed them. The Berditchever raised his hands up to heaven and exclaimed, “Ribono shel Olam, Master of the universe, the Jewish people are Your Tefillin. You have dropped them and let them lie on the ground for more than two thousand years, trampled by their enemies. Why do You not pick them up? Why do You not do as much as the most simple Jew? Why not?”
The following story is told about the power of a pair of Tefillin. An Israeli young man from a fine religious family, drifted away from his familial upbringing, and became lax in his mitzvah observance. No amount of pleading and cajoling could make the teenager see the light of truth, and he felt the need to experience life on his own.
He enlisted in the Israeli army and served his time with a great deal of courage and honor; albeit a total lack of religious observance. His father would speak to him on a regular basis and implore him to keep at least some of the commandments, but the soldier had no interest. His mind was not on religion and so after serving three years in the Israeli army, he decided that it was time to travel the world and experience the freedom he so desperately craved.
With a multitude of destinations in his mind and the world at his fingertips, he packed his bags and kissed his family goodbye. At the airport his father handed him his Tefillin bag and told him that even though it’s been years since he last put on his Tefillin, he should start putting them on every day and this will be his protection.
“Son, promise me that you will put on these Tefillin once a day,” the father said with tears brimming in his eyes. The son, moved by his father’s entreaties, promised his dad that no matter where he’ll be, he will put on the Tefillin every day.
It was two weeks before the son finally called his family to let them know that he was fine. In the course of the conversation, his father asked if he puts on the Tefillin like he promised, and the son assured his father that it is the first thing he does every morning upon waking up. The son continued with his traveling and from time to time called his family. In every phone conversation the father asked his son if he puts on Tefillin and the son would always answer the same words every time, “Yes, father. Of course, I put on the Tefillin every single morning.”
Three months went by and the travel money was dwindling. The son began to panic and in desperation, called his father asking him to send more money. The father’s response was he wanted to know if the son was putting on Tefillin. The son was not amused. He needed money and his father would not give him a straight answer. The next time he called and requested money, his father once again inquired if he put on the Tefillin. The son became angry at his father for asking the same question every time. “I need money and all you ask me about is Tefillin!” the boy screamed and hung up the phone.
Having no money left and thus no place to go, the son returned to Israel, blaming his father for cutting his world experience short. On the trip from the airport, he acted distant and aloof and refused to talk to his father altogether.
A day after his return to Israel, his father calmly asked his son if he put on Tefillin and the son yelled at his father that he puts it on everyday and to stop asking him the same question all the time. The father asked his son to give him the Tefillin bag and the son angrily handed it to him. The father’s hand was shaking as he opened his son’s Tefillin bag and suddenly he pulled a bundle of money out of the bag. The father shook his head sadly and told his son, “If you would have put on the Tefillin as you said you did, you would have found the $5,000 I sent you for additional traveling expenses ....”
Since that day the son attends daily morning prayer and puts on his Tefillin. He hasn’t missed a minyan since!