Tag: tefillin
Tefillin
My phone rang one morning last week. It was the wife of a friend whose weekly shiur I attend.
"Could you spare some time to help a patient in the hospital to put on tefillin?" she asked. "The person who usually does it can't make it today."
OU Israel Delivers Tefillin, Tzitzit And Siddurim To Soldiers
When soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces went into combat against Hamas in Gaza, they were armed with the highest level of military equipment Israel could provide them.
Some of the soldiers were also armed with "spiritual ammunition" provided to them earlier this week by the Orthodox Union (OU), which delivered 102 packages consisting of tefillin, tzitzit and a siddur with Tehillim prepared especially for soldiers on the battlefield.
The materials were brought to Gaza by Rabbi Avi Berman, director of OU Israel, and represent the first disbursement of the special fund created by the OU to provide the items to soldiers who wanted to add a spiritual component to their armament.
Funding for these packages was provided by Beth Jacob Congregation of Beverly Hills, CA. In the next few weeks, hundreds more of these packages will be provided by the congregation to soldiers returning from Gaza.
"The IDF arms the soldiers with their military weaponry; the OU's mission is to arm them with spiritual ammunition as they put their lives at risk," said OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.
The fund-raising campaign is taking place in OU synagogues across North America. The tefillin delivered to the 102 soldiers on Sunday cost $33,000. Another 70 soldiers are on the waiting list to receive their packages.
"Commanders who have been with the IDF for a long time were telling me that they didn't remember such a spiritual high in the army since the day after the Six-Day War," Rabbi Berman told The Jewish Press.
"These tefillin represent Jews in America whose heart is with the soldiers who are risking their lives in Gaza. The soldiers are putting the tefillin on at a critical time in their lives, and the people who contributed are hoping that they will continue to do so forever and ever."
Prayer – What Is Missing? (Part Two)
In my last column I promised that, B'Ezrat Hashem, I would outline constructive steps to help reverse the madness that seems to have overtaken our world. One of the most powerful weapons that we, the Jewish people possess, that has been our shield from the genesis of our history is prayer. Through genuine prayer, we can conquer and triumph over every adversity.
Post-Jewish Painting And Its Discontents
Ludwig Schwarz's 2000 assemblage of seven altered thrift store-bought paintings, "Untitled (Born to Be Mild)," can be said to evoke Piet Mondrian's abstract works, which rely heavily upon a simple palette and the grid.
Poetic Art And Biblical Illustration: A Study In Contrasts
One of the advantages museums hold over galleries is that their exhibits need not focus on one theme.
Q & A: A Sabbath Desecrator Leading Services (Conclusion)
QUESTION: What are the requirements for a sheliach tzibbur? May someone who desecrates the Sabbath lead the services?
C.M. Siegel
Rockland, NY
Q & A: ‘Bal Tosif’ And The Shofar Blasts (Conclusion)
QUESTION: I do not understand the practice of blowing so many extra blasts of the shofar, as is done in most synagogues on Rosh Hashana. Is that not in violation of the command bal tosif, as stated in Deuteronomy (13:1), "You shall not add to [G-d's commandments]"?Elliot Solomon(Via E-Mail)
Letters To The Editor
Columnist's Anti-Bush TiradeThe Jewish Press, which I've been reading since its first issue, is a greatly improved paper - one that we can be proud...
Q & A: Al Achilat Matza (Conclusion)
QUESTION: I have noticed that when we eat the matza at the Seder on Passover, we recite the blessing of Hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz, followed by Al achilat matza. Why don't we say Al achilat matza when we eat matza during the remainder of Passover?Moshe JakobowitzBrooklyn, NY