By Rabbi Eli Friedman
When we came to look at the house we were considering for a new home for Chabad of Calabasas in California, we were welcomed by the seller’s agent, a pleasant man with a very Jewish name.
When he finished showing us around, I asked him when was the last time he put on Tefillin. He smiled sheepishly and said that he had never done it.
Excitedly, I told him what a giant Mitzvah it would be if he agreed to do it now for the first time. I explained that the first time a man puts on Tefillin is a momentous occasion and in fact, this would be his Bar Mitzvah.
He agreed to my request and so standing there in the driveway of our future Chabad House, he put on Tefillin for the very first time. When we finished the Shema, I grabbed him in a happy dance of “Siman Tov,” celebrating his long overdue Bar Mitzvah. He was beaming and enjoying every moment.
When we were done, I told him I wanted to return the next day with a fellow Shliach to hear his opinion of the house. The next day I returned and when we finished the tour I told my friend all about the agent’s Bar Mitzvah yesterday and how he had wrapped Tefillin for the first time ever.
My friend, who never missed an opportunity for Mivtza Tefillin, congratulated the agent and then challenged him, “If you put on Tefillin yesterday with Rabbi Friedman, then you have to put them on today with me!”
The agent laughed and agreed.
As my friend was unwinding the Tefillin from the agent after Shema, he chatted with him about his background and upbringing. And, as it turned out, the man was not Jewish at all. Not his mother, not his father, not his grandparents. And he had no idea what we were doing. Or saying. Or singing. Or celebrating.
All he knew was the old adage, “The customer is ALWAYS right.” And how right he was. We bought that house and he danced Siman Tov all the way to the bank.
Incidentally, I’ve put on Tefillin with some Jews as well. But no Tefilin encounter makes me laugh out loud every time I think about it quite like that one.
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5, obviously he is. manis’
for a good laugh
and for being able to laugh at yourself
Chani and Manis Friedmans son?
🙂
I’ve been around the block abit and I can say that rabbi Eli friedman is a special Shliach.
Nachas fun der bar mitzva!
Eli and Shainy are awesome shluchim!!!! Meichayil el choyil, you two!
Continued hatzlocha!