Senior at Cornell University Creates a Spiritual Challenge

By Libby Herz – COLlive

Recently, Cornell University has become known for rampant antisemitism on campus, but Matias Lancewicki, a Senior at Cornell, is countering the darkness with light. It all started on a Gimmel Tammuz by the Ohel, where Matias made a hachlata: he would influence thirty people who don’t yet wrap tefillin to don a pair for a length of time. It didn’t take long for the resolution to come to life because upon leaving the Ohel, Matias bumped into a shliach who signed twenty kids up for the challenge immediately.

Now, the EZRI Tefillin Challenge requires participants to wrap tefillin every day for forty days, and send a picture of themselves wearing tefillin to the group chat. The participants share their experiences through posted pictures and updates, creating a sense of unity and pride. It’s an invitation to connect with the special mitzvah and bring strength to Jews around the world.

Each participant also receives a gift. Matias is the founder of EZRI backpacks. “I told some friends that I’d give them a free bag if they put on tefillin for forty consecutive days,” he says. Now, participants who complete the challenge receive a stylish, beautifully crafted sling bag, valued at $200. Still, Matias believes that no one actually joins the challenge for the backpack. “It’s just a good excuse to get started,” he says.

When the EZRI Tefillin Challenge was first introduced to Cornell, it began with just a handful of students. But since then, the project has snowballed and became a force of its own. Within months, over fifty Cornell students were sending photos of themselves, proudly wrapped in tefillin.

Then, on October 7, Jews all over the world were struck in the heart. “When everything began with Israel,” Matias says, “we reached out to more Chabad Houses.” Jewish students across universities were inspired to take actions to support Israel and express their Jewish identity, and the tefillin challenge gave them the opportunity to do so.

To support the spiritual war efforts, now was the time to spread the challenge to more campuses. The EZRI Tefillin Challenge grew tremendously at Cornell with the help of Rabbi Eli Silverstein and Rabbi Dovid Birk. Then, Efraim Merovitch of Chabad on Campus began to spread word of the challenge to more campus shluchim. One shliach reached out to the next, and what began as a small project for Jewish men at Cornell spread like wildfire. The goal was clear: to spread this light as widely as possible, especially in the face of the recent dark events.

At Cornell Business school, students are required to partake in a capstone project to graduate. Matias, along with colleagues Adam Abergel, Mathew Breitman, Adam Nerenberg, and Marty Levine applied to make the growth of the EZRI Tefillin Challenge their capstone project. They were delighted to when it was approved as a 3-credit class for their graduation project.

The weekly class, which aims to boost the amount of Jews wrapping tefillin, includes two professors and an MBA coach who greatly support and guide the project’s expansion. They offer support with team planning, project management, marketing, and funding. “They give us encouragement and help us tell our story,” Matias says.

The students are closely partnered with Chabad shluchim, constantly collaborating and giving them updates. Currently, twenty-five Chabad Houses have signed up for the challenge, with more signing up daily. “Our goal is, bli neder, to have 1,800 people complete the program by Rosh Hashana,” Matias says. “We want to spread this to as many universities as possible, if not all of them.”

The Tefillin Challenge is being received with open arms, and has been acting as a catalyst to bring Jews closer to their roots. “A lot of students started wrapping thanks to this challenge,” Matias says. “And many continue to wrap every day after the challenge is over. We have karkaftas who have never wrapped before and are now wrapping every day. The ultimate objective is for everyone to put on tefillin every day.”

As the Tefillin Project continues to evolve, Cornell University has been incredibly supportive in growing the project on campus; Cornell also offered resources such as a recording studio to further amplify the initiative’s reach.

With Matias and his team graduating in the next few weeks, a major question is put on the table: How will the Tefillin Challenge continue at Cornell? The university agreed to approve the challenge as a credit class for the following semester, so long as we found motivated students to lead it. Thank G-d, the perfect candidates emerged.

“There was one student,” Matias says, “who was really inspired by the Tefillin Challenge. A few days into the challenge, he came up to me as asked if he could keep the tefillin he was borrowing instead of receiving the backpack prize, as he planned to continue wrapping everyday.” It is this student, along with a few others, who will lead the challenge after the current leading group graduates.

The project has received unwavering support and is poised for even greater success. “We get college credits, and were featured on the business school’s LinkedIn,” Matias says. “We are witnessing the Rebbe’s blessings on every step of the way, and we’re very grateful to Hashem for the incredible success the project has had so far. Next semester, we hope to expand to a Shabbos Candle initiative for Jewish women. The more people who join, the brighter our light will shine.”

Please Whatsapp 786-503-5619 to fund or partner with the Tefillin Challenge. Click here to sign up.