Ami from Rehovot wished to donate a pair of tefillin that he had in his home to someone who would use them. He turned to me, and we had a nice conversation – but when I called him back a few days later to coordinate the collection of the tefillin, he said that he had already found someone who wanted to use them: his 25-year-old son! This son had stopped observing Torah and Mitzvot in his teenage years, and firmly refused any suggestion to put on Tefillin.

Ami happened to tell his son that he intended to donate a pair of tefillin to soldiers, and to his surprise, his son asked to receive the tefillin for himself. When the father dared to ask “Ma Nishtana” – what brought about this change in attitude? The son replied that since the war broke out he had the desire to resume putting on tefillin and he now undertakes to put them on every day.