Stories @ CSI

This Sunday, February 12, Shearith Israel celebrated the World Wide Wrap, an national program to promote use of tallit and tefillin organized by the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FMJC).  Forty-five of us joined together in morning prayers, many first-time users of tefillin.  Machaneh Shai fifth graders were there, many with their parents.

Rabbi David Helfand led the prayers and explained that tefillin help us to achieve balance in our lives by ‘supporting’ our weaker arms, while reminding us to think of the mitzvot.

Following prayers, the group enjoyed a “wrapped” breakfast prepared by the Shearith Israel Men’s Club.

Inspired by an FJMC video, “The Ties that Bind,” in 2000 more than one hundred men and women gathered for a Shacharit service in Charlotte, North Carolina with extra tefillin pairs to teach newcomers. Word spread and by the next year, the World Wide Wrap was born.  This year, 3,758 daveners at 148 synagogues in the US and Canada participated in the World Wide Wrap, as did the Women of the Wall in Jerusalem.

Learn more about the mitzvah of tefillin from the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism.