My friend’s son would soon have his bar mitzvah, and his father wanted to order batei tefillin from me. He had bought the parshiyos from another merchant, and he wanted me to take care of the batim, the straps, and the sewing.
I was glad that he trusted me, and since I am a merchant of STa”M items, every order gladdens me, and not only because this is the pipeline for my parnassah. The thought that I have a part in a Yid’s mitzvah of laying tefillin, and moreover, for a bar mitzvah bachur who is excitedly entering the glorious gates of mitzvas tefillin, moves me deeply.
I said to my friend, “You know that after we insert the parshiyos and sew the batim closed, we don’t take them out again so quickly. It would be worth your while to have the parshiyos examined by an expert.”
My friend claimed he had already done so. “The parshiyos were already checked by two people, and both declared them completely kosher. It’s a pity to delay matters with another check.”
I accepted what he said. I told him to bring me the parshiyos so I could put them into the batim, and I arranged for the batim to arrive as soon as possible.
I made calls, and I found out about the best batim for my friend. I made an order, but somehow the matter was delayed, and the batim did not arrive.
The delay became decidedly unpleasant. My friend, the father of the bar mitzvah boy, asked several times what was happening with the tefillin. He wanted his son to start donning tefillin a month before his bar mitzvah, and I apologized a thousand times. It was a difficult feeling, knowing that he was depending on me, and I was not succeeding in getting the matter taken care of. It was also very strange. The producer of the batim was always on time. What had suddenly occurred that each day he seemed to find another excuse for holding on to the batim?
In the meantime, I told myself, It’s true that this man did not ask that we examine his parshiyos, but that is what I recommend for everyone to do. I can have it done for him on my own. I called a professional magiah and told him, “Look, I have parshiyos here, and the batim still haven’t arrived. Would you be able to examine the parshiyos while we’re waiting for the batim?”
He agreed, and the following day he called me, agitated. “It’s not that I found a single mistake,” he told me, “but that the parshiyos are completely pasul! I spoke to the sofer who wrote them, and he is sending new parshiyos right away.”
So this whole delay was nothing but chessed and revealed mercy, so that a Yid would be able to don kosher tefillin. May we always recall the miracles and wonders Hashem has done for us, and recognize that strength and dominion are His, in the Heavens above and here below.
