Alex Cornish from Issaquah, Washington, is studying at Hadar H’Torah Yeshiva in New York. Recently, he went to a park near Crown Heights, asking people if they would like to put on tefillin. In the park there is an area where people play chess. One of those playing chess pointed Alex in the direction of an elderly man, saying that he is Jewish and will soon be 102 years old. He suggested the man would put on tefillin. Alex approached and asked, “are you Jewish.”
The man answered that he used to be a Jew, but is no longer Jewish. Alex asked if he wanted to put on tefillin. The man did not respond. So, Alex suggested they play chess (Alex is a chess champion).
The elderly Jew agreed to the game, and Alex added that they play on the condition that if he (Alex) wins, the man will agree to put on tefillin with him. The man did not respond. And so the game began, and within ten minutes Alex was the winner.
The man rolled up his sleeve, showed Alex the number from Auschwitz, and shared that the last time he saw his father was when they were playing chess. Since then, he doesn’t want to remember or know anything about Judaism. And, he continued, in two weeks I will be celebrating my 102nd birthday. But the deal must be respected.
The elderly Jew rolled up his sleeve and, for the first time in his life, he put on tefillin. A Bar Mitzvah at the age of almost 102!
reprinted from Chabadinfo.com
