Noam Ramati, a religious commander in the Israeli army, was on a mission in Gaza. One day, there had been tense fighting, and only several minutes before shekiah did he realize that he hadn’t yet put on tefillin. However, they were in a situation that didn’t allow him to do so. The entire unit had to remain frozen in their position or else be in great danger; any movement would endanger his life, and the lives of his whole unit. Although he was certainly patur from putting on tefillin, nevertheless it bothered him greatly. The rest of the unit, with many non-observant Yidden, saw his pain and anguish of missing a day without tefillin.
The next morning, the unit was lined up by his bedside, all requesting a chance to put on his tefillin. They’d seen his anguish over not being able to put them on, and they got an appreciation for it, and ever since then, they all put on tefillin every day.
This lesson teaches us what can come out from a sigh over a missed mitzvah. He hadn’t been able to actually put on tefillin that day, but nevertheless, the benefit that came out from it was great! He did his very best and left the rest to Hashem, which bore impressive fruit.
