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Weekly Chasidic Story #745 (s5772-24 / 11 Adar 5772) The Second Tefilin Connection Rabbi Moshe Feinstein expressed great interest in what the Lubavitcher Rebbe had said about tefilin, but agreed to do it only if the Rebbe himself would select the proper scribe. Connection: Seasonal -- The yahrzeit of Rabbi Feinstein is on Erev Purim
The Second Tefilin Connection
A few years earlier, Rabbi Tzvi-Hirsh Spritzer (ob'm), a Chabad chasid in Israel who was very active in the Rebbe's campaign for kosher mezuzot on every Jewish door, boarded a flight from Tel Aviv to New York. Due to the machinations of Heaven, he found himself sitting next to a religious Jew who introduced himself as Moshe Tendler. The struck up a lively conversation and by the end of the flight they were firm friends. Rabbi Doctor Moshe Tendler, a major Jewish figure in his own right, was also the son-in-law of the "Gaon" [Torah genius] Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, for many decades the recognized leading decisor of Jewish Law in the USA. Rabbi Spritzer offered Rabbi Tendler that he would come to Rabbi Feinstein's home in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and check his mezuzot, and so he did. Some time after that Purim farbrengen when the Rebbe spoke about Rabbeinu Tam tefilin, in a subsequent visit to the USA, Rabbi Spritzer decided he would go again to Rabbi Feinstein's house and report to him what the Rebbe had said. When he entered the great sage's office and introduced the topic, he was amazed to hear that until age 18 Rabbi Moshe Feinstein actually used to wrap Rabbeinu Tam tefilin! He then ceased, because of various reasons. Rabbi Feinstein expressed great interest to hear what the Rebbe had said on the subject. In the end he said that {based on the Rebbe's encouragement,} he would take upon himself to don Rabbeinu Tam's once again after all these decades, but only on two conditions: 1) that the Rebbe himself would select the proper sofer (scribe) to write the parchments, and that they, the parchments, be written in accordance with the halachic decisions of Rabbi Yosef Karo, the "Beit Yosef" {which is the one preferred by nearly all Ashkenazic non-chasidic Jews}.** When Rabbi Spritzer reported this significant development to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe immediately instructed his Chief-of-staff, Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, to contact the Chabad sofer, Rabbi Eliezer Zirkind, and instruct him in the Rebbe's name to go the next morning to the Gaon's home, and ascertain from him exactly what his requirements were for the preparation of the tefilin. Rabbi Zirkind followed through, of course, and after a conversation with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, it was agreed that before the scribe inserted the small rolls of parchment into the tefilin boxes, he would first bring them to the Gaon to enable him to do a personal examination. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein throughout his life maintained a voluminous level of correspondence in matters concerning Jewish law with Rabbis and laymen all around the globe. His correspondence was eventually edited and published in an 8-volume set under the title, Igres Moshe. *** In the fourth volume of the Orach Chayim section, in chapter 9, there is a letter (see right) Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote to the Lubavitcher Rebbe dated Erev Parshat Shekalim 5740 (Feb.15,1980) two days after the first visit of Rabbi Zirkind, the sofer, in which he acknowledges the Rebbe's encouragement to him to resume wrapping the tefilin of Rebbeinu Tam, cites the various reasons why he had done so many years before, thanks the Rebbe for personally selecting and sending him a properly qualified expert scribe, and even mentions some details about payment. In an interview with Kfar Chabad magazine, published in issue #252 Rabbi Doctor
Moshe Tendler related an interesting aspect of Rabbi Zikind's first visit to
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. "He answered that he was a sofer from Lubavitch in Crown Heights, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe had ordered him to visit Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that morning to discuss with him his requirements and requests for the best possible tefilin. Since he didn't know what time the Gaon began his day, he was waiting outside the door until someone opened it. Rabbi Doctor Moshe Tendler arranged his entrance and immediately Rabbi Moshe Feinstein told him in clear, specific detail exactly how he wanted his tefilin to be prepared." Rabbi Zirkind went back to Brooklyn that Wednesday afternoon and immediately made preparations to write the tefilin parchments exactly according to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's instruction. The following Tuesday he completed and delivered them, and after checking the writing and waiting for the scribe insert them into the boxes and sew them up, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrapped Rabbeinu Tam tefilin for the first time in 67 years. From that day on he continued to faithfully put them on every single day {except Shabbat and Festival} for the next 6 years up to and including his final day on this earth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes: Connection: Seasonal - 13 Adar is the yahrzeit of Rav Moshe. Biographic notes:
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Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein (1895 - 13 Adar B 1986) was born in Uzdan, near Minsk, Belorussia.
He became rabbi of Luban while young and remained there till 1937. After that
he immigrated with his family to the United States, to the Lower East Side of
Manhattan. There he became Rosh HaYeshivah of Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim,
which became world-famous because of his presence. He became the most important
halachic authority in the Americas, and his rulings were accepted worldwide.
They have been published in a multi-volume collection called Igrot Moshe.
Yerachmiel
Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor
of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories
to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells
them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.