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Community Corner

It's a (World Wide) Wrap!

TBA rekindles the tradition of putting on tefillin.

What began as one man’s idea to get 100 men from his synagogue to come together on a Sunday morning, has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. Inspired by the Million Man March that sought to unite African American men, the World Wide Wrap is an annual celebration of the Jewish commandment to wear tefillin.

Since the first World Wide Wrap event in 2000, more than 200,000 people from Sydney to London to Bogota have participated and several local synagogues have joined this year’s event on Sunday, Feb. 13.

Sponsored by the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, registration is open to any synagogue, regardless of affiliation. The mission of the World Wide Wrap is to teach people about the practice of tefillin and to encourage them to participate in this six-day-a-week observance, said Donald Grenadir, appointed member of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs board of directors.

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As Jewish observances go, the mitzvah (commandment) of putting on tefillin is one of the most tangible and at the same time deeply symbolic. The actual tefillin are comprised of two cube-shaped leather boxes attached to leather straps that are wrapped around the head and arm, and they are a powerful symbol of a Jewish person’s bond with God. Inside the boxes are pieces of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Often translated as the Greek-based term, “phylacteries,” the wearing of tefillin goes back to the Torah where it reads, “Bind [the mitzvot] as a sign on your arm, and as frontlets between your eyes.”

While the commandment is only incumbent upon men, many women choose to wear  tefillin at morning prayers every Sunday through Friday. Tefillin are not worn on the Sabbath, which Jews observe on Saturday. At World Wide Wrap events, fathers and mothers learn alongside their sons and daughters who are often reaching bar or bat mitzvah age (12 for girls and 13 for boys) and learning about tefillin for the first time.

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Temple B’nai Abraham Men’s Club President Jeff Grabelle said the World Wide Wrap “ties the generations together and keeps a tradition that has a lot of meaning alive.” He recalled being a young teenager, putting on his father’s tefillin for the first time, and hearing how his grandfather and great-grandfather had learned in the same way from the previous generation.

“I wanted to rekindle that tradition here at TBA so people could become more familiar with their religion's customs and traditions,” Grabelle said.

At Adath Shalom in Parsippany, the congregation celebrated their first World Wide Wrap on Feb. 6 with sixth and seventh grade students and members of the Men’s Club practicing putting on tefillin together. Education Director Charlotte Frank said the event is important because, “we owe it to future generations to keep this tradition alive and real. What could be more powerful a message than feeling the watchwords of our people on our head (in our mind) and on our arm (in our might).”

Frank encouraged people of all ages to consider learning more about the commandment to wear tefillin, “because it is our right and responsibility to keep our link in the chain with a ritual that connects them back so many generations in our history.”

Education is the prevailing theme for the program, explained Grenadir. “I feel that no person should feel embarrassed or ashamed by lack of knowledge about tefillin, he said. “I thought that it was important for all children to learn this practice as part of their Jewish education.”

The ritual of wearing tefillin has profound spiritual meaning as it represents a “betrothal” to God every time one puts them on and the leather straps on the arm are specifically wrapped around the traditional Jewish wedding ring finger. “The World Wide Wrap gives insight and meaning into the observance,” Grenadir said. “It’s important for Jews to be aware of their traditions.”

At the in Livingston, the event begins on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. with a brief educational session about tefillin, after which everyone will pray together with the congregation’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Clifford Kulwin. All are invited to a continental breakfast and a social action event called Mitzvah Morning

IF YOU GO: Temple Bnai Abraham, 300 E. Northfield Road in Livingston

Sunday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m.

The event includes an educational session, followed by minyan services and a continental breakfast. All are invited to stay for the morning's next event, titled Mitzvah Morning. Contact: Call the synagogue office at (973) 994-2290 or email Jeff Grabelle @ sportsjefe@aol.com

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