Encounter at Bear Mountain Leaves Bochurim in Awe

By COLlive reporter

Students of the Mesivta Lubavitch of Monsey headed out for an outing to Bear Mountain in upstate New York on Tuesday.

Moshe Lang, a student in Shiur Alef, carried a pair of Tefillin with him on the hike, determined to look for people to help put on Tefillin.

During the hike on the mountain, the boys asked many passersby if they are Jewish, but had no luck finding any fellow Jews.

Finally, they encountered an elderly man. They stopped him and asked him if he is Jewish.

He answered yes. But when they asked if he would like to put on Tefillin, he said no.

Young Moshe Lang would not take no for an answer. He explained to the elderly man that if he would put on Tefillin, he would be the first person to do so in that location that day, and he would elevate the entire area.

After hearing that, the man agreed, and put on Tefillin for the first time in his life.

After putting on Tefillin, Rabbi Sender Lustig, the menahel of the school who was accompanying the trip, walked up and asked the man his name and where he is from.

The man related that he is the son of Holocaust survivors. “My name is Bill Lang,” he said.

The boys excitedly told him that the youngster who had just helped him put on Tefillin shares the same last name as him. “This is Moshe Lang,” they told him.

The man was visibly moved and said, “My father’s name was Moshe Lang…”