TefillIN Stands Answering the Rebbe’s Call for Increased Tefillin

One hundred and forty—self-service TefillIN Stands have been stationed throughout the USA, with another fifty deploying within weeks.

Following the Six Day War, and re-emphasized during the Yom Kippur War, the Lubavitcher Rebbe passionately urged Jews everywhere to rekindle their commitment to the mitzvah of Tefillin.

“And all the people of the earth will see Hashem’s name upon you—and fear you,” the Rebbe would quote time and again.

Now, as Israel faces another barbaric attack, the Rebbe’s message is amplified and embraced with renewed vigor.

Shloime Nelken of South Florida, in collaboration with Rabbi Avraham Green of the Shlichus Market, a division of the Shluchim Office, began the “TefillIN Stands” initiative roughly half a year ago. The initiative aims to make it easier for people to put on tefillin by providing them with a convenient and accessible location to do so.

Each stand is aesthetically designed and lightweight. Its legs resemble the straps of the tefillin, while the Tzedakah box on top favors the tefillin box.

“We started this project about six months ago. The stands are produced by the Shlichus Market, and we subsidize and distribute them,” Shloime explains.

TefillIN Stands are currently located in various JCC’s, college campuses, restaurants, and stores all over North America, Nelken plans to double the current number of stands with new ones arriving in a few weeks.

“Not everyone can make it to shul every day, but everyone eats every day,” he said. “These stands give people the opportunity to put on tefillin wherever they are.”

He hopes to see the stands proliferate in various establishments, from restaurants to mall stores. The initiative’s essence is simple: to amplify the availability of tefillin stands, making it effortlessly possible for people to observe the mitzvah of Tefillin.

Rabbi Mordechai Feiner, of Chabad of South Broward, shared another remarkable story about the TefillIN Stands. He told of a kosher store owned by an Arab-Israeli who not only embraces the presence of a TefillIN Stand in his establishment but actively encourages his patrons to participate in the mitzvah.

“Even though there’s already a TefillIN Stand in the store, he wants it to be more publicized, and he wants to join in. Sincerely, he feels bad about what’s going on, and he’s an individual who pushes all his patrons to put on tefillin,” Feiner said.

“Every person that comes to buy a shawarma or falafel, he tells them they have to put on tefillin, and he wishes he could put on the mitzvah. They should put on, and there’s literally dozens, without exaggeration, dozens of people every week who put on tefillin in this guy’s store. It’s a kosher store but it’s owned by an Arab. Here you have an Israeli Arab who only thinks of the good for the people of Israel, all the people of Israel.”

For more information please visit: www.tefillinstands.com and follow us on instagram @tefillin_stands to see updates