Students at a secular school in the upscale city of Modi'in, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, have charged their high school principal with prohibiting them from putting on tefillin because the principal considers it "religious coercion." Planners of Modi'in foresaw the modern city as a bastion for secular Jews, but observant Jews nevertheless represent a signifcant portion of the population.

 

The dispute in the school broke out when students asked a classmate, who had donned tefillin during recess, to teach them how to wear tefillin as well. The students gathered to put on tefillin every day until the principal found out about it. The principal allegedly told the students that they were carrying out missionary activity and that many parents do not want their children exposed to religious observance.