Today (Monday) at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi of Safed and member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, conducted a tefillin-laying ceremony for his grandson, who is celebrating his bar mitzvah.
The tefillin worn by the boy were preserved from the Holocaust, having originally belonged to Rabbi Eliyahu’s great-grandfather, and today he put them on for the first time.
During the ceremony, Rabbi Eliyahu offered words of inspiration, stating: "Today we are privileged to stand at the Western Wall, a place of redemption, with our beloved grandson Elyashiv, who is donning the sacred tefillin of his great-grandfather—a man who wore them with devotion each day during the Holocaust."
Reflecting on the historical significance, he added: "It is striking to consider where we were 85 years ago compared to today, and the redemption experienced by the people of Israel. As Rabbi Nachman Kahane once said, the distance from the Holocaust to the present day is less than the distance from here to the Temple."
Concluding his remarks, Rabbi Eliyahu emphasized the symbolic journey of the tefillin: "The journey of these tefillin, from your great-grandfather to this day, spans further than the distance to the Holy of Holies."
The boy’s other grandfather offered a blessing: "May you merit to wear tefillin every day of your life, without missing a single day, and may you do so with reverence for the Holy."