Moscow’s Jewish community has opened up what it is calling a “tefillin bank” in order to provide a pair free of charge to any Jew lacking the religious articles.
Tefillin, known as phylacteries in English, are small leather boxes containing Biblical verses inscribed on parchment which are worn by Orthodox Jewish men on their heads and arms during prayer.
Chabad, the New York based Hasidic movement behind the new initiative, is well known for its members’ efforts to entice Jewish men to fulfill the Biblical commandment, frequently by approaching strangers in the street to do so.
According to Israel National News, the new project was unveiled following the wedding of the son of Rabbi Berel Lazar, the Chabad-affiliated Chief Rabbi of Russia, and was based on a prior “mezuzah bank” project.
Mezuzah’s are, like tefillin, small boxes containing Biblical verses, but rather than being worn, they are mounted on the doorposts of Jewish homes.
"Since we started our mezuzah project, thousands of Moscow homes have received a free mezuzah,” Lazar was quoted as saying. "Many times, after we placed the mezuzah, the family began to keep additional mitzvot and to study Torah."
