Tefilin
The Story Behind The Teffilin
Germany
Sharoni M’s paternal great- great grandfather received his teffilin for his Bar Mitzvah in the late 1800’s.Sharoni’s great-great grandfather wore these teffelin each day. Sharoni’s family has owned these teffillin for 50 years. Sharoni’s great- great grandfather passed on these teffilin to the next generation. These teffilin survived in both World War I and World War II.
Sharoni M’s brother also used these teffilin at his Bar Mitzvah.
The Teffilin with Courage
Poland
Anna W’s great- great –great- grandfather Ben Zion Chesner‘s Teffilin box makes the family proud.Ben Zion was born in Poland. He had a hard life living with anti-Semitism. However he was able to maintain his strong belief in Judaism. This Teffillin box shows what a great Jew Ben Zion was to never stop believing. This object has been in the Chesner family for 120 years. It also shows the love of being part of the Jewish nation. Ben Zion teffillin came from Anna’s maternal family. This object was originally passed down to Jake W., but it was found imperfect and not able to be used. Ben Zion is a righteous Jew who kept hope even though it was hard.
Ben Zion Chesner taught our generation the great love of Hashem by maintaining his teffllin in such a beautiful way for the future generations.
Teffilin that Survived
Lodz, Poland
These Teffillin belonged to Morris S, Eli S’s grandfather. Morris’s mother made the Teffillin bag for him by hand. He received it in 1939 for his Bar-Mitzvah. When WW II broke out, he was forced to work for the Germans, but continued to wear the Teffillin in secret with other Jewish boys. In 1942 Morris’s father came to the decision that his family should go into hiding. In 1954 he attended the University of Berlin. Then 1960, he emigrated from Germany to America.
He probably survived because of these Teffillin, which he used to daven to Hashem for survival.
Tefilin
United States
Jason Aranoff received this set of tefillin from his paternal great grandfather Max Aranoff. This object is significant to the Aranoff family because even though it was difficult to be observant in 1923 Jason’s great grandfather held on to the tradition. Max got this pair of tefillin in 1923 for his Bar Mitzvah.This object is still used today when the Aranoffs need an extra pair of tefillin.
This valuable object will continue to get passed down from generations to generations.
Tefilin
Berlin Germany
Father
Zali T received these tefillin from his paternal great grandfather. These tefillin belonged to his Opa’s father, and he received them from his parents at his Bar Mitzvah in 1900. Zali’s Opa grew up in Berlin, Germany and his dad wore these tefillin every day until 1941. At that time his Opa took his parents to Lyon, France and placed them in hiding until after the Holocaust. During the war people were afraid that they might be discovered as Jews. He buried the tefillin in the backyard of his home in Berlin, and he hoped that if he survived the war he could go back and get them. His Opa survived and saved his entire family from the Germans. After the war he went with his brother, Uncle Joseph back to Germany and dug them up. With tefillin in hand, his Opa took his parents and siblings to Israel and their families still live there today. After the war his Opa and Oma moved to London, England and they moved to Montreal, Canada after Zali’s Bubie Anne was born. When his great-great grandfather died, he received the tefilin because he was responsible for saving the tefilin and his entire family. These tefilin and this story are extra special to Zali because his Opa’s name was Usher Zalki and he is named after him.
The T family has learned many stories from this object.