#928 (s5775-51 / 23 Elul 5775)

Precious Tefillin

The stewardess told him that once the doors of the plane closed, no one was allowed off the plane.He went to the pilot who simply restated the policy.

Connection: Seasonal--(Surprise! - you will easily figure it out when you read the story)

Precious Tefillin

David Miller [not his real name], a pious observant Jew, was at Boston's Logan Airport waiting to board his flight to Los Angeles. It was an important business trip on which much depended, so he had been extra careful to get there on time. Finally he boarded the plane, sat down and watched the doors close.

Suddenly he remembered that he left his tefillin*in the terminal boarding area. He politely asked the stewardess if he could go back and retrieve his tefillin, which were sitting just a few feet from the gate.

She told him that once the doors of the plane closed, no one was allowed off the plane. Not willing to accept this, he asked if he could speak to the pilot to obtain special permission. Surely the pilot would understand.

But the pilot did not comply. He simply restated the policy.

David was not about to let the holy tefillin get lost like that, so, not knowing what else to do, he started screaming at the top of his lungs, "I am going to lose my tefillin!- I don't want to lose my tefillin!" The crew asked him to be quiet, but he refused to stop making a fuss - a rather loud fuss.

Finally, he was making such a ruckus that the flight crew told him that they would let him off the plane, simply because he was a nuisance. But, they told him, even if it were so that it would only take him about 90 seconds for to run out, grab his tefillin, and run back, they were not going to wait for him.

No matter. David was not about to lose his tefillin, even if it caused him great inconvenience or even if it would cost his business a severe loss. He left the plane, resigned to not re-board.

* * *

The date was September 11, 2001. The flight was United #175--the second plane to reach the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. David's devotion to a mitzvah saved his life.

But this is not just about 'David Miller,' for the consequences of his actions do not end there. The terrorists original plot was for both towers to be struck simultaneously, in order to maximize the explosive carnage. Later it was learned that due to his tefillin tumult the takeoff was delayed, causing a space of 18 minutes between the striking of the two towers. This delay made it possible for thousands more people to escape alive from both buildings.

Literally thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives were spared because one Jew would not forsake his precious tefillin.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the weekly mailing "Shabbos Stories"< keren18@juno.com>. This true story is documented in "Even in the Darkest Moments" by Zeev Breier.

* Tiny parchment scrolls in small square boxes with straps worn by Jewish men on head and bicep during morning prayer.)

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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