08/28/2024
A true story submitted by one of our guest writers:
Morning, September 11, 2000.
"Attention, attention! Boarding is now open for the flight..."
Mr. Brown (name changed to protect anonymity) sighed in relief. Finally, the long wait at the airport was over. With G-d’s help, in a few hours, he would finally be home. People began boarding the plane. Mr. Brown didn’t like crowds, so he stood in line near the end. The line moved quickly, and soon he was at the plane’s door. Just in case, he decided to check if he had everything: "Okay, the bag is here, the food package too… but where are my tefillin?!" To his horror, he realized that he had left his tefillin on a chair in the waiting area.
(***Tefillin, also known as phylacteries, must be worn daily by Jewish men during weekday morning prayers.)
"Listen," he said to the steward, "I forgot something very important in the waiting area! Can I go back and get it? It will only take a couple of minutes!"
"A couple of minutes?" the steward smiled coldly. "You know very well it will take much longer! You’ll have to walk a long way back to the airport building, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be allowed to return to the waiting area and come back here! Boarding is almost complete, and the plane is ready for takeoff. So please, take your seat."
"You don’t understand, this is something I cannot continue my journey without!" It’s hard to explain what tefillin mean...Losing tefillin is worse than losing a diamond necklace! Besides their considerable monetary value, tefillin hold immense spiritual significance. They are his "mobile connection" with the Creator and his people! Tefillin are received on the day of a bar mitzvah, at the age of thirteen, and are cherished for life. Mr. Brown knew that, despite his strong desire to finally board the plane, he couldn’t fly without his tefillin.
The argument, now involving the captain as well as the steward, continued for about ten minutes. Finally, the pilot lost his patience: "Listen, this is outrageous! Because you forgot something, even if it is important, we’ve already delayed the flight by ten minutes! Either you take your seat immediately, or go back to the airport and buy a new ticket!" Mr. Brown realized there was no other option. He stepped off the plane and returned to the airport. There, he found his tefillin, sighed in relief, and leisurely walked to the ticket counter to find out when the next flight was and if there were any available seats...
Meanwhile, the plane took off, ten minutes late, heading toward New York. Neither the passengers nor the crew could imagine that none of them would ever make it home...
That was the second plane hijacked by terrorists. It crashed into the South Tower of the Twin Towers. According to the terrorists’ plan, both planes were supposed to arrive simultaneously. But the ten-minute argument on board the plane wasn’t part of their plan. When the first plane hit the North Tower, panic ensued, and people began fleeing the South Tower. During those ten minutes, about ten thousand people evacuated the building.
So, Mr. Brown’s tefillin not only saved his life but also the lives of thousands of others...
