Tradition - Pittsburgh, PA
I joyously received a new, full size, kosher pair of Tefillin about six weeks ago from the Tefillin Bank through a local Rabbi here in Pittsburgh.
I could have written this note right away but was waiting for what happened on Monday.
My way of saying thank you so very much is to paint a picture in your mind.
My wife & I have worked very hard to give our children a kosher, mitzvah observant household, where they are taught what it means to be Jewish. We teach them through our example, through what we do more than what we say. We teach them what it means to be a part of a community & to give back to the community. We teach them to be tolerant of every Jew with the understanding that we are all creations of G-d. We do all this as parents yet our kids seem to teeter. My oldest boy will be 13 very soon. As much enthusiasm as I've shown about davening (prayer), he usually complains about going to Shule Friday night & getting to Shule on time on Shabbos. Try now & imagine how I felt when he comes to me on Sunday & says he wants to get up @ 5:30 a.m. to go to Shule with me to hear Slichos (a special prayer recited early in the morning in the days leading up to Rosh Hashana). Imagine that warm feeling, that sense that maybe you did do something right rearing him. Feel my joy davening side by side with my son, my sense of pride, wearing my new set of Tefillin as he puts his on for the first time!
We did it again today.
We will do it again together tomorrow.
Hope this expresses my appreciation properly.
Have a healthy, happy, spiritually enlightening New Year.
Sincerely,
Mitch M.
Pittsburgh, PA
