By Donald H. Harrison 

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Like tying someone else's shoes, helping another person to put on tefillin requires a change of perspective.  You have to think about what you otherwise do automatically.  

"Let's see," pondered Justin Seligmann, a longtime member and former president of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, as he instructed a newcomer to the ancient practice of wrapping one's hand and arm in the phylacteries. "It goes around this finger, and then, wait a minute, I mean this finger, and then you wrap it like this, to form the letter Shin."

Throughout the sanctuary of the Conservative congregation, there were similar exchanges as Jewish men and women, who either had forgotten the ritual or who had never learned it, were instructed in putting tefillin on their heads and arms by people like Seligmann to whom the practice is second nature.

The learning session, which was incorporated into a morning (Shacharit) service led by Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, was sponsored similarly at Conservative congregations throughout the world by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs.  At Tifereth Israel, about 60 persons attended the 8:30 a.m. service, of whom approximately 35 put on the tefillin.

"The idea was to show people who might not otherwise have thought about putting tefillin on what they are about, how to wear them. their importance in Jewish life and to encourage them to do so on a regular basis.," Rosenthal said.

It is important to put on tefillin "because it is part of our Jewish tradition, and the important part—as the Torah says—is that they are a physical reminder of God's mitzvot (commandments).  It is not any kind of talisman or magic box, but they are physical reminders that we should perform mitzvot in our lives and this kind of forces us to remember that every morning before we go out to live our daily lives."


At left, Justin Seligmann, a past president of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, helps the Conservative congregation's
executive director, Regina Wurst, to put on the tefillin.  At right,  Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal at far left side of photograph, poses
on his synagogue's bima with approximately 35 male and female adults and children who participated in "World Wide Wrap." 

Phil Snyder, organizer of the event at Tifereth Israel, said "world wide wrap" for several years has been specifically organized to occur on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and other countries throughout the world.  

Snyder said for the Men's Club, "it is a feather in our cap to be able to teach something about Judaism, and to work together with the shul, and actually give a lesson on something as vital as what tefillin means and to spread it to the children—we have a lot of children here today."

Concerning the participation of women in the even, Snyder said, "we are an egalitarian congregation—in Orthodox, there probably would be no way such an event could occur."  Overhearing, another Men's Club member, Dan Cohen, said "Rashi's granddaughter put on tefillin.  There is nothing wrong with it!"

Snyder said that Tifereth Israel Synagogue is the only Conservative congregation in San Diego currently affiliated with the Jewish Federation of Men's Clubs but that he is encouraging the men in other Conservative congregations to become involved.

Besides this event, he said, the Federation of Jewish Men's Club has numerous other projects described on its web site, www.fjmc.org, including a program of outreach to intermarried couples called Keruv.