At LifeTown, a pair of Tefillin from a public stand went missing. Security camera footage revealed that an aide accompanying a visiting school group had taken them. When contacted, the school learned the aide had mistakenly believed the Tefillin were being given away. By that point, she had discarded them in the garbage.
The school accepted responsibility and paid for a replacement pair. As the new Tefillin sat on Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum's desk awaiting placement back on the stand, he recalled a long-standing conversation with Billy Spiro, a regular volunteer at the affiliated Friendship Circle organization who delivers Shabbat kits and other packages.
Spiro had consistently declined offers to put on Tefillin over the years. When asked again recently, he explained: "I want to tell you why I always turn you down. A number of unpleasant experiences over the years have made me a germophobe. The thought of putting on Tefillin that have been worn by other people is very difficult for me."
Recognizing the new pair on his desk had never been worn, Grossbaum called Spiro before his next visit and made the offer. Without hesitation, Spiro agreed.
When he arrived, Spiro put on Tefillin with Grossbaum - his first time in decades since his Bar Mitzvah. Moved by the experience, Spiro committed to putting them on regularly and received his own pair through the Tefillin Bank.
The purchase replacement pair became available at precisely the moment needed to address Spiro's concern, allowing him to reconnect with the practice he had long avoided.