New Teffilin Theft Sparks Community Response and Inspires Volunteer’s Spiritual Renewal in New Jersey

A troubling incident at a community center in New Jersey involved a teaching assistant who mistakenly took a pair of tefillin from a public tefillin station intended for Jewish prayer. The assistant, accompanying a group of students, believed the tefillin were free for anyone and took them, later discarding them in the trash upon realizing she had no use for them. This loss caused significant distress within the community center, which offers an open tefillin station for Jewish visitors.

The center’s staff reviewed security footage to trace the missing tefillin and identified the assistant. The school she worked for was promptly informed, and after questioning, the assistant admitted to her misunderstanding. The school took full responsibility and immediately arranged for the purchase of a new, kosher pair of tefillin to replace the lost ones.

When the new tefillin arrived, Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, a Chabad emissary and director of the Life Town center for individuals with special needs, recalled Billy Spiro, a longtime volunteer who had never worn tefillin since his bar mitzvah due to germophobia. Rabbi Grossbaum offered Billy the new, untouched tefillin, and Billy accepted. He put them on for the first time in decades in an emotional moment, promising to wear them regularly if he received his own pair.

Through the Tefillin Bank organization, Billy was provided with his personal set, while he borrowed the new pair temporarily. Remarkably, this spiritual renewal occurred on the 15th of Av, a day in Hasidic tradition symbolizing light emerging from darkness, turning the unfortunate theft into a meaningful opportunity for connection and faith renewal.