My son Zalman will be celebrating his bar mitzvah over the summer, and he’s very excited.
A few months ago I commissioned a scribe in Israel to write the scrolls for my son’s tefillin; it takes a good few months to write the scrolls meticulously, with a feather quill and ink, so they need to be ordered well in advance.
Every week or so Zalman asks for an update. “When am I getting my tefillin? Are they ready yet? Where are they?”
Well, finally this week the tefillin that we ordered six months ago arrived and his excitement reached peak levels. He wanted to try them on immediately even though his obligation doesn’t begin for another few months.
His eagerness was tangible; his face lit up when he wrapped the straps around his arm.
It took me back to my own excitement 33 years ago when my first pair of tefillin arrived for my bar mitzvah. I remember handling them with such care. Thank G-d, I have not missed a single day since, and I hope and pray Zalman will do the same.
Witnessing my son’s enthusiasm, I realized there’s a tremendous lesson we can all learn from it.
Consider what excites you in life. Is it the new iPhone? The new car you want to purchase? A new couch? Your next vacation?
When you get up in the morning, what motivates you? What are you excited about?
For Zalman, it’s his new tefillin. Sadly, for most of us it’s our material possessions. But we can all learn from my son to reignite our passion for spiritual things. Let’s get excited about putting on tefillin, discovering a new Torah thought, giving charity … any mitzvah!
In fact, the Torah advises us: “Every day the Torah should be for you like something new.”
I hope that we all find ways to incorporate my son’s excitement into our own lives, and I pray that Zalman remains as excited about his tefillin for the rest of his life.