A battle of ideals and identity
IN Israel’s liberal capital, an illiberal wind is blowing as avowed secularists furiously turn on Tefillin and public displays of Jewish practice as missionary activity. From the Shuk to Dizengoff and Habima Square, weeks of conversations with Tel Avivians of all stripes lead to one conclusion: the battle over the Tefillin stands is a microcosm of the battle for Jewish identity today
It was a Friday afternoon in early June, and in the shadow of the famous theater that gives Tel Aviv’s Habima Square its name, a mild-mannered Chabad bochur manning a pop-up booth offered the largely secular passersby his wares — the chance to put on tefillin.
For Philadelphia-born Shlomo Gerber, this was a regular Erev Shabbos activity, carried out after Friday morning seder in the nearby Chabad yeshivah in the city center. But after months of fevered left-wing protests against the Netanyahu government’s signature justice reforms, the simple routine had put him on someone’s radar.
While two secular teens came over to Gerber’s stand and began to put on tefillin, a woman marched up, camera in hand and contempt in her voice.
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