His donning tefillin at all took immense effort— and here he wished to don a second pair
Amichai Schindler, a resident of Kerem Shalom who miraculously survived the horrific attacks on Simchas Torah two years ago, was left severely injured. A story recently made public reveals the unlikely bond between him and a chassidic rosh yeshivah, forged through his path to recovery.
When Amichai was in the hospital, there was a constant stream of visitors: celebrities, politicians, and caring Yidden who were there to help alleviate the pain, to make the patients’ stay a bit easier. One of the visitors asked Amichai if he had a “dream visitor,” to which Amichai admitted that yes, it would be most meaningful for him if he would be able to converse with a talmid chacham who he had encountered some years prior and whose presence exuded ahavas Yisrael.
It was the rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Pnei Menachem, Rav Shaul Alter. The message was duly relayed to Rav Alter and before he knew it, the chassidishe Rosh Yeshivah was walking down the hospital corridor, coming to see his new friend. Amichai, a talmid chacham in his own right, developed a relationship with the Rosh Yeshivah, which continued even after Amichai left the hospital and rehab center.
Recently, Amichai posed a question to the Rosh Yeshivah. Not long before, he had received a pair of Rabbeinu Tam tefillin: Should he make the brachah of shehechayanu upon them? The Rosh Yeshivah grew deeply emotional by the question, as both Amichai’s hands had been blown off by an explosive during the attack. His donning tefillin at all took immense effort — and here he wished to don a second pair.
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