But that wasn’t all: next Rav Yaakov Meir spoke of the heart— the Yiddishe heart!
The meeting had an intense, serious air. The elderly tzaddik, I realized, was determined to make sure his young visitor understood what tefillin really are.
He didn’t suffice with a perfunctory brachah and some good wishes. Instead, Rav Yaakov Meir learned the halachos and relevant kavanos with this young man about to become an adult.
But that wasn’t all: next Rav Yaakov Meir spoke of the heart — the Yiddishe heart! — the passion and emotion and feelings of a Yid. And then he spoke of the power and potential of a Yiddishe mind.
Finally, he wrapped all those threads together. “The tefillin shel yad correspond to the heart and the tefillin shel rosh correspond to the brain,” he told the young man before him. “They will elevate you and connect you and give you proper thoughts and proper words and proper actions.”
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