"Because sometimes you have to crawl through the garbage to help another Jew"

Sitting in a restaurant in ORLANDO, Florida, during midwinter vacation, Reb Yossi Hartman of Chicago received a message that someone’s tefillin had been accidently thrown into the garbage two days prior at the Storey Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. Without a moment’s hesitation, Reb Yossi borrowed a pair of gloves from the waiter and headed out for the two-hour drive to Kissimmee.

Half an hour after he arrived at the site, and knee deep in garbage bags, Reb Yossi emerged triumphant; the tefillin were safe and sound and soon returned to a deeply grateful owner. An onlooker asked Yossi what inspired him to pull off such an unusual feat. Reb Yossi’s simple reply: “Veil m’darf kennen krichen in di mist ah toiveh teen ah Yid — Because sometimes you have to crawl through the garbage to help another Jew.”

The tefillin in Kissimmee may have been sullied with garbage, but on that day, Hashem’s tefillin in Heaven, which Chazal tell us contains the pasuk “Mi k’amcha Yisrael goy echad ba’aretz,” shone brighter than ever.

Sitting in a restaurant in ORLANDO, Florida, during midwinter vacation, Reb Yossi Hartman of Chicago received a message that someone’s tefillin had been accidently thrown into the garbage two days prior at the Storey Lake Resort in Kissimmee, Florida. Without a moment’s hesitation, Reb Yossi borrowed a pair of gloves from the waiter and headed out for the two-hour drive to Kissimmee.

Half an hour after he arrived at the site, and knee deep in garbage bags, Reb Yossi emerged triumphant; the tefillin were safe and sound and soon returned to a deeply grateful owner. An onlooker asked Yossi what inspired him to pull off such an unusual feat. Reb Yossi’s simple reply: “Veil m’darf kennen krichen in di mist ah toiveh teen ah Yid — Because sometimes you have to crawl through the garbage to help another Jew.”

The tefillin in Kissimmee may have been sullied with garbage, but on that day, Hashem’s tefillin in Heaven, which Chazal tell us contains the pasuk “Mi k’amcha Yisrael goy echad ba’aretz,” shone brighter than ever.

So you didn’t go to Florida. That’s okay, but when your children come asking, what do you tell them? There are certainly some plausible answers without mentioning the “A” word (affordability). Below are a few options. Please let us know which one you chose.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 897)