Join us in wishing mazal tov to Ethan James, who just put on tefillin for the first time, using the pair that had belonged to his great-great grandfather, Wilhelm Sterling.

Wilhelm was born in Russia in 1902 and lived and worked in New York. When he passed away, his tefillin, which may have belonged to his father before him, were lost for decades.

In recent years, his granddaughter, Rachel Leah Fry, who lives in Daphne, Alabama, was fortunate to finally come into possession of both the tefillin and a tallis of his (which is not nearly as old).

With the help of Chabad Rabbi Yosef Goldwasser, she had the tefillin checked by an expert sofer, and they were still 100% kosher.

Having no male family members who practice Judaism, she was afraid the tefillin would lie dormant forever.

But when her daughter and 17-year-old grandson, Ethan, came to visit for Thanksgiving, the rabbi asked Ethan if he would be willing to wrap tefillin and say the prayers. Ethan agreed.

“There is no way to express how much joy this engendered in me to see those tefillin wrapped and hear the prayers said by my precious grandson,” says Rachel Leah. “It was like seeing those boxes take on life. And while my grandson does not currently practice Judaism, he is Jewish, and I pray this experience will be the awakening of his neshamah. I came back to Judaism late in my life, so hope lives within me that he may someday find in himself a similar awakening.”