Truth is stranger than fiction: Bar mitzva boys who lost their tefillin in the Iranian missile strike on Petach Tikva received new pairs from the most unexpected source: Roni Ensaz, an Iranian native who once served as a prosecutor in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
By Anash.org staff
Truth is stranger than fiction: Teenage boys who recently celebrated their bar mitzva lost their tefillin in the Iranian missile strike, only to receive new pairs from the most unexpected source: Roni Ensaz, a native of Iran who now lives in Israel and works as a businessman. In his previous life, he served as a prosecutor in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard: “For me, this is a moment of closure.”
The aftermath of the Iranian missile assault on Israel has been a time of confusion, stress, and great challenge, especially for those whose lives now require rebuilding. But for a few boys from Petach Tikva who had just marked their bar mitzvas, the blow struck on a deeply personal level. A missile that struck their home not only shook their private world – it destroyed the precious tefillin gifted to them by their parents just weeks earlier.
“The tefillin were resting on the shelf near the bed,” recalled the mother of one of the boys. “They just burned. All that was left were remnants of the straps.”
Immediately stepping in to help were Roni Ensaz, the Iranian-born businessman and former Revolutionary Guard prosecutor (who once used his unique position to help Jews escape the Islamic Republic and reach Israel), and Rabbi Shmuel Bistritzky, the Chabad shaliach and chief rabbi of the Savion Religious Council. The two joined forces with Rabbi Menachem Kutner, who heads Chabad Youth’s terror victim support division, and together they reached dozens of boys affected by the recent events.
“When I heard that tefillin had been damaged by an Iranian missile barrage, something inside me ignited,” shared Ensaz. “As someone who grew up in Iran and knows what religious oppression looks like, to now stand on the side providing tefillin to boys in Eretz Yisroel – that’s a moment of closure I’ll never forget. Back in Iran, I helped Jews make aliya. Today, I help Jews in Israel connect to Hashem. I’m so grateful to Rabbi Shmuel for giving me the opportunity to complete the circle.”
Working together, Rabbi Bistritzky and Ensaz quickly mobilized a team of expert sofrim to rush the writing and preparation of new tefillin. In under 48 hours, the new pairs were ready and delivered in a moving, modest ceremony.
“The moment we heard about the loss,” said Rabbi Bistritzky, “we knew we had to act fast to get them new tefillin, beautiful and mehudar, and most of all – to restore their personal bond with the Eibershter, which had been physically broken in that moment.”
He added, “This isn’t just about giving them something material – it’s about restoring their identity. It sends a clear message: even if Iranian missiles hit our homes, they cannot strike our faith. They cannot take away our Torah or sever us from our tradition.”
The boys themselves were especially moved to receive their new tefillin. One of them shared, “At first, I thought it was gone – that I’d never have tefillin again. I was really upset. Then they told me someone was giving me new tefillin, and that it was coming from someone who used to live in Iran – it felt like a miracle.”
Ensaz stood beside the boys that night, wearing a kippa and visibly emotional. “I’m not a religious person,” he said, “but I have deep faith.”
One of the fathers summed it up beautifully: “This story is a reminder that sometimes, inspiration is born from destruction. In a moment of fear and pain, an extraordinary partnership was formed between devoted Chabad shluchim and a man who emerged from the Iranian regime to become a devoted friend of the Jewish people. A thread of faith connecting distant corners of the world. There’s nothing more moving than that.”
Misleading headline
“FORMER” Iranian Revolutionary Guard