A permanent Chabad tefillin stand was installed on Tuesday at the entrance to the Channel 14 studios in Eretz Yisroel, giving employees, guests, and visitors a visible and accessible place to put on tefillin.

The stand was placed in the channel’s main lobby during a small and moving ceremony attended by Channel 14 CEO Ariel Edri, senior presenters Boaz Golan and Shimon Riklin, as well as reporters, producers, and editors.

The three pairs of tefillin, including Sephardi and Arizal-style pairs, were arranged by Chabad media personalities R’ Mendy Rizel and R’ Shlomo Rizel, brothers who both serve as regular panelists on the channel. The initiative, which cost thousands of shekels, was dedicated in memory of their father, R’ Yisroel Rizel a”h.

Also participating in the event was Rabbi Menachem Michaelshvili, the Rebbe’s shliach in Lod, who works with Channel 14 employees throughout the year and is well known among the staff.

The first to put on the new tefillin was military correspondent Hillel Bitton-Rosen, who used the opportunity to bless the soldiers of the IDF and members of the security forces.

Speaking on Boaz Golan’s program shortly before the event, R’ Mendy Rizel spoke about the Rebbe’s tefillin campaign, which was launched in 5727, 1967, in the days leading up to the Six Day War. The Rebbe called on Chassidim to help Yidden put on tefillin for the merit and protection of the soldiers, quoting the possuk, “And all the nations of the earth shall see that the name of Hashem is called upon you, and they shall fear you.”

Rizel then used the channel’s platform to encourage others to follow suit, calling on the public to purchase tefillin stands and place them at the entrances of stores, office buildings, and businesses, making the mitzvah readily available in more public places.

Host Boaz Golan noted that the channel already has tefillin available in its shul, and that, at the instruction of the CEO, the new pairs will remain permanently in the entrance lobby, in a place that is visible and accessible to all.

Channel 14’s management expressed pride in the initiative and in the channel’s connection to tradition and Yiddishkeit, and thanked the Rizel brothers for arranging the new stand.

The Rizel brothers thanked the channel’s management, the participants, and the donors who partnered in dedicating the stand and tefillin, which were placed to help many more Yidden fulfill the mitzvah.

Photos: Channel 14