Dad came out and saw a group of Chasidic boys walking by carrying lulavs and etrogs. He was shocked to see not only white people in that neighborhood but ten young bearded men with black hats and coats! Dad asked them if they were lost or needed help, but they explained they were on their way to an old shul to help make a minyan.

The boys were Lubavitch students from Israel, but two spoke English. They thanked Dad for his concern, said they were happy to meet him, and told him they would stop in again. They did just that, and returned every week on Friday afternoons to put on Tefilin with Dad. Known as Phylacteries, Tefillin are the black little boxes that we tie on our head and arm to focus our heart and mind on G-d. But Dad hadn't done this Mitzvah since his Bar Mitzvah, and these young men were happy to help him make the connection again.

Even the non-Jewish workers enjoyed these visits. Once when I called on a Friday, one of the non-Jewish mechanics quipped: "I am sorry, but Mr. Zeitlin is all tied up" referring to his wearing the Tefilin. They also put up a mezuzah on his store and brought jelly doughnuts for Chanukah and Shalach Manot on Purim.

Dad started to look forward to their visits and respected them. It was nice to see Dad in the living room on Shabbos afternoon reading the weekly L'chaim publication cover to cover. One of the boys left to a Yeshiva in Peru, but the other boy continued to visit.

Dad developed a strong connection to the Tefilin. He told Mom that he wanted a new pair of Tefilin for Fathers Day, and that's what he got. Each morning before work Dad puts them on and recites the blessing and the Shema from the card they gave him. Even when he is travelling, Dad won't leave his Tefilin behind.

One Wednesday in the summer the Lubavitch boys came in to put on Tefilin, since they were going upstate for Shabbos. The next Friday the boys did not come, and Dad got nervous. Calling to find out what happened, he learned that the boys were in a car that got into a terrible accident.

Three of the four boys were killed and one barely survived. The boy who survived was the boy he had befriended, so Dad took my brother and me to visit him in the hospital.

We drove up to Nyack hospital in Rockland County, NY. The young man was lying in bed with his mother at his bedside. He was very pale and looked very thin. His mother told us he was in extreme pain and just had his spleen and some ribs removed in an effort to save his life. He smiled faintly when he saw my father and they began talking. His three best friends had been killed, and he was very depressed from his traumatic experience. Dad tried to cheer him up, and during their visit, asked if him if he already put on Tefillin.

His mother said he was still too weak, and had not been up to putting on Tefilin since the accident. Dad spoke to the boy and encouraged him to put on the Tefilin. He agreed, and told him where to look for his Tefilin bag in his suitcase.

The scene was now reversed: Dad was putting Tefilin on a yeshiva boy! It was amazing to watch Dad, with dedication and love, help the young man hooked up to tubes and machines put on his tefilin.

For the next month Dad called every day to talk to the young man, ask how he was doing, and also checked if he wore his Tefilin that day.

Miraculously, the boy recovered, was rehabilitated, and returned to Israel were he is now married. Dad still speaks to him every so often, and of course, they always check up on each other's Tefilin progress.

Some people get caught up in a bad vicious cycle. I'm glad Dad got caught up in a good Mitzvah cycle.