Reflecting On The Past Year Since 10/7, An Open Letter Of Gratitude From DansDeals

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Reflecting on the past year, I am filled with sorrow and hope.

We all suffered unimaginable loss 12 months ago today. More pain than any nation should endure in generations.

Yet, over the past year, we have seen incredible unity. A unified people standing together and turning to Hashem for protection. We have seen the incredible impact our davening and mitzvos have had, with open miracles happening every day now in Israel.

• Donate tefillin to Men around the world here.
• Donate tefillin to IDF soldiers here.

Thank you to the 2,041 men who are now wrapping tefillin daily. And thank you to the 3,918 donors that made that possible.

Over the past year, we have heard countless stories from recipients about how much these tefillin mean to them.

One Jew in Indiana had no connection to Yiddishkeit, but he saw a campaign on DansDeals offering tefillin, and he was inspired. Today, he is a member of his local Chabad and continues to grow in his observance.

Another recipient reached out from Argentina to let us know:

“It is a privilege for me to have been honored with the gift of these Tefillin that accompany me every day. And I say every day because, although I put them on at dawn, I feel their holiness present throughout the day.

For a year now, I have been renewing this connection with Hashem, with the emunah that our chains of prayers reach Him to protect our Chayalim, free our hostages, and protect Eretz Israel.

I want to share the joy, serenity, and focus that celebrating this intimate daily ceremony gives me.

We carry the Tefillin in our thoughts and in our actions.

May Hashem allow them to serve to give light in the midst of the darkness that war means.

Am Israel Jai ve caiam!!!!

Shana tova umetuka!!

Diego”

And yet another recipient shared with us that he is the first member of his extended family to wrap tefillin in the the past 80 years since his ancestors were murdered in the Holocaust.

Giving the gift of tefillin doesn’t stop there. Tefillin is the gateway to the whole Torah for many Jews, an opportunity to reunite with their heritage.

Take Omer, for example, a soldier who, during a brief break from fighting in Gaza, chose to hike across Europe. Among the heaviest items he carried were the tefillin we gave him. He made sure to wear them each day, and attributes the miracles he witnessed in Gaza to this sacred mitzvah.

We have 2,979 Jewish Men requesting their own pair of tefillin. We need to raise $2,085,300 to accomplish that goal.

Each pair costs $700 and 100% of all money donated to Tefillin Connection goes directly to distributing tefillin.

Thanks to a generous Colel Chabad donor, all donations made to our IDF soldier tefillin campaign will be doubled!

We started with a campaign to distribute 1,200 pairs of tefillin in memory and honor of the 1,200 souls Hamas tore away from us one year ago today.

We have Baruch Hashem surpassed that goal, all thanks to your generous donations.

We plan on continuing this holy mission for years to come. It has become a part of us, and we hope that you will join us in supplying tefillin for every Jewish man who commits to wrapping tefillin daily but cannot afford his own pair.

We launched a website TefillinConnection.org, where you can watch a video we made about the past year as well as an interactive map where you can see the tefillin distributed as well as requests for new pairs.

With prayers for the safety of Israel and her inhabitants, along with the return of the hostages and a speedy victory.

-JJ & Dan Eleff

P.S.

Since the onset of the war, we’ve been inundated with countless statistics—some encouraging, others difficult.

Today, I want to share a few numbers of our own from the past 12 months, since our first post searching for men that want to wrap tefillin:

• 2,231 Civilian men committed to start wearing tefillin every day and requesting their own pair.
• 748 IDF soldiers signed up to receive a pair of tefillin and start wearing them daily.
• 2,041 pairs of tefillin have already been distributed.
• 18 hand-picked and tested sofrim.
• 4 magiyyim (Tefillin kashrus checkers).
• 1 dedicated Rav Hamachsher overseeing tefillin production.
• 1 dedicated tefillin team in Israel working full time, checking and assembling tefillin to support this campaign, allowing us direct control and oversight of the kashrus.
• 100’s of Rabbis spread across the world, helping to verify the list of signups and ship/deliver tefillin.
• 5 employees have been hired (via a direct donation) to optimize the impact of the campaign.
• 1 website dedicated to signing up men to wrap tefillin; TefillinConnection.org.
• 2 Campaigns currently raising money.
  • The original campaign for men around the world.
  • A campaign for IDF soldiers.

But these numbers only begin to tell the story. They don’t capture the profound, far-reaching impact of this mitzvah. Our sages teach that tefillin offers unique protection to our nation in times of danger. And each day, we see clear miracles unfolding in the Holy Land—miracles that are no doubt, in part, thanks to the outpouring of spiritual support from people like you.

We recently added an interactive map of recipients on TefillinConnection.org.

Here is a screenshot of where we have distributed tefillin:

And here is that same map zoomed in on Israel:

Every pin on this map not only represents a recipient but it also represents a pair or tefillin being shared with the world. We encourage each recipient to share their tefillin with another Jew at least one time this past year.

For example, one recipient wrapped tefillin with Rob, the owner of a bed & breakfast in South Carolina, who is a 2nd generation Holocaust survivor and hadn’t put on tefillin since he was a boy. While another recipient wrapped daily with multiple staff members at a secular summer camp. The impact of these Tefillin are beyond our comprehension. 

Donate to tefillin for men around the world here or donate to tefillin for IDF soldiers here!

There are also many other incredible charities supporting Israel. In the past year Dan helped feed families affected by the war through Chabad of Katamon. We helped facilitate shipments of supplies to Israel, including whole pallets of baby formula and battery packs for soldiers via the Sephardic Heritage Museum. And we created an Amazon shopping page where thousands of items were purchased and shipped to Israel.

Feel free to post links to charities below and talk about what they’ve done to help Israel!

If you would like to join as a partner in this campaign, add matching funds, or donate via DAF please email [email protected]. All donations are tax-deductible.