When  Renana Gome ordered tefillin for her son, Yagil Yaakov, she had no idea that before the holy objects could be completed, her son would be taken hostage and carried away into Gaza.

Turning Bar Mitzvah is a milestone in a young Jewish man’s life. It means that the Mitzvoth (Biblical commandments) are now incumbent upon him. As a result, when a Jewish boy turns 13 he begins to put on tefillin every morning. Tefillin are leather boxes containing parchments with Biblical verses. The laws about the making of tefillin are meticulous and they must be hand-written by a qualified sofer (scribe).  Writing the parchments and preparing the leather boxes takes some time and they are usually ordered well in advance of the actual Bar Mitzvah date.

A sofer was busy preparing the tefillin but was delayed by the holiday of Simchat Torah. As the holiday went out, he heard of the horrific attack and like every Israeli, was deeply concerned. As he viewed the images in the media of Kibbutz Nir Oz, to his horror, he saw a custom-made velvet tefillin bag that had been torn and disfigured by Hamas terrorists. He could make out the name Yagil Ben Yair (the son of Yair). He discovered that 12-year-old Yagil had been taken hostage along with his 16-year-old brother, Or, and his father.  

He called the mother to offer words of comfort and suggested that he refund the money since Yagil’s fate was unclear. Renana refused, insisting that Yagil would be home for his Bar Mitzvah and there would be a celebration including his first wearing of tefillin.

The mother’s prayers were answered and on October 27, Yagil and his brother were returned home. 

While this story has a happy ending, the joy is only partial as Yail’s father, Yair, remains a hostage in Gaza along with his girlfriend, Meirav Tal.