To The Repair Shop

Every morning from 7:10 to 7:25 I am the lone student of the Rosh Yeshiva (head of the Yeshiva). It's a daily class that's open to anyone and everyone but I'm the only on there every day. Reb Shmuel (Reb=rabbi) said that for the years he's been teaching the class, he's always only had one person take advantage of the incredible opportunity to learn from a true master.

Since I'm the only student, I get to ask whatever stupid questions I want. So, today, I asked Reb Shmuel to help me make sure that I was putting on my tefillin properly. I pulled the arm tefillin out of the bag and he looked at it strangely and said, "You're left-handed, right?" I replied that I am and he told me that the leather strap was not tied properly. Instead of us tying it ourselves (I was the last to tie it), he recommended I read to a magical place where tefillin are repaired.

So, after classes today, I walked north up King George Street to where it ends and turns into Straus. At 10 Straus, there it was, HaSofer (The Scribe). Inside was a wondrous collection of muzzuzot, tzitzit, tallitot, and tefillin. I waited patiently for the customer in front of me to finish. Once I was helped, the rabbi-sofer quickly retied the knot on my tefillin and replaced the outside case (since the new know was on the opposite site of the original knot) and for a small charge, I was done.

I had a great experience at HaSofer and highly recommend it for all your sofer needs!