On Erev Shabbos, a heavy downpour left local areas soaking wet. Looking for a way to entertain the children after a long afternoon, Yossi Rubinstein, a dedicated member of Bergen County Chaverim, originally planned to take his family to Secor Farms in New Jersey.

As they waited with their turn indicator on to enter the farm, a nearby park on the right side caught his eye. Hoping to find some playground equipment that wasn’t too wet from the rain, they decided to pull over and investigate. While the children played on the swings, the slide was too wet to use, but it quickly became the focal point of a remarkable discovery. Resting in the corner of one of the slide’s steps was a velvet embroidered tefillin bag. It was protected by plastic but had gotten a little wet from the rain.

Realizing what he had stumbled upon, Yossi called out to his companion, Bergen Chaverim Coordinator Sol Itzkowitz, and immediately opened the bag. They found a phone number embroidered inside, but to their dismay, the number was disconnected. Based on the park’s scenic pond, they deduced that a Bar Mitzvah boy had likely been there for a photo shoot the day prior and accidentally left his tefillin behind. They were deeply relieved the tefillin had not stayed out in the elements over Shabbos.

Knowing the urgency of the situation, Yossi and Sol collaborated with Rockland Chaverim to locate the boy’s family, as markers from the tefillin bag indicated he was likely from the Chasidish community. With the assistance of Rockland Chaverim, they used the name on the bag to successfully track down the very relieved family.

In the end, the family did make it to Secor Farms to purchase flowers for Shabbos. However, Yossi beautifully noted that being able to return the tefillin to the Bar Mitzvah boy was “the nicest flower”. Reflecting on the profound chain of events, Yossi shared, “The best feeling going into Shabbos was… doing a mitzvah of hashavas aveidah, especially with such a special and expensive mitzvah of tefillin.”