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Physical Description: Tefillin : Handwritten, Tanned, Cut, Pressed, Painted, Knotted : black

Physical Description: Tefillin : Handwritten, Tanned, Cut, Pressed, Painted, Knotted : black

Notes: Rectangular base with a cube attached on top containing parchment with biblical passages written on it. Leather straps are attached to the wood base, all the wood is painted black. Accompanying bag is made of blue cloth with a yellow inner lining Narrative: Tefilin worn by Benjamin Garfinkel in 1906, for his bar mitzvah. Benjamin Garfinkel was born in Kytaihorod in 1894 and lived there until 1926, when he, his pregnant wife and two daughters immigrated to Canada, where he lived until his death in 1974. Benjamin was not an ordained rabbi, but he was considered a learned man and was often referred to as reb, a title often used for leamed men. And while not a follower of the chasidic movement, he was a direct, seventh generation descendant of the Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Chasidism.