Tefillin refurbishment and recirculation

When working with a local community on a project, we found a pile of old tefillin in a drawer. Each pair had a similar story—Uncle Sol or Zeyde Morty had died, and no one in their family needed their tefillin, so the family donated them to the shul. This trove of holiness was wasting away, slowly losing its potential to ever be used to fulfill mitzvot.

Then we heard a similar story at another community across the country. And another. And then a few others.

Tefillin before restoration

A generous grant from the Jewish Federation of St. Paul started us on the journey of restoring these tefillin for recirculation within the community to Jews who could not otherwise afford a kosher pair. We opened the tefillin, checked them for kashrut, replaced straps or other parts as needed, repainted batim, and sewed the tefillin back shut for use.

And we’ve been doing it ever since.

Sometimes the unexpected happens. The shel rosh is kosher—but maybe the shel yad in the same pair isn’t. Or we just happened to find a single scroll somewhere without a bayit. In those cases, we cobble together the pieces of what we have from different sources, produce any missing pieces in-house, and refurbish the tefillin for sale, so that we can offer affordable tefillin that are ethical, sustainable, and kosher.

Refurbishing old tefillin is an important way our community can preserve kedusha while keeping it aligned with our values. Every refurbished pair helps reduce waste, conserve animal life, and sustain sacred craftsmanship within the egalitarian community.