at the Western Wall with Reb Gutman Locks on Mystical Paths

I saw these two men coming into the Kotel area. One of them was dressed as a Jew; tzitzis (fringes), peahs(side locks), Hebrew book in his hand, was obviously a Jew. The other man did not look Jewish to me. He seemed to be Latin American, maybe from Brazil. Standing at the Kotel for so many years, you get a bit of a knack for guessing where people come from. Now days visitors come from all over the world.

     The one with the tzitzis became excited when he recognized me from my video, “Answers to a Pastor.” That video has subtitles in several languages, and is getting tons of views.

     He told me that his family migrated from Spain four generations ago, and went first to Morocco, then on to Cuba, and finally to America. I asked him who his friend was. He told me that he was his cousin. I was surprised. “Is he Jewish?” I asked.

     “Of course he’s Jewish! I have been trying for 6 years to get him to come visit Israel, and he finally came.”

     I grabbed his arm and said, “You’re Jewish, you can put on tefillin.”

     He said that he had never put them on before. They went to the Kotel with him wearing tefillin. When they returned he told me that he works as an airline steward. I said, “From now on when you see Jews putting on tefillin in the plane, ask one of them to help you to put them on, too.”

     He sure looked different with tefillin on.