Wald, a Jewish-Ukrainian soldier who is fighting at the front, was released for a few hours and utilized the time to go to a Beis Chabad to don tefillin even before he went home.

Wald went to the Beis Chabad in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, where Chabad shliach Rav Simcha Lebenhertz helped him put on tefillin.

“Wald was recruited to the army as part of the state of emergency and the law that obligates all young people to enlist,” Rav Simcha said.

“He called in the morning and said that the first thing he wants to do is put on tefillin, before he returns home. After he put on tefillin, he thanked the sheluchim and Chabad for staying in the area and seemed very moved.”

Rav Simcha is a resident of Kyiv where his father, Rav Motti Lebenhertz, runs the largest educational institution in the city. After the invasion began, he left Kyiv for the quieter city of Poltava, where his in-laws live.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)