A Father’s Prayer for His Newborn Daughter—and for Himself

Jonothan Sabin, a writer at Tablet, a non-Orthodox Jewish magazine, recently published an article about the personal journey he experienced after obtaining a pair of Tefilin from a Chabad rabbi to pray for his young daughter as she underwent heart surgery:

The first attempt to widen our newborn daughter Yael’s too-narrow aorta didn’t take. Something about scar tissue and the elasticity of the arterial walls. The surgeon, who was highly pedigreed and possibly German, assured us with a nonchalance bordering on arrogance that a second operation should work.

On the morning before the surgery, my wife asked me to pray, despite the fact that I don’t actually believe in God. My wife, however, is Israeli; she was not easily deterred. “Put on some tefillin,” she said, “and pray for your daughter.”

Continue reading here.

4 Comments

  • i have no words

    this guy is a great writer!!! Boruch Hashem he can now look back at the whole episode so positive and even with humor. i am in full admiration at his wit!! may he andhis wife have loads of nachas gezunterheit!!

  • Brought tears to my eyes

    As someone who went through something very similar