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Poway Chabad rabbi, despite injured hands, helps his surgeon don tefillin for first time

The rabbi discovered that the doctor, a child of Holocaust survivors, had never put on tefillin.

By World Israel News Staff 

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, spiritual leader of the Chabad synagogue in the San Diego area which was attacked in April, has shown gratitude to the surgeon who has been treating him after he lost a finger in the terrorist shooting.

Lori Kaye, 60, was killed in the attack. The rabbi was one of three people wounded.

Dr. Yale Kadesky, a San Diego-area plastic surgeon, has been treating the rabbi, reports Chabad.org.

“When the rabbi learned that the surgeon, the son of Holocaust survivors, had never put on tefillin, he offered to rectify the situation,” says the website: “The result: an impromptu bar mitzvah in the surgeon’s office.”

Chabad is known for reaching out to unaffiliated Jews in a number of ways, including through the ritual of putting on tefillin, which males from the age of 13 wrap on their head and an arm during weekday morning services.

Since the April attack, Rabbi Goldstein has been honored at the White House and addressed Jewish youth visiting Auschwitz, among other appearances. After the shooting, the rabbi said that Kaye lost her life by shielding him from the attacker.