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By Marc Machbitz

“Bind them as a sign upon your hand, and let them be a reminder above your eyes.” So says Deuteronomy 11:18, and so did thousands of Jewish men across the globe this past Super Bowl Sunday. For the past 11 years, the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, the international umbrella organization for a confederation of Conservative Jewish men’s auxiliaries, has sponsored the World Wide Wrap program. The World Wide Wrap brings the global Jewish Conservative community together to learn and practice the mitzvah of tefillin.
For the fourth consecutive year, Dallas-area Conservative congregations Anshai Torah, Shearith Israel and Beth Torah joined together for the program. This year’s program was held at Congregation Anshai Torah in Plano. The program, attended by over 120 men, women and 11th- and 12th-graders from the ATID Jewish educational program, gathered to pray together, to break bread together and to hear Rabbi Stefan Weinberg of Congregation Anshai Torah explain the significance of putting on tefillin. The rabbi, accompanied by Bruce Katz on the guitar, sang his explanation to the tune of “The Gambler,” made popular by Kenny Rogers (“You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em…”). Following breakfast, Dr. Joel Roffman, president of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society, presented a short movie and answered questions on the history of Jews in the Dallas area. He also explained the role of the society and its important work in preserving Dallas Jewish history at its archives, located at the Dallas Jewish Community Center.