Eli Kay was 25 years old. He was a South African Jewish tour guide who moved to Israel several years ago. On November 21, 201, he was gunned down by a Hamas-affiliated terrorist on his way to pray at the Western Wall. He had his tefillin (phylacteries) in hand.
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While this act of terrorism has been an unimaginable tragedy for his family and friends, it was also an attack on the Jewish people's right to pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.
"We are all in shock over the heinous murder of our friend Eli Kay. This was not an attack on an individual. It was an attack on Jews, Judaism and the conscience of all civilized people," said Rabbi Ari Shishler.
Kay's murder required a collective Jewish response, and thus the #TefillinAgainstTerror campaign was created by Shishler, Michael Kransdorff, and Rabbi Eitan Ash in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In the loving memory of Eli, and as an act of defiance against terror and antisemitism, everyone who can is encouraged to:
Put Tefillin on; take a picture; post a selfie with the hashtag #TefillinAgainstTerror on Facebook (@TefillinAgainstTerror), Instagram (@TefillinAgainstTerror), or Twitter (@TefillinforEli).
The campaign has been gaining momentum, with thousands of people all over the world responding, including from far-flung places such as Aruba and Mexico. People in Israel have seen the posts and have been visiting the Kay family home offering to wear tefillin in his memory. The family has been overwhelmed with the love and support they have received.
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In the run-up to Hannukah, the campaign has been broadened to include posting selfies of people lighting Hanukkah candles.
"Now is the time for a united response in Eli's memory, and to say, 'Am Yisrael Chai!' (The people of Israel live.) We think the #TefillinAgainstTerror campaign and Hannukah lighting does that in a powerful way," said Kransdorff.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
