Rabbi Pesach Siegel (TorahAnytime)
The Joy of Mitzvot (Rabbi Judah Mischel – Torah Tidbits Ki Tavo 5780)
Reb Shlomo Freifeld zt’l, the beloved Rosh Yeshivah and founder of Yeshivah Sh’or Yashuv, was a unique talmid chacham, legendary educator, and larger than life Torah personality that enjoyed particularly close, honest and personal relationships with his students. One morning at Shacharis, a close talmid observed Reb Shlomo laying tefillin.
After wrapping the tefillin shel yad around his arm, Reb Shlomo stopped, and with his eyes closed, was seemingly lost in thought. Only after a few lengthy moments of reflection, did the Rosh Yeshivah continue wrapping his tefillin shel rosh. After davening, the student approached his Rebbi and asked why he had delayed placing the tefillin on his head, inquiring if the pause did not possibly constitute a hefsek, an interruption in the mitzvah. Reb Shlomo smiled and related a story from Masechet Brachos (30b): R’ Yirmiya was ‘excessively’ joyful. When R’ Zeira inquired as to why, R’ Yirmiya replied with wonder: Ana tefillin manachna, “I am putting on tefillin!”
“The act of wrapping tefillin ought to fill the heart with joy,” Explained Reb Shlomo zt’l. “Today, I just didn’t feel it, so I paused to reflect upon what was holding me back from feeling happy. Only once I felt the appropriate simchah shel mitzvah did I continue laying my tefillin shel rosh.”