The boy said that his father wanted to have a picture of us together. He spoke Hebrew. His father spoke only Russian.

     I asked the father if his mother was Jewish.

     He answered that his father was Jewish. Shmuli asked, "But, is your mother Jewish?" He answered that both his parents are Jewish.

     It was good that Shmuli was standing right there because from his answer I would have assumed that he was not Jewish, and I would not have put tefillin on him.

     I put tefillin on him and we took the picture he wanted, then I put his hands in front of him, palms facing up, and told him to pray for his loved ones… that Hashem was listening to his prayers especially because he was at the Kotel and especially because he did what Hashem wanted him to do.

     He told his son to record it and then he closed his eyes and started praying out loud, not softly but with a full voice. He kept going on and on praying out loud, talking to G-d, asking Him to bless so and so, and so and so, and so and so, and on and on for some five minutes.

     Now he has a five-minute video of him standing at the Kotel loudly recalling all the people and things that he asked Hashem to bless.

     First time he ever put on tefillin and he ended up with a great movie of the occasion. His loved ones are going to love him even more when they hear him calling out their names at the Kotel.