Could Tefillin Booth Propel Chicago Cubs to World Series Miracle in Game 7?
Image by Molly Tolsky
If at first you don’t succeed — wrap, wrap again.
Chabad Rabbi David Kotlarsky, who offers Chicago Cubs fans the opportunity to don tefillin at a booth outside of Wrigley Field, was at it again this year, as Wrigley hosted its first three World Series games in 71 years.
Kotlarsky, co-director of Chabad of East Lakeview on Chicago’s North Side, has been offering fans spiritual support and help wrapping tefillin since the start of last season. The home team made it as far as the National League Championship Series in 2015 before being swept aside by the New York Mets.
The Chabadniks set up shop again this year, with notably better results: The Cubs won the NL pennant to earn a berth in the Series against the Cleveland Indians and a shot at their first championship since 1908.
Alas for Chicago fans, their team fell to a 3-1 deficit.
As the Series returned to Cleveland, Kotlarsky could only watch from home and pray that his team, well, finds a way to wrap up the championship in seven games.
Now after winning two straight the Cubbies need one more win in a make or break Game 7.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
