Today, we went into the Kedem Center, and in the lobby we found a very excited Jew, who asked us in Hebrew for Chanukah candles. ... “I’m from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said. "I know the Chabad Rabbi Shlomo Ben Tolila," who is the Lubavitcher Rebbe's shliach there.
When Shmulik Zalmanov asked him if he wanted to put on tefillin, he was only too happy to do so. It was very moving to hear such a clear and sharp Shema Israel. “I have Sephardic roots,” the man explained proudly, and he almost promised to take his tefillin with him the next time. Shmulik gave him a very nice Chanukah kit and invited him to the Chabad Lubavitch shul for candle lighting each day after Mincha. He promised to come, and we parted at his request with a photograph together, and from us, the words, "see you tomorrow."
