Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On February 3, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that there has been "a growing movement in the United States among Conservative and Reform Jews to adopt or adapt some Orthodox rituals and practices." One of these rituals is "the ancient Jewish tradition known as laying tefillin (pronounced te-Fill-lun)." The ritual involves wrapping a black leather strap around one's body, whose "purpose is to hold firmly in place words from the Jewish sacred scripture, the Torah, concealed and sealed into...black leather boxes...Both sets of straps and boxes are called tefillin, which is a Hebrew word derived from the Hebrew verb to pray. For thousands of years, observant Orthodox Jews have wrapped themselves before saying their morning prayers in what they believe is the word of God, the sacred Torah scripture. The earliest reference to the practice is in the Exodus 13...The straps are symbolic of being 'bound to God.'" Many members of the Congregation Shaare Zedek in University City "have said that the material and career success they have achieved is not enough...They are eager to find ways to develop a spiritual aspect." When the congregation's Rabbi Hillel Gold introduced a video demonstration of tefillin at synagogue, "participants stood, kissed the encased Torah boxes and tried to figure out how to balance the boxes while wrapping the straps around their arms and head...Orthodox Jewish women almost never join Orthodox men in the practice...Women do not have the obligation to follow any time-specific Jewish ritual like a half hour of morning prayer."