Make A Difference For Jews On College Campuses! Sponsor The 40-Day Ezri Tefillin Challenge For Just $100 After 3x Matching! 97% Of Students Keep Wrapping After It Ends!

Sponsor a college student for the 40-day EZRI Tefillin Challenge for $100 

It costs $300 to put one student through the challenge, and EZRI and Tefillin Connection are matching every donation 3x, so $100 sponsors a full student.

What is the EZRI Tefillin Challenge?

It started at Cornell. Mati Lancewicki, a Cornell student and the founder of the EZRI backpack brand, took on a hachlata at the Ohel on Gimmel Tammuz to get 30 people to wrap tefillin. He turned it into a challenge for his friends: wrap tefillin every day for 40 days, send a selfie to the group chat, and whoever finishes earns an EZRI bag. In his words, the bag is “just a good excuse to get started.”

A handful of students became more than 50 at Cornell within months. After October 7th, Chabad Houses on campuses across the country asked to run it too. The challenge has now been run 66 times on 44 campuses, and 627 students have completed it.

How it works:

• 40 days. A clear framework for daily consistency.
• Community. A group chat and campus network that keep students going.
• The EZRI bag. A tangible reward that turns a mitzvah into a visible commitment on campus.

The results:
Among students who took the challenge, 88% completed all 40 days. Of those who finished, 97% still wrap tefillin daily or more often than before. Only 3% stopped.
Before the challenge, 63% of participants rarely or never wrapped tefillin. After it, 94% wrap daily or more often than before, and 65% now wrap every single day. 95% said the challenge positively influenced their Jewish identity, and 74% grew in their overall Jewish observance.

What your sponsorship covers:
It costs $300 to put one student through the challenge: the EZRI bag he earns at the finish line, getting it to his campus, and a dedicated coordinator who works with the Chabad House and the student group chat every one of the 40 days so nobody drops out. EZRI and Tefillin Connection cover two-thirds, and you cover the last third. That is how $100 sponsors a full student.

Sponsor a student here for $100.

• $100 sponsors 1 student.
• $200 sponsors 2 students.
• $500 sponsors 5 students.
• $1,000 sponsors 10 students, about a full campus cohort.
• $2,500 sponsors 25 students, enough to launch the challenge on two or three new campuses.

The next wave:

58 campuses are already signed up to run the challenge this semester. Cornell alone has 30 students ready to start. The goal this year is 1,800 sponsored students. Every $100 is one more student who starts his morning with tefillin for 40 days and, based on the numbers above, keeps going long after.

Why it matters on campus:

Since October 7th, Jewish students have been pressured to hide who they are. The challenge does the opposite: it fills the Chabad House every morning with students wrapping tefillin together, in the open, and the whole campus sees it. Between 18 and 22, a student decides who he is and who he will build a home with. A daily mitzvah, a Chabad House that knows his name, and a group of Jewish friends built around it give him a Jewish life to bring home. Participants have gone on to keep Shabbat and kosher, learn in yeshiva in Israel, and become fully observant.

In their words:

• “I had never put on tefillin before this challenge. Now I do it every day.” – David Levit
• “Five years later I’m still wrapping tefillin, wearing tzitzit, and learning in yeshiva. Life changing.” – Devin Eltman
• “I am now fully observant and love learning Torah.” – Matthew Gaynor
• “Now I keep kosher and Shabbat, two years after doing the challenge.” – Max Schleuning
• “In times when it’s harder to be openly Jewish, wrapping tefillin made me feel more powerful.” – Casey Dutch
• “I used to be scared to go to morning services because I didn’t know how to wear tefillin. Now I know how, and I’m not ashamed.” – Anonymous participant
• “It’s such a simple act in the morning, but it will change your life.” – Ethan Werner

Watch the challenge video:

Follow the challenge on Instagram at @ezri_tefillin_challenge and at TefillinChallenge.com. Read more about it in COLlive, Anash.org, Lubavitch.com, and the Jewish Exponent.
Sponsor a student for the 40-day EZRI Tefillin Challenge here.

To bring the challenge to your campus, partner in this campaign, or donate via DAF, email [email protected]. All USD donations are tax-deductible and will appear on your statement from City of Refuge in Beachwood, Ohio, the 501(c)(3) used for this campaign.

BONUS: if you work for a large company, check your company’s Benevity portal for “Tefillin Connection” to double your already matched donation!