[VIDEOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Despite viral social media messages going around, YWN has confirmed that the missing Tefillin being searched for in a Upstate NY garbage dump have unfortunately not been found.

The rumors stared when an Israeli news website saw a video from a local news agency in NY, where one of the volunteers searching gave the media an interview. The volunteer held up his own Tallis bag to show what they are looking for, and the Israeli news website took a screenshot of this image and wrote an article about the Tefillin being found.

One of the lead volunteers just spoke with YWN who said that the group returned to Brooklyn last night after 2 days of searching. The group searched 16 containers of trash, and plan on returning to search the next 16 containers in the hopes of finding the missing Tefillin.

As YWN had reported last week, the Tallis and Tefillin, owned by a melamed, were lost in the Lee Garden Shul, a Satmar Shul on Lorimer Street, in Williamsburg. In that shul close to 2000 people daven and learn there each day. The Tefillin were placed securely in a cubby outside the Beis Midrash. On Wednesday morning, after the Tefillin were placed in the cubby, the melamed went to teach.

Slowly, the Tefillin bag inched its way forward. There was a garbage can next to where the Tefillin was kept. At precisely 7:09 PM last Wednesday, the Tefillin gently slid down into the garbage can. There were people standing around, but no one had noticed.

The melamed looked for his Tefillin the next Thursday to no avail. He borrowed Tefillin. Finally on Motzai Shabbos, they looked at the security camera footage. That is when they saw the Tefillin slide off.

The garbage was picked up Shabbos morning.

The askanim went into action. Rabbi David Niederman from United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg was contacted who got in touch with the sanitation department. The sanitation department has a transfer hub located at 221 Varrick Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

The garbage got mixed into thousands of tons of other New York City garbage.

By the time this information was found out, the askanim were informed that the garbage was already on the train headed toward a landfill upstate – in Fairfield, New York. They were able to narrow it down to fifty specific railcars, containing some 1000 tons of garbage. The garbage will arrive on Friday in the landfill in Fairfield on Friday morning.

Waste Management is the company that outsources New York City’s garbage, which ends up being transferred to a landfill upstate.

The sanitation department itself searched for it, and the managers of the landfill graciously gave the askanim one day – next Monday permission to search for it. The content of the railcars will be spread out at a large site at the landfill where the content of the fifty railcars will be spread out to look for the Tefillin. Over 100 volunteers will be needed for the day. The volunteers will be outfitted with special rakes and safety gear in order to work at the landfill. Food and travel expenses will be covered.

The Askanim and friends are now looking for volunteers for next week that are ready to join the search. They hired a local employment agency near Fairfield to assist in the search.

A special chessed fund was established.

(Chaim Shapiro – YWN)