When Rabbi Zeev of Zbaraz, the son of Rabbi Michel of Zloczow, was a small child, there was no discernible difference between Zeev and the other children his age.
When he grew older and the time of his Bar Mitzvah was approaching, a scribe was summoned to his father`s house, and Rabbi Michel ordered him to prepare Tefillin for his son. "I ask only one thing of you," the rabbi concluded, "before you put the Torah passages of the Tefillin in the batim [the leather casements containing the parchment], bring them to me." The scribe reverently labored over the writing of the passages, and when they were completed, he brought the passages and the batim to Rabbi Michel. The rabbi held the batim and, tremendously moved, began to cry. His tears poured down his cheeks and ran into the batim of the Tefillin, until the batim were full, and the tears flowed over the sides. When he recovered from his crying, he emptied the batim of the tears, and after they dried, he ordered that the passages be inserted in them.
The day of the Bar Mitzvah arrived, and the youth Zeev started to put on his new Tefillin. As soon as he touched them, a new spirit infused him, and from that day on he continually ascended in Torah and sanctity, and his wisdom illuminated all Israel.