Semion Grafman: "Tefillin Changed My Life" – The Dream That Led Him Out of Addiction

"Because of tefillin, I started exercising. Because of tefillin, I began giving up alcohol. It wasn't something I quit overnight — it was the beginning of a journey. At first you're still fighting the addiction, but tefillin transformed me into the person I am today. So don't underestimate it. Don't underestimate anything."

Those were the powerful words of social media personality Semion Grafman during a conversation with Rabbi David Prioff.

"I used to weigh 115 kilograms. Today I weigh 76," Grafman continued. "I'm not trying to brag. I'm trying to show that we become what we consistently do. Tell me five things you love about what you see around you right now. Let's start with Rabbi David Prioff. I come to learn from people like you. That is the light of the Creator."

The Dream That Changed Everything

When asked how his spiritual journey began, Grafman shared his remarkable story.

"I had fallen into alcohol and a lot of other destructive habits. After three years of complete darkness, despite growing up as a communist immigrant from the Soviet Union with a deeply anti-religious upbringing, I had a dream. In the dream, I wanted to put on tefillin, but I couldn't find them."

Grafman went on to describe what happened after that dream, and how it changed his life forever.

"I woke up and called a rabbi I had met only the week before while helping him distribute food packages to needy families. I asked him what the dream might mean. He replied, 'I knew you as someone who cared for people in need. Back then, I had already prepared a pair of tefillin for you.'

"I asked him why he hadn't given them to me earlier.

"He answered, 'I was waiting until you needed them and asked for them.'

"That very day I drove to see him, and he taught me how to put on tefillin. That was five years ago. I'm now 51 years old. I was 46 when I first learned how to wear tefillin."