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Jewish Professional Dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy Wears Tefillin in New Instagram Video
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Maksim Chmerkovsky putting on tefillin with the help of a rabbi. Photo: Screenshot / Instagram.
Professional ballroom dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy shared a video on Tuesday of him putting on tefillin, also known as phylacteries.
The Instagram clip shows the Jewish dancer, with the help of a rabbi, putting on the set of small black leather boxes, which contain scrolls of parchment inscribed with Torah verses.
Chmerkovskiy wrote in the video’s caption, “A little #tefillin never hurt nobody.” He added that his wife, fellow professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd, “approves.”
Chmerkovskiy, 38, was born in Ukraine to a Jewish father and Christian mother, and has described himself as Jewish. He and Murgatroyd welcomed their son, Shai Aleksander, to the world in January 2017.
