This is a big deal in modern Orthodox Judaism. Jewish law requires teenage boys and men to lay tefillin, or wrap their arms with leather strips attached to a box containing the words of Judaism’s central prayer — as a way of reminding them of their connection to God. You hardly ever see a woman doing this, and many Orthodox rabbis say they shouldn’t. But at SARS, a modern Orthodox high school in New York City, two girls have been given permission. Said one of them, sophomore Yael Marans:I’m not going to say that every time I lay tefillin I feel a renewed awe of God, but sometimes it really makes me think. It’s just something in my day that makes me really conscious and concentrated.