Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students are on hand for the XII European Maccabi Games, which ends on Thursday.

More than 1,700 young Jewish athletes are competing at the games in Rome.

Beginning with the games' first day on July 4, the rabbinical students – who are running a Chabad booth outside of the stadium – handed out 600 Shabbat candle kits and helped the men put on tefillin, on Tuesday alone 500 put on tefillin; for some of the athletes, this has been the first time in their life that they've been introduced to the ritual prayer boxes.