November 2019

My Magic Wand

“If I had a magic wand, I would do a lot of things with it. But what I would really want is $10M. I would want $10M because then I would be rich.  With this, I would want to go to Hebrew school.  The Hebrew school that I would go to is Temple Shaare Emeth. I go there this year and I think it is the best Hebrew School in the world. If I had extra money, I would give some to the temple for charity. The rest I would give to my mother and father.  This is what I would do if I had a magic wand.”

I wrote this simple piece in fourth grade at P.S 276 (Brooklyn, NY).  How many of us have thought about doing good in the world like curing cancer or going to Mars?  For me, I thought about being rich so I could give away my money to help my synagogue serve its community.  I wanted to share this with you because it talks about the connection I felt as a child and still feel as an adult with my community synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom.

There is so much good we can do to repair the world.  And there is so much we can do together.

I hope you came away from the High Holidays with a deeper connection to Rabbi Poirier and Temple Beth Sholom.  We are looking to connect with each one of you.  Let us know what you need from us, how we can deepen our relationship with you.

At a time when anti-Semitism seems to be growing worse, let’s stand together, proud of our Judaism.  We hope you’ll think about engaging more with your Judaism in 5780 – reconnecting with the delight you felt at an earlier time in your life. And think of us as you contemplate your philanthropy gifts this year.  Our Strength to Strength campaign did well at Kol Nidre and we’ll be calling each of you to thank you for your gift so we can do more together.

Evie Shorey, President