It was so brilliantly simple, yet it had me scratching my head in disbelief as to why it took so long to think of
IN many ways, Gavriel Weltsch is your typical third-grader. He can be found playing hockey in the lobby with other boys his age and arguing with his sisters over who received more pekelach on Simchas Torah.
Gavriel arrives at shul every Shabbos morning with his father. He’s present for some of the davening; however, he often drifts out to the lobby and immerses himself in a book. I often notice him sitting quietly in the middle of the lobby.
But after two weeks of not noticing Gavi around the shul, I asked him where he was during the davening. He answered that he was davening in the Sephardic minyan in the downstairs beis medrash. When I asked him why, he told me, “They have a raffle for the kids who daven nicely, and the prizes are really good.”
After getting more details about the “really good” prizes, I confirmed with Gavriel’s father, David Weltsch, that the raffle was quite appealing to Gavi and the other children. It was then that Gavriel’s father suggested, “Why not do a raffle here in the main minyan? I’d be happy to sponsor the program.”
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