As a reward for helping my mother clean for Pesach, my father took us to an ice cream parlor. When we got our ice cream, we said thank you and made a bracha. While we were eating, a man with tears in his eyes came up to my father.
“My name is Ben, and I was watching your family,” he said. “I was amazed to see how the parents treated the children, and how grateful the children were.”
He continued to talk to my father, who realized that Ben was really interested in Judaism.
Ben came to eat at our shabbos table many times and eventually converted. Today, Ben—now Benyamin—is a rabbi of a shul.
This impacted me very much, because all we did was act in a good manner, and as a result, this great man came forth.
So my message is always be careful of the way you act, because you never know what the reward may be.
Talia Begoun lives in Milwaukee and is in 7th grade at Yeshiva Elementary School.
The Coalition for Jewish Learning is the education program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.