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The ESP of the Jewish Way of Life 
Roll your mouse over each circle to find the questions. Click on circles for more about Jewish ESP!
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A Five-Year-Old's Prayer by Marcey S. Strick One evening last fall, after arriving home quite late from regular Shabbat services, something truly inspiring happened in our home. Our daughter, Ari, who at the time was just shy of 5 years old, asked me if we could "play synagogue". Not having ever "played synagogue" before, I asked her how we were going to play. She pulled out a sturdy plastic chair on which she was going to stand, asked me to sit on her bed, and handed me a children’s book. She said she would be the rabbi ("Rabbi Ari"), I would be the person sitting at services, and the Clifford book in my hands was to be the prayer book.
She then began to "lead services." When she
first began to
speak, I thought I would have no problem remembering
what was about to transpire. I was
proven wrong very quickly. A few minutes
into our playtime, I realized there was no
way that would be the case and I scurried
for a pencil and a piece of paper
on which to take notes.
In her exact words, and in the order presented,
what follows is what "Rabbi Ari" said:
"…You pray for eyes and ears for God. You pray for ice cream. You pray for everything. You pray even if you don’t love it, you still pray for it." She then proceeded to sing Oseh Shalom, the classic Jewish prayer asking for peace. I was brought to tears — stunned to learn that while she may, at times, appear to be completely oblivious as to what is going on during services, this is what she internalized.
Although I believed it to be true before, I now have indisputable proof — that the value of what we are teaching our children when we attend services, even if they are not specifically designated as "family" services, is immeasurable. And that the value of what our children can teach us is nothing short of amazing.
Marcey S. Strick has served two terms as the President
of Temple Gan
Elohim in Glendale, Arizona. She and her husband, Mark,
have been
married for almost 10 years and are the proud parents of
Arianna
("Ari"), who is in first grade.
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Having
a richer SPIRITUAL life.
"You pray for anything in your heart that you want to. You
pray for the God of the mountains. You pray for doggies
that are alone. You pray that doggies won’t run away.
You
pray that anything that stays safe of your hearts. You
pray that
your bodies won’t bleed. You pray for friends that we
love.
You pray for our teachers. You pray for grandmas and grandpas. You pray for
prayers. You pray for big ships. You
pray for kitties. You pray for houses so they won’t
break.
You pray for doggies’ houses. You pray for windows
that
won’t break…" 
"…You pray for glasses so you can see. You pray to
not get
eaten from a shark. You pray for water for God so he can
do a blessing. You pray so he can call your names to know
that you are not dead or hurt. You pray for little kids
you love. You pray for firemen so they can put out fires. You pray for
flags. You pray for birds
so they won’t get dead. You
pray for mommies and daddies.
You pray for daddies to
pray for kids. You pray so you
don’t get scratchy throats while you sleep. You pray for songs and
trees. You
pray for animals…" 
Clearly we teach our children about priorities,
about making choices, about what is right
and what is wrong, and about how to treat
others every minute of every day —
remarkably when we intend to, and
even when we do not. 
Michal Mahgerefteh was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, but since 1985, she has
made Virginia home. There she
works, studies and creates. Her paintings
reflect periods of personal
growth, as well as internal and external events
that
change and shape the world she lives in.
Mahgerefteh is the founder, publisher and editor
of
Poetica Magazine, Reflections of Jewish Thought. Since
2003, her art has been exhibited in nine galleries
in
Virginia, New York and New Orleans. You can view
more of her work online by going to www.poeticamagazine.
com/gallery.