The Power of Half its Sunday collections to a local charity. Baumberger remarked: "What will we learn by practicing the power of half? What will this program teach our children and youth? I cannot wait to find out." Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, said she was inspired by the Salwens' philanthropic efforts. On December 9, 2010, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook's CEO), and investor Warren Buffett signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge", in which they promised to donate to charity at least half of their wealth. After launching the Giving Pledge, the Gates invited the Salwens to Seattle
Gates of Heaven Synagogue Gates of Heaven Synagogue Shaarei Shamayim (Gates of Heaven) has been the name of two Jewish congregations in Madison, Wisconsin. The first, dating to the 19th century but no longer in existence, built what is now the eighth-oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States. The second congregation, dating to 1989, is the sole Reconstructionist congregation in Madison. Madison's Shaarei Shamayim congregation was founded in 1856 by Jewish immigrants from Germany. In 1863, they built a synagogue that was designed by August Kutzbock, a recent German immigrant, in the Rundbogenstil style, a nineteenth-century German form of . Kutzbock also