Alternative Minyan

One of the constant comments that I am receiving is regarding the need to give students options in their prayer choices   Consensus is not whether they want to daven or not - but rather they may not have found or experimented with the right environment or learned the proper tools

Schools, and especially small schools, are limited to what they can offer their students in terms of environment.  The limitations may be set either because of numbers (the population dynamic of the school) or ideology (a belief that students' practice must reflect what happens in the adult service).

For those educators out there looking to see what is trending in the more liberal Jewish community, there is an option to go to One Shul - which offers live online services and classes.  OurJewishCommunity.org offered a video streamed Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur service - they even had a children's service! Their slogan is: Bringing Judaism to People where they are.  One final adventure into expanding the borders of your minyan is to think of the Khan Academy's approach to micro lesson plans.  Check out this NYTimes article on on how they are blending their digital, personalized approach into the traditional classroom.

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on these and other platforms for engaging students in tefilla.

Guest Post: Asking the Basic Questions

The following suggestion was made on the Lookjed List a few weeks ago and, with the author's permission, I am sharing it with the readers of this blog. I think this is a great trigger exercise to experiment to see where your students are at with regards to tefilla, regardless of their age:  

I've been doing this for several years; it does wonders towards sensitizing our talmidim towards the importance and beauty of tefilla.

1.  Each student writes on a piece of paper their answers to the following two questions:
a. What does tefilla do for and/or mean to me?
b. What is my favorite tefilla and why?

2.  I then collect and read the responses to the entire class (I do it anonymously as to not emabarass anyone).  The kids always listen eagerly to what their classmates write and feel.

3.  I then type all of this up, with a cover letter, for each student and parent to keep as their own.  My method: I write the first question followed by all of the responses, and then the same for the second question.

May we all be inspired by our talmidim!

Avi Herzog

Moriah School, Englewood, NJ

avmanh@verizon.net

Teaching Jewish Prayer/Tefilla

The goal of this blog is twofold:

• To discuss pedagogical tactics and methods for evaluating tefilla in formal and informal settings.
• To help Jewish educators share resources and dynamic ideas on the topic of tefilla . 

Here is a consolidated list of articles, classroom resources, word lists, lesson plans and activities, websites, and collaborative projects that surely helps achieve the above goals.  The list is organized by the Lookstein Center - proud host of this forum.  I strongly encourage you to check it out and share additional links.  

Is Hebrew the Obstacle?

A reader of this blog contacted me to share some tefilla news: the local rabbi of the major neighborhood shul arose on Shabbat a few weeks ago and addressed the issue of davening.  This rabbi diagnosed the problem primarily as one of frustration with the language barrier and suggested, since Gd understands English, that the congregation experiment with the vernacular in order to increase the meaning and spirit of the community's prayers.

I fear that language is not what is holding the masses, or even individuals, from greater enthusiasm in the realm of tefilla.  But maybe I am wrong.  Try it out.  Read the Shema - do you see/feel a possibility for transcendence?  I - and this is my personal belief - think that you have to try what works best for you.  For some people, English prayers might work best, but for me, it just seems awkward.  I am of the opinion that it is nice to have a special language in which to speak to Gd even though that same language is used to order food, yell at people, and even used in comic books (all in Israel).  It is nice to travel the world and to walk into a temple or synagogue and to have a mutually common way to pray, regardless of the language in which we speak at home.  Having a special and historic channel helps me in my spiritual yearning - but I know that this doesn't work for everyone.

Nonetheless, I think it is worth revisiting whether the revival of the Hebrew language has really led to a spiritual revival in the realm of prayer.  When I tried out the English tefilla, I realized (again) that the problem is that I don't easily meditate or have a sense of how to focus on the meaning behind the words.  I personally attended Hebrew School growing up, which I credit with teaching me how to be illiterate - give me the ability to read but not understand a word. If davening is like punching a ticket and one fulfills the obligation for tefilla by simply chanting words in a particular format then there is a clear method to evaluate what is being taught and practiced in our schools.  But aren't we looking to do something more in our tefilla?  I am happy that some rabbis are standing up and acknowledging that there is a problem within our shuls - but let's be serious about educating people on how to improve the situation.

Jewish Gospel Music

I will be attending in a few weeks the Limmud Conference in the UK – perhaps the most amazing event of Jewish learning and discovery in the English speaking world.  There is a good amount of buzz surrounding one performer there:  Josh Nelson – known as the Prince of Jewish Gospel blending Judaism and gospel music.  I wanted to share some samples of his work to see if you thought this approach or style had a place in your minyan or school? 

Adon Olam?

Mi Kamocha?

And finally, more of bio of the artist on the element of soul.

Please share your thoughts and reactions.

Asking for Help

I remember a few years ago, listening to Radio Kol Chai (a religious radio station in Israel) when I heard an advertisement for a new call-in program with the following appeal:  If you have a medical issue, surely you would call a doctor. If you have a legal issue you would consult with a lawyer and a tax issue, you would contact an accountant.  Why then with a moral or spiritual question, wouldn’t you consult a rabbi and mystic? 

In last week’s Torah reading Rivka was having a difficult pregnancy, as it states:

  וַיִּתְרצְצוּ הַבָּנִים, בְּקִרְבָּהּ, וַתּאמֶר אִם-כֵּן, לָמָּה זֶּה אָנכִי; וַתֵּלֶךְ, לִדְרשׁ אֶת-ה.

And the children struggled within her, and she said, 

“If this is so, why am I such” and she went to inquire of Hashem. (Genesis 25:22).

I am not here to judge Rivka’s neonatal care (nor her parenting style after the delivery), rather I wanted to note that she, almost naturally, turns to prayer and in turn receives a prophecy.

Who can we turn to today for spiritual guidance and advice for our moral quandaries?  How can we teach our students to have the same care and humility to recognize the need for guidance in situations that seem beyond our control or comprehension?  

Praying Sitting or Standing

Does it matter?  Does sitting or standing while davening have an impact on your spiritual feeling?  Call it the calisthenics of tefilla if you will, but do I really raise my tefilla when I rise up?

For me, the issue of posture and prayer started back when I was younger and often heard the “please rise” and “you may be seated” conducted in the tefillot in my Hebrew School and at camp.  I once had a rabbi/teacher who explained the conceptual idea behind the Shmoneh Esrei prayer, called the “Amidah” or “standing”, as being titled such since it is said standing upright which he claimed was a uniquely human posture.  Thus standing erect in prayer before our Creator (and bowing) was a way to acknowledge our special position and connection to God.

Another controversial situation is whether it is proper to sit during the Torah reading in synagogue or stand up.  On this issue, the sitters have won out, but it seems that some sources support this position only out of sheer comfort and not as an ideal way to hear the public reading of the word of God.  In Jewish practice standing is a sign of respect and is done for a parent, teacher or rabbi.  When the Ten Commandments are read publically, people customarily stand up out of respect and as if to re-enact this experience as it was described in the Torah.  (Anecdotally, when Senator Joseph Lieberman went to synagogue the first Shabbat after being nominated in 2000 as the VP candidate, a reporter from the Washington Post wrote that “upon entering the entire congregation rose and read aloud the Ten Commandments”; coincidentally he was tardy for Shul on what happened to be parshat Vi’Etchanan).  Also, when the last lines of any of the five books of the Torah are read, there often is a loud clap in shul or a “please rise” so that we can rise to mark the ending of a book. 

One argument that I hear from some educators is that standing keeps kids from falling asleep.  So goes the theory that slouching is a habit of the lazy and lazy, unfocused people cannot find spiritual transcendence.  Now I have many friends that can sleep anywhere – and it is important not to confuse the bliss and harmony of sleeping with a true spiritual experience.  (It is also noteworthy that one can sleep while standing – indeed this is a habit that the IDF imparts into many an Israeli youth).  But is it a more spiritual posture? Recently when I was on an airplane and couldn’t rise to pray - mainly for safety reasons and courtesy to the others that would have been blocked from moving about in the cabin, I davened in my seat, with a slight recline.  It was a different experience but not a bad one.  I think it was just not what I was normally accustomed to.

Somehow, I think there is a power in having a proper posture in prayer. What do you think?