HaYidion

אביב תשע"ג • Spring 2013

Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion

Cain’s vs. Abel’s Prayer, p. 10 / Tales from the Trenches, pp. 40-43 / RAVSAK Art Contest Winners, pp. 68-72[1] 1442_Facts_Haiydon-Ad_FIN.indd 1 [2] הידיעון • HaYidion Active Families. Active for Solutions Mobile Contact us today to learn how FACTS’Contact us todayto learn technology makes tuition managementeasy for families. FACTS from 24/7 support get device.mobile also Families can timetable. their on preferred their from more—right and schedule, payment viewtheir review changes, account payments, go. the areon That’s whyParents we’ve make can FACTS Parents the even made accessible. more system Tuition // Management

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1/31/13 12:03PM HaYidion: The RAVSAK Journal is a publication of RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network. It is published quarterly for distribution to RAVSAK this issue: member schools, associate members, and other Jewish and general education organizations. No articles may be reproduced in or distributed without express written permission of RAVSAK. All Understanding Tefillah rights reserved. Subscriptions are $36/year. Cain’s Prayer and Abel’s Prayer: Struggling with School Tefillah Executive Editor: Dr. Barbara Davis • by Elyasaf Tel-Or Sternberg, page 10 Editor: Elliott Rabin, PhD Design: Adam Shaw-Vardi Teaching for Prayer • by Moshe J. Yeres, page 14 Editorial Board Rabbi Matthew Bellas, Vancouver Talmud Torah, Vancouver, BC Ilisa Cappell, El Paso Jewish Academy, El Paso, TX Prayer as Transformation: A Vision of Tefillah Education Geo Cohen, United Herzlia Schools, Capetown, South Africa • by James Jacobson-Maisels, page 18 Rabbi Andrew Davids, Beit Rabban, New York, NY Dean Goldfein, Contra Costa Jewish Day School, Lafayette, CA The Problem of Prayer in Orthodox Yeshivot Rabbi Eric Grossman, Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloom eld, MI • by Chana Tanenbaum, page 22 Adina Kaneeld, Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital Dr. Raquel Katzkowicz, Albert Einstein School, Quito, Ecuador Rabbi Jack Nahmod, Abraham Joshua Heschel School, New York, NY What We Can Learn from Prayer in Christian Schools Eric Petersiel, Leo Baeck Day School, Toronto, ON • by Sarah Levy, page 24 Daniella Pressner, Akiva School, Nashville, TN Alex Sagan, JCDS, Boston's Community Day School, Watertown, MA Prayer in Dialogue with Tanakh: A Novel Approach to Tefillah Stacey Sweet, The Brandeis School, Lawrence, NY Education Nina Wand, Beth T loh Dahan, Baltimore, MD • by Elie Kaunfer, page 26 Advisory Panel Tefillah: Poetry of the Sublime Sandee Brawarsky, Jeremy Dauber, Eddie Harwitz, • by Elliott Rabin, page 28 Aron Hirt-Manheimer, Mark Jo e, Margot Lurie, Alana Newhouse, Renee Rubin Ross, Daniel Septimus, Jonathan Woocher Meaningful Prayer: Focus on the Goal RAVSAK Board of Directors • by Mark Stolovitsky, page 32 Arnee Winshall (Chair), Uri Benhamron, Lisa Breslau, Dr. Barbara Davis, Rebekah Farber, Matt Heilicher, Dr. Marc N. Kramer, Reimagining Prayer: Questions for Administrators Paul Levitch, Zipora Schorr, Joseph Steiner, Lesley Zafran • by Susan Wall and Judy Markose, page 40

Advertising Information Olami: Stories of Tefillah in Our Schools Please contact Marla Rottenstreich at [email protected] or by phone • pages 40-43 at 646-450-7280.

RAVSAK Tefillah Initiatives 120 West 97th Street, New York, NY 10025 p: 212-665-1320 • f: 212-665-1321 • e: [email protected] • w: www.ravsak.org Storytelling: Inspiration for Kavannah • by Billy Lewkowicz, page 44 The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily re ect the positions of RAVSAK. The Keva-Kavvanah Conundrum: Prayer in a Newly Merged School • by Cheryl Maayan, page 48 RAVSAK would like to thank our associate members: Creating Community through Tefillah, Tefillah through Community • by Aytan Kadden, page 50 Iyyun Tefillah Through the Eyes of Inquiry • by Beth Fine and Suzanne Messinger, page 54 Chiefs of Tens: Tefillah as a Leadership Opportunity IsraelWay Educational Tourism www.israelway.com • by Yonatan Rosner, page 58 Supporting Minyan Leaders • by Reuven Margrett, page 60 Answering Parents’ Prayers • by Judd Kruger Levingston, page 62

הידיעון The Real Estate of Tefillah • by Yaakov Green, page 64 • HaYidion RAVSAK Art Contest Winners • pages 68-72

From the Editor, page 4 • A Tribute to Arnee Winshall, RAVSAK Chair, page 6 • Good & Welfare, page 7 • Dear Cooki, page 8 • Glossary, page 73 [3] [4] RAVSAK's you wish Board ahappy Staff and Passover הידיעון • HaYidion prayer andmeditation are different.” the brains ofpeoplewhospenduntold hoursin impoverishment ofwhatshouldbeatranscendentexperie creative nce, andtheyoffer tothepray-ers.Theyanalyzecausesof void ofmeaning,emotionless,irrelevant de- withthefactthatprayerinschoolisoftenrote, The authorsinthisissuestruggle denatured. also infi in the school setting—to becoming nitely complex and is subject—particularly thepray-ersaying“God—payattention…toME.”Butprayeris that prayerrepresents categories:Wow;falls intooneofthree Please,please; andthankyou.Someonewrote deliberatecommunication.”Ithasbeensaidthatallprayer or aspiritualentitythrough withadeity,“an invocationoractthatseekstoactivatearapport anobjectofworship, todefianalytical, pedagogical,philosophical.Prayerisnothard Wikipedia callsit ne. perspectives:poetic, different manyexaminationsofthethemefrom are included, there This issueofHaYidion focusesonprayer, tefi noscientifi are llah.Whilethere cstudies ¿ byBarbara Davis From the Editor experience—and what happens in the brains happensin what experience—and US andCanada. Scientists have foundthat making the first attempts to understandspiritual attempts the first making that Bradley reported Hagerty “scientists are everal years ago, correspondent Barbara NPR and bodiesofpeoplewhobelievethey it’s drawing prominent researchersthe in ‘neurotheology,’ isnew, andalthough it the divine. with connect fieldiscalled The חג פסח שמח doing so. fi nd new ways to meet the challenge of This issueofHaYidion youto willinspire to give the gifts of prayer to our students. ucators andeducationalleaders,weseek allofus.Ased- sometimes overwhelms sense oflonelinessintheuniversethat the immense to overcome participants quintessentially communalprayer, allows dom.” Moreover, Jewishprayer, whichis outtothat“wisdombeyondwis- to reach beyond wisdom.”Prayerisameansforus toawisdom straining of thespiritforward “isthe a synagogue,saidthatreligion in inasermon Frost, The poetRobert hance andenrichdavening. meaningfulpathwaystoen- ing, andoffer cogentandenlighten- Their analysesare enhancement oftheprayerexperience. and oftenpassionatesuggestionsforthe [email protected]. NY. Barbara canbereached at Hebrew Day SchoolinDewitt, the Syracusehead ofschoolat tive editor ofHaYidionand ofRAVSAK,secretary execu- Dr. Barbara Davis is the is ¿ הידיעון • HaYidion

[5] Find usonFacebook: www.facebook.com/ravsak | Follow uson Twitter:www.twitter.com/ravsak [6]

community day schools, avibrant ensuring Jewish future. RAVSAKהידיעון • Online: www.ravsak.org | By mail:HaYidionRAVSAK, 120 West 97th Street, New York, NY 10025 RAVSAK.Please support mittee members and her sensitivity to the seismic nature of the transformation thatwas ofthe transformation mittee members and her sensitivity to the seismic nature of RAVSAKnew lay board executive com- for the former was a gift to us. Her concern thatshewasourdestiny.learned asthefoundingchairof Herwillingnesstoserve The fi rst time Isawher wasonapanelat aRAVSAK andsomehow I conference, islayingthefoundationforourfuture. tasks thatmakeupherbusylife,Arnee oneer. isabuilder. Butmostofall,Ithink, Arnee thewhirlwindoftraveland Through devoted daughter, wife, mother, and caretaker. She is an educator, a linguist and a pi- tofiIt ishard sheisa theessenceofArnee; toadequately capture ndtherightwords this capacity.she hasdonein the amazingwork to tribute to pay this quarter column chair ofRAVSAK’s Board ofDirectors. her Iamusurping Arnee the founding as term iscompletingWinshall her ¿ byBarbara Davis RAVSAK Chair A Tribute to Arnee Winshall, strengthens and sustains the Jewish life, strengthens andsustains of leadershipandlearning suring a vibrant Jewish future. suring avibrantJewishfuture. ofcommunitydayschools,en- learning sustain theJewishlife,leadershipand fi llRAVSAK’s and missiontostrengthen example youhavesetasweworktoful- Wefuture. willalwaysbeguidedbythe andits members, itsstudents,present have doneforRAVSAK, itsschools, for all the good you Thank you, Arnee, As longaseveryoucan. To allthepeopleyoucan, At allthetimesyoucan, In alltheplacesyoucan, In allthewaysyoucan, By allthemeansyoucan, Do allthegoodyoucan, led atRAVSAK: it toheronbehalfofallthoseshehas that describesherwell,andwededicate isalittlepoem,however,tributes. There to know how to sum up her at- it is hard and getajobdoneissoinspirational,that uphersleeves ous, herwillingnesstoroll sonumer-and fun.Herconnectionsare kind, considerate,intelligent,articulate isthoughtful, isourtreasure—she Arnee today.are the successful transition to theplacewe in crucial composed oflayleaders,were to one led by schoolprofessionals board a inourorganization, from occurring ¿ News from RAVSAK Schools Good & Welfare B’nai Israel Community Day School of son County’s Shooting Stars Scholarship, At the conclusion of performances of Gainesville, FL, was awarded the Merid- an award celebrating the achievements the musical RENT, students at the New ian Choice, Hope and Recovery Com- of young artists and arts educators with Community Jewish High School in Los munity Award for collecting children’s college scholarships, awards and honorar- Angeles unfurled the AIDS quilt they cre- supplies for residents of local treatment iums. ated as their annual Shabbaton Tikkun programs. Olam project. The quilt, personalized Dr. Silvia Kurlat-Ares, Upper School to the memory of loved ones who had Students from Houston’s Emery/Weiner Spanish teacher at the Charles E. Smith died from AIDS, was sent to the Names School collected stuffed animals for the Jewish Day School in Silver Spring, MD, Project where it was displayed with over students of Sandy Hook Elementary. has been invited by the Ibero-American 48,000 other quilt panels in Washing- Institute to present a paper at their sym- ton. The quilt will adorn the walls of the The Jewish Academy of Orlando is posium in Berlin, based on her research school’s new campus opening in the fall. pleased to announce that it has been on Latin American science fi ction. named an Apple Distinguished School, Mazel tov to Darren Kleinberg, the in- meeting criteria for innovation, leader- Junior Justin Etzine of the David Pos- coming head of Kehillah Jewish High ship, and educational excellence, and ful- nack Jewish Day School in Plantation, School in Palo Alto. fi lling Apple’s vision of exemplary learn- FL, installed computer labs at three dif- ing environments. ferent police stations in the Bahamas. He Welcome to RAVSAK’s newest member also developed a programming curricu- schools: Halifax Jewish School (in for- Slater Sousley, a senior at the Hyman lum and taught it to local children. The mation), Halifax, Nova Scotia; Menasseh Brand Hebrew Academy in Kansas City, Bahamian prime minister awarded him a Meyer School, Singapore; The Gordon is a fi nalist in the Arts Council of John- commendation. Schools, Miami. ¿

RAVSAK and Pardes Spearheading New Tefillah Initiative

n collaboration with the Pardes In- sion of inclusivity and deep Jewish en- In the words of Dr. Susan Wall, di- stitute of Jewish Studies in Israel, gagement provides a great fit. Further, rector of the Pardes Center for Jewish RAVSAK is in the planning stages Pardes has already performed ground- Educators, North American Initiatives, Iof a major program supporting tefill- breaking research into school tefillah “We are excited to move forward with ah in our schools. This initiative grows upon which any project we develop RAVSAK in tackling this very challeng- out of the preparation done for RAV- can build.” ing yet critical area of day school edu- SAK’s Business Plan; informants over- cation. RAVSAK shares our deeply held whelmingly selected tefillah as an area The team from RAVSAK and Pardes conviction that a vibrant, engaging te- in which they sought help and asked started the planning process by in- fillah program is essential to any Judaic for RAVSAK’s guidance. viting people representing a range of studies curriculum. The collaboration positions and organizations, including with our colleagues at RAVSAK has al- “We are delighted to partner with school heads and Judaic directors, proj- ready moved us, at Pardes, forward in Pardes on this ambitious and essential ect managers and philanthropy profes- our thinking as to how to make major project,” said Dr. Marc Kramer, RAV- sionals, to a think tank last June. The breakthroughs in this crucial endeav- SAK’s executive director. “Pardes is a event garnered input on topics such as or.” natural partner in this area: it has one the state of day school tefillah, the pur- of the strongest programs in training poses of tefillah education, and chal- Planning for the new tefillah project is הידיעון Jewish educators, its graduates are lenges and opportunities. Several of well underway. Look for an announce- seeded in dozens of RAVSAK schools, the articles in this issue represent work ment and rollout soon. We look for-

it supports its graduates through vis- done by some of the participants at that ward to working with you on this im- • HaYidion its, action research and continuing think tank, and especially by the schol- portant and exciting new venture in professional development, and its vi- ars and educators affiliated with Pardes. strengthening Jewish education. ¿

[7] [8] הידיעון • HaYidion ? served byserved ourschool’s religious approach. andcenterright ideologies, whofeelthey fully are not approached regularly by parents representing left, the board chairandvarious committee leadersare the Jewishelements community. in Asaresult, I, all serves that the HOSinacommunity school I am ¿ byCookiLevy Dear Cooki offer. open to AllJewishmovements are experiences that you for the religious On theotherhand,donotapologize to thematerial. ideological approach needs onanintellectualrather thanan withthat,focusingifitmeetsyour Start thatbindustogether.texts andahistory sacred a commonlanguage,numerous acommonheritage, AllJewsshare pire. to livetheJewishliveswhichtheyas- choicesand families tomakeinformed the skills,thatwillenablestudentsand the understanding,languageand knowledge,themotivation, concrete the sonal. Ourtaskmustbetoprovide priate Jewishlifestyleisdiffi cultandper- fi ningwhatisameaningfulandappro- how tolivemeaningfulJewishlives.De- dates include teaching all our students man- usually pluralisticinnature—our As communityJewishdayschools— obligation. different families hasavery but accepts all denominations of Jewish school thatdefi nesitselfasOrthodox reflyour curriculum ectsthisaswell.A andthat environment, diverse religious all elements of the community within a clearly indicatethatyourschoolserves ment andotherpublicinformation First, Iassumethatyourmissionstate- Advice ColumnAdvice community? the of all) (or almost needs of all the to helpmeet What canIdo possible, joy. bring will inameaningfulway,the participants and, when variety ofJewish expressions, engage will that exclude, heighten awareness will that the of onlyincludeandnot Plan programs will that to themyriadpracticeswithinJudaism. school and home yet exposing students any kind of conflcreating ict between understanding thatyourgoalistoavoid thatJudaismhastooffer, full tapestry dents shouldbeabletobenefi the tfrom ally elevating, educational and fun. Stu- shouldbespiritu- but theShabbatpart to meetsomelocalpolicyorstandard, time. Your mayneed Shabbatprograms liefs forhome,orsynagogue,another divisivepracticesorbe- leave themore and elements accepted by most parents Shabbat, andthelike.Findcommon prayer, tzedakah,holidayobservances, community together. with those Start vehicle for bringing members of the the school should be the programs; agogues foravarietyofevents and Have students visit all the syn- share. to identify the values and practices we with oneanotherandthestudents perspectives to share their observances, students, to teachabout holidays and all denominations to engage with the Inviteguestrabbisof as yourpartners. Use thesynagoguesandtheirclergy of differing religious orientations. religious of differing links between families gether to create tocelebrateto- andchildren for parents times provide learning, are their children withthemwhat toshare opportunities canbea Parents Create vitalresource. “Dear Cooki”in thesubjectline. tion, [email protected], with all schoolstakeholders.To submitaques- bec. Dear Cooki accepts questions from of theAkivaSchoolinWestmount, Que- asthelongtimehead viously, sheserved Head ofSchoolMentoringProject.Pre- Cooki Levyisthedirector ofRAVSAK’s communityinstitution. true cially when the HOS is committed to a practice communitycooperation,espe- tolerance,and standing, modelgreater However, under- wecanteachgreater day schools will not eliminate them. inations willcontinue,Ifear, andthe constituents. Tension among denom- world, wewillneverpleaseallofour intheJewishdayschool other areas We knowthatin this,aswithsomany when possible,willbringjoy. inameaningfulway,participants and, that will engage the Jewish expressions, ofthevariety will heightenawareness will onlyincludeandnotexclude,that that “dos and don’ts.” Plan programs not to get stuck in the minutiae of Try Ha’Atzmaut, forexample. Jews cometogethermosteasily—Yom andcelebrationswhere observances ¿ הידיעון • HaYidion

[9] [10] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion of theirownunique fl ute. mon prayer—andtoraiseupthe sound their ownway, to“desecrate”our com- to God in empower our students to turn by prayingwithhisfl ute,butwedon’t the childwhodesecratedYom Kippur old tunes.We of tellthefamousstory over and over,ancient words to the same the same ing, havingthem sit andrecite we gatherstudentstogethereachmorn- in practice individual meaning, whereas as an“experience,”fullofpersonaland have thempracticeit.We speakofprayer prayer toourstudentsandthewaywe gulf betweenthewaywespeakabout Additionally, isoftenayawning there student. ofthe totheheart mouth butforeign with thesamefi xedwords, fl uenttothe (Psalms130:1),wesealhislips Lord” thedepthsIcalled utterance “from tion, insteadofteachinghimhowtogive by emo- prayer overcome ters morning For example, at timeswhen a studenten- fi xed framework or codifi ed expression. withno thestudent’sheart ing from of personal,spontaneousprayeremerg- that alltoooftenitcomesattheexpense torecognize butes, butitisimportant time andlanguagehasmanyfi neattri- Schoolprayerwithafiin microcosm. xed student tefi synagogue prayer llahmirrors obligation;the prayerisarote services, In manyschoolsthatconductmorning Introduction aschool’sabout visionandaimsfortefillah. canfosterproblematics—onethat adeepconversation understanding Jewish prayer itsbeauty and inall provides article acompelling frameworkThis for ¿ byElyasaf Sternberg Tel-Or Challenge of School Tefillah Struggling with the Cain’s Prayer and Abel’s Prayer vision oftefi llah? our use ifwewanttosucceedinrealizing andstudents?Whattoolsshouldwe dren to conveyourchil- of tefi llahthatweaim think isthemeaning tefi llah.Whatdowe of about thenature teachers and parents, teachers, and between conversation among with a need tostart sit downtopray, we we subject. Before a lackofpedagogicaldiscussiononthis derivesfrom In myopinion,theproblem and leaves,ascends anddescendslikea Abel’s prayerstraysandwanders, enters steady, whoworkshisland. likeafarmer Cain’s prayerstandsinplace, fi xed, peting: Cain’sprayerandAbel’s prayer. com- prayers,twins,wrestling, fraternal Two sites, evenopponentstoadegree. oppo- wediscoverthattheyare share, “prayer”thatthey beyond theword character. Indeed,whenwelookinside, completelyunlikein but are the surface identical twinsthatappearthesameon west,like eachotheraseastfrom from anddistant of water, yetasdifferent asaliketwodrops tradition. Theyare over thecourseofgenerationsinJewish ofprayerhavearisen Two distinctforms prayer” “Cain’s prayer” and “Abel’s times were fitimes were xed over thecourseofa and oftheservice, for variousparts be’a, thefi xedcoinofprayer, solidifi ed rabbinic Judaism.Atthattime themat- Second Temple periodandtheriseof prayer, inJewish tradition beginsinthe prayers. Cain’sprayer, namelyfi xed closely atthemeaningofthesetwo of thisconfl ict,weneedtolookmore todeepenourunderstanding In order personal elementofprayer? the traditionandstabilitytobalance is Cain?”Where isyourbrother “Where supplications?Or yourheartfelt are Where isAbelyourbrother?” “Where out,asGoddoestoCain: for himtocry these modes of prayer, is all that remains other. And if someone should lose one of out betweenthem,untilonesubduesthe verse likeCainandAbel,confl ictbreaks The momentthesetwomeetandcon- ofGod andman. over theheart with each other and struggle alternate of prayer These two forms human heart. the from bursting forth of thedesert, intheheart withers likeJonah’sgourd ing likesmoke,risesupandthenextday moment andthenextvanish- human spirit.Thelatter, glitteringone past, neitherkneelsnorbowstothe full of splendor, ages down from carried nomad, adwelleroftents.Theformer, reached at [email protected]. in Mazkeret Batya inIsrael. Hecanbe the KeshetJudaics director at School as andserves writer curriculum the Elyasaf Tel-Or Sternberg isa day for people to carve out of their busy ing atop the blackboard and suspended in Him, he can express his thoughts… lives and to approach their Maker with the child’s ear. words. The same is true today. The power of But I was consoled, knowing that God is morning prayer, which once was com- This ancient innovation of fixed prayer at close to the children: He is their friend, com- posed entirely of poetry, decreases as fixed time was not universally accepted. panion, they make Him laugh, play with children grow up, as prayer becomes ever Rabbi Eliezer opposed with all his might Him… I thought: If I teach the children a more fixed and text-based. Children lose this revolution that his colleagues at the blessing or even the most beautiful, shortest the warm innocence of speech that is di- academy in Yavneh created: “He who prayer, I am fixing their soul, instructing rect, honest and open with God. They makes his prayer fixed—his prayer is lack- them to speak what they are not feeling and become stuck in thinking, as they learn ing in supplication.” Already back then cannot feel… If the child feels a need to in school, that the meaning of “tefillah” Rabbi Eliezer warned that fixed prayer speak to God he can speak as he would to is prayer from the siddur, not prayer from is drained of spontaneous, heartfelt feel- a friend; he can say whatever he wants to the heart. ing—the “prayer of Abel.”

Truly, anyone who has seen the place of We tell the famous story of the child who God in the lives of young children can’t desecrated Yom Kippur by praying with his help but feel great apprehension at the damage caused by fixed prayer. Tradition- flute, but we don’t empower our students to al prayer, prayer from the siddur, trans- turn to God in their own way, to “desecrate” forms the warm, human connection that children have with God into a technical our common prayer—and to raise up the exercise, foreign to the child’s spirit, cold sound of their own unique flute. and abstract. In the words of teacher Chayim Harari, from his diary written a A recent conversation I had with one of century ago: my students illustrates the way that tra- ditional tefillah education ruins the direct Yesterday morning I taught the first verse connection between the child and God. of the Torah to little children: In the One of the girls found it very difficult beginning God created the heav- to pray from the siddur. I spoke to her ens and the earth. The little philos- about the importance of person- ophers did not leave me in silence; al prayer and recommended that they asked question after question: she pray from the heart. Naturally Where did God come from? How do she was happy with my sugges- we know that He did all this? Who tion, happy with any proposal saw Him? Who was watching Him that would break the routine work? Is it true that Abraham of school prayer. Right away she saw God? How come I can’t see searched the contents of the sid- Him? Why isn’t He here now? dur for the entry “prayer from the And voices cried out in answer: heart.” When she didn’t find it, she Yes He’s here, the earth is full of His raised her glance to me and said, “It’s glory. One joked: He’s on the black- not here…” board! Another scoffed: He’s in my ears! I ignored the empty replies; In contrast to this position that glori- at that moment I felt hurt, fies Abel’s prayer over the tefillah seeing God insulted, rid- [continued on page 12] הידיעון • HaYidion

[11] [12] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion from the siddur came to serve asabridge thesiddurcametoserve from oftheworld,traditionaltefiparts llah all from Jerusalem like standingtowards allofthe Jewishpeople,just concern fi of prayer, xed words requests that the By making Jews say the same one roof.” to God: to gather all of the people under than the feeling of closeness important has anadditionalaim,perhapsevenmore However, ourperspectiveprayer from rect—fi xed prayerisnot supplication. Rabbi Eliezerasfollows:“You cor- are to ofthesages.Theyrespond the part on arevolution This passagerepresents God. ward thelandofIsrael, notto- toward turns ofprayeristheonethat heart The true Instead theMishnahchoseheart. associatedwiththebodyorface. terms person shouldface,itcouldhaveused a only wantedtoexplainthedirection IftheMishnahhad kivvun, direction. ischangedto here gives expression, Godtowhichprayer standing before thehonest,revealing nah) oftheheart, land ofIsrael.”Theintention(kavva- The Mishnahteachesinstead,“tothe “to hisFatherinHeaven,toGod!” spontaneously completethesentence: We hisheart…” should direct would line: “StandingoutsideofIsrael—he we would be astonished at thefi rst notsofamiliar,If thispassagewere the HolyofHolies. in the Temple—he toward directs his heart toward the Temple…Standinghis heart directslem…Standing inJerusalem—he toward Jerusa- Israel—he directs hisheart land of Israel…If he stands in the land of toward the rael—he should direct his heart If [someoneprays]standingoutsideofIs- ofprayer: form aunifient purposewhentheycreated ed people, had in mind a completely differ- dispersaloftheJewish and thegrowing oftheSecondTemplethe destruction after pivotal moment in Jewish history in Brakhot4:5,thesages,standingata to the Mishnah goal. According ferent personal prayer, dif- butithasanentirely fi xedintime,placeandcontentmuddies that prayer claim the following: It’s true fi xedbytherabbinicsages,onemight [continued from page 11] selves. notaboutthem- about everyone—just about thelandofIsrael,God, about thestateofJewishnation, theworld, ple asacollectivethroughout others. To thinkabouttheJewishpeo- their“I”andtothinkof escape from a numberofminutesouttheirdayto dedicate theyare, ple, nomatterwhere ofprayerisnowtohavepeo- The role geographical unity. forourlost uniting usall,areplacement expression of the heart’s stirrings—these stirrings—these expression oftheheart’s pouring out what’s inside of us, not the what mostpeopleconsider“prayer.” Not Jewish prayeristhecompleteopposite of 20:7: toGenesis Hirsch, inhiscommentary ofSamsonRaphael inthewords heart; buttopenetrateintothe theheart from vot, etc.Prayerdoesnotneedtofl ow faith,ethics,centralmitz- to internalize inorder theheart toward directed arrow and beliefs.Tefi llahisliketheshaftofan educational toolforabsorbingvalues The fi ofprayercomprisesan xedform out inward. with- withintowithout,butfrom from itisnotamovement of aperson’sheart; not atallneedtofl thedepths owfrom is notconducivetotefi llah. Tefi llahdoes beyond the self. A house that is shut in whatlies others,toward side, toward Namely, one’sprayershouldlookout- ways prayinahousethathaswindows.” mud Brakhot31a:“Apersonshouldal- of RabbiChiyyabarAbbaintheTal- idea helpsustounderstandthesaying Other, beyondourselves.Perhapsthis to dedicatesomemomentssomething ourroutine, ourselvesfrom to remove for ourownends.Tefi llahobligatesus timeis“ours,”tobeexploited Normally withtime. fect uponourrelationship ef- ofprayerhasaprofound This form inward. from without but amovement isnot to without, fromit within from thedepthsofaperson’sto flow heart; In Cain’s prayer, need all at doesnot tefillah or Abel’sprayerintheirhand? want ourgraduatestoleavewithCain’s we seektoeducateourstudents?Do We must ask: Toward which prayer do our attentiontoprayerinschools. foundations ofJewishprayer, weturn discussionofthe thistheoretical From Prayer inschool sider how to give expression toAbel’s sider howtogiveexpression taught tostudents,wemustcon- form alongside Cain’sprayer, thetraditional isthat One ofmyrecommendations prayer Strengthening Abel’s is bestfortheschoolfl ourish. ofprayerthat est discussion can theform dents. Onlywithsuchanopenandhon- conversations betweenteachersandstu- the widerschoolcommunity, evenin and amongparents in thefacultyroom, These questionsneedtobediscussed with God? hicle forforging apersonalconnection dition, ordowefocusonprayerasave- students withtheJewishpeopleandtra- as aneducationaltoolforconnecting ucating ourstudents?Doweseeprayer Totion remains: weed- whichprayerare they fi ndit.Butthefundamentalques- “connect” totefirelevant llah,orhow tical questionsofhowmuchstudents answer. aboutthetac- We oftenworry This questioniscriticalforschoolsto and exaltedpreservation. valuesthatrequireeternal strengthening andrevive withinitthe to rousetheheart declare: Fixedprayerismeant Henceforth thatisobtainedfromoutside. truth with the Instead—penetrating the heart we call“imploring,”“conversing”etc. [continued onpage 17] Special diScountS for SchoolS!

Talmud isn’t just black & white

“Specifically designed to offer students entry to

ָ הל לוַ בליְהּו. ל.ַּ יְ יסָ א; .וָ ה,לרְ כֵ ן ֹו״; ל וַ בל חֲ בִ יץל ְ ֵ לבִּ ְ .בָ ו The Gemara cites a similar dispute with regard to the blessing be ל נִ הְ יָה ֹונֹות״דל ל ֶ״שׁ הַ ּכֹ למְ ף recited over אָ מַ ו: וֵ אלמִ ינֵי ו:ל ״בּ ֹו ְּל׳ ִ יגִ יל ”…Talmud study, to ask questions ĥavitz אָ מַ ל ָ א , cooked in a ּכָ הֲ נָאל עָ ְ מָ א a dish consisting of flour, oil, and honey .ָ אל ּכּו ּ ֵ יל ִ יגִ יל –ל .that one recites:pot as well as pounded grain ַ יְיסָ אל ְּגוֵ י ּכִ י ל ְּ׳ בְּ . ףֹונֹות״,ל Kahana said By Whose word all things came to be. Rav ֵ אלמִ ינֵילמְ ַ בליְהּו.ָ הל h .ְּ ״בֹוו .וָ ה,לו – that one recites: Rav Yehuda said Over pounded grain חֲ בִ יץל ְ ֵ ;ל of nourishment. The Gemara explains: halakha ַ יְיסָ אל ּ ְ כעֵ יןל ּ ּובְ ָשׁ אלעִ י ָּ ו the five species of grain, even if they are not בְּ . סָ בַ ול. ַ יְיסָ א ed grain alone, Who creates the various kinds ֶ״שׁ הַ ּכֹ ״ל–ל ֹונֹות״ל–ל various Over any kind foods of containing nourishment, one in of: בent, one recites: Who creates .theְּ אָ מַ ו:ל מִ ינֵילמְ ף the various kindseveryone of nourishment. agrees that When one theyrecites: argue, Who it creates ל״בּ ֹווֵ אל :ל With regard to pound- accordance with the opinions of Rav and Shmuel (Rambam ָ הֲ נָאלאָ מַ ו: ולוַ בליֹוסֵ ז -regard to pounded grain the primary ingredi וַ בל ּכ אָ מַ Rabbi Gil Student, Hirhurim-Torah Musings – ;Ahava, Hilkhot Berakhot 3:4 עִ י ָּ ודל ַ בל סְ מִ י.ָ אל וָ א, ְּל.ו a ĥavitz סָ בַ ול ָ הֲ נָאלמִ סְ ַּ תבְּ .(cooked in a mixed with honey, Shulĥan Arukh, Oraĥ Ĥayyim 208:2, 9 ַ בל ּכ לבּ ֹול Whose word all things ָ תֵ ּיה ְּל.ו ַ יְיהּו:ל ָּכ לשׁ ֶ ּיֵשׁ pot. Rav Yehuda said is with Sefer ְּכר ַּתְור primary, in the manner of ְּ ל.אָ מְ וִ יל ָ ירל״בּ ֹווֵ אל came to be, Anything that has of the five species of NOTES ּושׁ ְ מּואֵ וְ כִ יןלעָ came to be.and on honey one recites: By Whosethat word one recites: By notes ִ ינִיןלמְ בָ as he over it: Who creates the various kin מֵ חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תלהַ ּמ various kindsRav of Kahananourishment, as held that the honey is Protection for the fruit – laws of ritual impurity of foods, the sages dealt with different ףֹונֹות ֹונֹות״ד grain in it, one recites Sabbatical year applies to carobs when the ֵ אלמִ ינֵילמְ :said that one recites מִ ינֵילמְ ף of In what the framework c of the: שׁ ֹומֵ ול ַ ְּ׳וִ יfood over which this blessing is recited can aspects of the precise determination ָ יthe רלofבּ ֹווthe case with all products produced from grain, is primary, characteristics ds of nourishment – per the opinion of Beit Hillel. This leads to the conclusion that מְ בָ וְ כִ יןלעָ all things significance stems food as well as what are those parts that are not edible in and מֵ חֲ מֵ their ֶשׁ תלהַ that ּ ִ מis ינִיןלtherefore one recites: Who creates the var Who creates the be explained in two ways: One at that stage they are considered fruits and one recites over ל ,he held that the flour y form chains, as ָּכ The: defining שׁ ֶ ּיֵשׁ לבּ ֹו from the fact that they are among the ment. Rav Yosef said: It is reasonable of themselves, that can nevertheless be considered as food. them: Who creates fruit of the tree (Rema). Others say that Israel is praised, as spelt is consider onstitutes the opinion of as is In general, there are two concepts: Handle and protection. one cannot derive the In the Mediterranean countries, in Provence and in Greece, and rye are considered types of barley. Anything that has Rav of Kahana, the five asspecies Rav and Shmuelious kinds both of said: nourish and- seven species for which The handle is not food but is used in ate blessing from the the caper-bush is grown primarily f to say that they are more nourishing than otheed ar typefoods. of The wheat discussion and oats Protection is considered fruit, since the fruit cannot survive halakha with over it: Who creates the various kinds of nourishment in accordance with year. The halakha with regardregard to to the the Sabbatical appropri - The young fronds are apparently the caper with regard to the inclusion of rice and mi Anotherllet in this explanation category is is for any length of time without it. order to hold the fruit. Magen Avraham ruled that one recites: Who creates if it is mixed with other ingredie fruit of the ground, due to the unce purple-green branches and their leaves,or its which pickled in ancientbuds. of grain based upon, among other considerations, the question: What is רַ יְ יהּו:ל Anything that has of the five species of grain in it, one bitter taste, one recites no blessing at all ( times were pickled and eaten, are called ְּ אָ מְ וִ יל ַּתְו :in it, one recites the central consideration in determining the criteria for reciting ּושׁ ְ מּואֵ ל. ְ כִ יןל ,recites over it: Who creates the various kinds of nourish- Rambam rtainty. If they have a -bush’s young לוַ בל ִ ינִיןלמְ בָ ו With regard to the nts. Who creates the various kinds of nourishment (Penei Yehoshua). Sefer Zera’im, Hilkhot Shemitta VeYovel 5:18; Botanically, the fruit of the caper-bush is the berry, which ּגּו׳ָ א, מֵ חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תלהַ ּמ .(Arukh, Oraĥ Ĥayyim 202:2 ףֹונֹות– n ment, בּ ֹול מַ ול .even Mishna Berura is generally eaten pickled, even today shuta in Aramaic לשׁ ֶ ּיֵשׁ ל ֹונֹות״; ְ לראִ ּיתְ -of the food over which this bless ֵ אלמִ ינֵילcharacteristicsמְ species of grain, thehalakha Gemara clarifies The defining ָּכ למְ ף ; – One who chews peppers on Yom Kippur ָ ירלבּ ֹוו וֵ אלמִ ינֵי ַ יְיהּו:ל ָּכ ל ways: One is that their Shulĥan And when Beit Shammai expresses a מְ twoבָ וְ in כִ יןלעShmuel both said: of the blessing recited over the five ing is recited can be explainedָ ָ ירל״בּ ֹו ל ַּתְור ּווֵ י מֵ חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תלהַ ּ ִ מינִיןל עָ ְּ ל.אָ מְ וִ י .. One who eats dried peppers or ginger : ְ .כִ ּ׳ the בּ ֹולsignificance stems from the fact that they are among ּושׁ ְ מּואֵ ְ כִ יןלעָ ָ ירל is not liable, as that is not the way they are usually eaten. One ion in a place where Beit Hillel disagrees, their opinion : ל שׁ ֶ ּיֵשׁ ל grain נַמִ י,לוַ בל מְ בָ ו The reader… is likely to come away with more of a“ ָּכ in it, one recitesAnything over it: Who that hascrethe of matter the five itself. species Rav and הַ ּ ִ מינִיןל – is considered as if it was not in the mishna בְּ יֹומָ אof nourishment. Elsewhere, seven species for which Israel is praised as spelt is considered is liable for eating damp, fresh peppers (Rambam מֵ חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תל -more lenient opin ַ ס ִּל׳ ְ ְּ׳ ֵ יל שֶׁ הּואל מִ ְשׁ נָה ּכa type of wheat and oats and rye are on Yom Kippur ֹונֹות״דל אֵ ּינָהל both said: Rice – background Hilkhot Berakhot מִ ינֵילמְ ף tannaitic להaִ ֵּ לRice, barley Another explanation is that they are more nourishing that in general :אֹוֶוף ״בּ ֹווֵ אל : ֹוםלבֵּ ית Anything that is fromit was the stated fiveates specie the various kindsof family, which growsOryza to a savita height, is of an appro annual grass from the grain Shulĥan Arukh, Oraĥ8:7, ĤayyimSefer Zemanim 202:2, 8)., Hilkhot Shevitat Asor The reason for this rejection is בִּ מְ -recites over it: Who creates the various kinds of nouri than other foods. The discussions with regard to the inclu ְ בֵּ יתל ַשׁ ּמַ אי that predominantly in marshland and in irrigated fields during the considered types of Sefer Ahava, regard to details, and the decision is r ר This is problematic, as these statements appear redundant.Rav and Shmuel The blessing over ginger – dispute is a disagreement with ל summer. Rice seeds have yellowish shells sion of rice and millet in this category is based upon, among judgment of the Sages of that particular generation. Con שׁ ֶ הּוא״ל– ;ximately 1 m. It grows consumed for one’s enjoyment, one recites: Who creates fruit2:6 אַ ְשׁ מַ עִ ינַןל ָּ״כ ל s of grain, one varieties as well. It is indigenous to the F other considerations, what is the central consideration in sequently, the opinion that was not acceached based on the ְּ אִ יל בְּ עֵ ּינֵיה,ל ְ בִ י of the ground ִ יכָ א:ל. ְּ אִ יתֵ יהל ”…sense of the Talmud as a living text ַ תלףַנְ ּג determining the criteria for reciting: Who creates the various ו ּ Over fresh ginger completely rejected. This is not the case :בִּ וְ ּכ .The Gemara explains: Both statements are necessary, brought to Eretz Yisrael prior to the mishnaic period ּוצְ מִ ּשׁ ּוםל. shment. , though there are red kinds of nourishment (Penei Yehoshua). accordance with. Dried the opinion ginger isof exempt Rava (R from a blessing, in mai articulate an opinion fundamentally different than the אָ מִ ינָאל ֹא, - taught us primarily for cereal, and due its lack of adhesiveness, it is difficult epted was also not הֲ רַ הל ֹובֹותל–ל ar East; however, it was Hilkhot Berakhot 8:7; Shulĥan Arukh, Oraĥ Ĥayyim 207:6). opinion of Beit Hillel. When that position is r לתַ עֲ ו one recitesonly: over it:Anything Who creates that isthe various kinds of nourish to make it into bread. Nevertheless, they would bake rice bread when Beit Sham לעַ ליְ.ֵ י .ambam no room for further discussion אֲ בָ ment, or mix it with other grains and bake br Rice is used Over pounded grain – Sefer Ahava, - I would have said from the five speciesas ejected, there is ץ– had he HALAKHA one of the five species of grain, even if the The pomegranate and its flower : ַ יְיסָ א unadulterated Overcr any food containing בְּ .that is of grain, ead. Parts of a pomegranate that join together with regard mary ingredient, one recites: Who no, form, but because IMAGE one does not recite: Whoif one creates eats it the to calculating the requisite measure in order to become of nourishment, in accordance with the opinions of Rav and : ִ ּמֹון ְ לרנֵ -Yehuda Mirsky, Jewish Ideas Daily the grain is y are not the pri – ו - .ishment in the context of ina mixture, its pure, ritually impure – Shmuel (Rambam eates the various kinds The flower [netz] of the pomegranate is impurity of food Arukh, Oraĥ ĤayyimSefer 208:2, Ahava 9). , Hilk the stamens found in the crown of טּומְ אָ הWith regard to the ritual the pomegranate in hot Berakhot ולwithְ עִ נְיָןלvarious kinds of nour the pomegranate joins together which is a type of cover for the crown is ִ ימֹוןל ְ שׁ ִ יעּו Shulĥan a name given to ;3:4 ֵ יdoeלהָ וcalculating the requisite measure, but its flower ,a part of the pomegranate at all. This the fruit. The flower : צֵ יof וּוזלחֶ ְ the top-piece , - (Rambam Sefer Tahara, Hilkhot Tumat Okhelin 5–21). BACKGROUND garding the crown itself, howev not considered to cause substantial damage to the is not the case re ז – A protector of the fruit with regard to Caper-bush point that it falls from the tree. er, as its removal is liable :צְ ָ s not - {The peels that protect a fruit, as well as pits and {IMAGE : ְ עִ נְיַןלעָ ְו ָ ה Perek VI VI blossoms have the same legal status with pomegranate, to the Rice orla – The caper-bush ול ְּ׳וִ י .(Daf 37 the fruit (Shulĥan Arukh, Yoreh De’a 294:1 שׁ ֹומֵ ַ Amud a Millet [ doĥan Grape-bud – regard to The most common species of caper with.: regard to the identity of orla as ֹוחַ ן – [are various opinions ) regard: The grape-budto does not have the thorny caper-bushסְ מָ ָ.וAmong the early commentaries, there status of a fuit with דלרְ אִ יל standard identity is ous bush growing to a height of a meter and a half. Its לבּ ֹו״ Rambam Capparis spinosa-bush in Israel is the) ָָּּ״כ לשׁ שׁ ֶ ֶ ּיֵשּׁיֵשׁ grain family. It is a perennialPanicum grass miliaceum , a type of millet from the Sefer Zera’im orla rounded leaves range in color from מַ ְשׁ מַ ע ל ָ ן,ל אָ מִ ינָאל Shulĥan Arukh, Yoreh, Hilkhot De’a 294:1). Ma’aserand fourth-yearSheni VeNeta produce Reva’ilegal ), a thorny, decidu ;9:13 ָ אל בּ ֹו״,להֲהֲ רָ הל Therefore, Its flowers are long, weighty, and cylindrical, and its smalldoĥan seeds There is a pair of thorns alongside each lea שׁ שׁ ֶ ֶ ּיֵשּׁיֵשׁ ל אִ ין,ל - he teaches us: Anything that has . The אַ ְשׁ מַ עִ ינַןל ָּ״כ ל ִ ינִיםל–ל ,of grain (2–3 mm) are yellow. It was often uthatsed reachesfor animal a height feed or of cereal, 1–1.5 m. The blessing recited over peppers – has large white flowers, approximately 6 cm in diameter חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תלהַ ּּמ .in it, even if it is in the context of a though at times it was mixed with other grains to make bread. does not recite a blessing over dry purple to green לבּ ֹול ׁ ּום ְּ ל.עַ ל .ingredients. with purple stamens ָּכ לשׁ ֶ ּיֵשׁ ל ָ א,למִ ּש And had he taught us not usually eaten. Over damp, fresh peppers on f. The caper ְףלר.ֹוחַ ןל– בְּ עֵ ּינֵיהל–ל The buds of the caper-bush, the kaprisin ל׳ ְ ְּ׳ ִ ים the five species of grain of the five species לאֹוֶו אִ יתֵ ּיהל are:One בִּ וְ ּכַ they ת Who creates fruit of the ground, as theypeppers, asִּ אֲ בָ אֲ אֲ בָבָ ל הידיעון mixture with other ֹובֶ ת;ל ְ כִ יןל {over anything that has only: Anything tha in mixtures with other foods ( {GREEK תַ עֲ ו נַמִ ילמְ בָ ו -in it, I would have Anything said tha kapris meaning caper-bush or fruit of the caper יְ.ֵ יל ְְףלר.ֹוחַ ןל recites: Who creates the various kinds of nourishment, even if Sefer Ahava, Hilkhot Berakhot e recites: bush) are the buds of flowers that hav ּולאֹוֶֶו מַ ְשׁ מַ על of the five species of grain t has are only eaten dry (from the Greek נֵימָ אלאֲאֲ ׳ִ י ּ ֹונֹות״דל ָ אל it is in the context of a mixture with other ingredients.that specifically of 202:2, 18). Magen Avraham These buds are pickled and eaten. Now מִ ינֵילמְמְ ף הּואל ;8:7 ״בּ ֹווֵ אל הַ ִ מינִיםל .over anything that has ric Shulĥan Arukh, Oraĥ; Rambam Ĥayyim are grown exclusively for these buds e not yet bloomed עָעָ ָ ירל מֵ חֲ מֵ ֶשׁ תל ּ nds of nourishment,in it, yes, even if Carob trees from when they form ch שֶׁ הּואל ףֹונֹות״;ל recite: Who creates the various kinds of nourishment, one These buds open into new flowers on a adays,daily basis, the bushesare ָ ן:ל ָָּּכ ל ֵ אלמִ ינֵילמְ ְ ו ְשׁ וּו ric B רל״בּ ֹוו אִ יתֵ יהל . ּובִ יןלמִ ֶּׁ ש ַּיְשׁ .e and millet redients ְ כִ יןלעָעָ ָ י ּול ּ The prohibition to destroy fruits of the then pollinated and wither on that same: הֶ חָ ו one is eating B ִּ ִּ מְ מְ בָבָ ו ַּ אֲ ׳ִ י ּ – However, ains of carobs . ףלר.ֹוחַ ן,ל. מִ ינֵיל or millet is it in in it, no,no, fruit, or berries of the caper-bush, the ֵ ילאֹוֶֶו ְְ ״בּ ֹווֵ אל is the context of a mixture. However,one does not ְ ְ אַאַ ּּ׳ּו ְ וכִ ינַןל .rice and milletin its one pure, recites: Who a creates mixture. the However,urishment, various kinds of in shape to a date or small squash, and grows to 6 cm –ל ָ אלמְ מְ בָבָ unadulterated because day. The ripe בְּ עֵ ּּינֵיהל nourishment, because they, too, are types of grain. avyona, form, say if the ric is similar ףֹונֹות״ד he teaches us because they, too, are types of saygrain. that e מְמְ the variouseven kinds over of ףד cies of grain, onespecifically: recites over Anything it: Who tha creates the various kinds Millet of nourishment, one torecites the exclusion over Anything it: Who of rice thacreates a the variousB kinds • HaYidion t is from the Therefore, five spe- Types of grain – which, even in its pure, about the division into species in the Mishna and the Talmud and There is much that we do not know :מִ ינֵי ָ ל.גָ ן cite: Who creates the various kinds of nourishment. - many distinctions are unclear. Nevertheless, there is a botanical unadulterated nd millet, distinction somewhat parallel to the Gemar form, one does not re- one does notover re species of grains. Within the grain family nourishment. between the a’s definition of the - corn, among others,Panicoidae which the Talmud does not consider grain; family that includes, there millet, is a distinctionrice, and and the Pooidae family, which includes the five species of grain. Pooidae family, which includes the

׳ו לרפ .זל ףד . Perek VI . 37a 249 Koren Publishers Jerusalem [13] www.korenpub.com [14] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion Teaching for Prayer was foundedon anyspecifi cphilosoph- son for this. I do not know that this have attimesaskedfortherea- Visitors student bodyasawhole. tefi existsno required there llahforthe But (Purim) withlittlestudentresponse. vices bothdailyandonspecialoccasions ser- non-Orthodox tempted toprovide And theschoolhasoveryearsat- at theendofmiddaylunchbreak. is alsoanoptionaldailyMinchahminyan traditionalfamilies.There themore from Attendance isoptionalandprimarily of regularity. attend with a degree staff ofthestudentbodyandsome percent ofclasses,towhichaboutfithe start ve before campus (followedbybreakfast) ateach morning every thodox service The schooldoesholdatraditionalOr- in thefi ftyyearsoftheschool’shistory. TanenbaumCHAT, been norhasthere tefi is no mandatory there llah period at of our update to students. And yet, part overthePAa prayerreading systemas jor naturaldisasters),wesometimesdo campaigns in Israel, ma- tacks, military at- When majortragedystrikes(terror schooltrips. and alsoforotherovernight during ourendofyeargraduationtrip include adailyperiodoftimeforprayer Andwe (in avarietyoftypesservices). optional someofwhichare required, are students ineachgrade,mostofwhich for points duringourshabbatonretreats We doinclude set prayeratdifferent usuallychantedbyindividuals. and are marily memorialandsolemninnature, Ha’atzmaut). However, pri- theseare (Yom Hashoah,Yom Yom Hazikaron, the school’sYom commemorations on does includesomeprayerreadings period duringtheschoolday. Theschool tefi hasneverhadamandatory ronto, llah TanenbaumCHAT, ahighschoolinTo- teach prayer,should holdservices. not prevailing day schools: inmost that schoolsare places Yeres cogently arguesapositioncontrarythe one to J.¿ byMoshe Yeres high schoolstudents donotmostlyfeel “no atheistsinfoxholes,” are that there Though it has been said for everyone. in it something prayer that will offer a challengetobuildsystem of school ofJewishinclusiveness, itissurely circle large non-practice, inanincreasingly Jewish belief/practiceandnon-belief/ much allthehuesof pretty represent secular, andwhich tovery Orthodox very homesthatrangefrom come from At TanenbaumCHAT, students where its schoolfamilies. not onlyinitssizebutthediversityof However, thesuccessofourschoollies Jewishaffiparticular liation andpractice. toa institutionalized prayeraccording fi forspecifi middleground ndashared c ofJewishidentityto spectrum narrower It mightbeeasierforaschoolwith notintheseat. in theheart, Prayer starts anyonetoactuallypray.never force students’attendance,butwecan quire school. We mandateandre- cansurely tionalizing (Jewish)studentprayerat does highlighttheparadoxofinstitu- Having saidthat,thisdefactosituation cle Tom’s Cabin). this way, toparaphraseTopsy Un- (from in fact it appears to have just “growed” forthis,and reason is a deeper that there ed. Idonotbelieve was initiallyconnect- school withwhichit thelower arate from andsep- as different institutional identity tablishing itsown day, asawayofes- tefi llahinitsschool maynothaveincluded early formation I havebeentold,theschoolinitsvery what From ical andtheologicalreason. ham Heschel(QuestforGod ), LouisJa- Besdin A.,Refl ections oftheRav),Abra- “Prayer asDialogue” excerpts from include student discussion. The readings logians meanttodevelopand stimulate byJewish thinkersandtheo- readings God (whichisactuallywhatprayeris), with ings aboutprayerandrelationship The courseincludesanumberofread- topictohighschoolteens. essary thisnec- education asthewaytoaddress to besuccessful.Iamsuggestingtefi llah an intellectualexperience)hastheability toprayer(itselfnot tellectual approach in- high schoolstudents,theclassroom For prayertohaveanimpactonsenior plays inJewishtraditionandidentity. thatprayer ing anddiscussingtheroles and chanting,butstudyingprob- is devotedtoprayer—notprayerrecital this course,thefi oftheyear rstquarter during covered a numberoftopicsare of students take in their last year. While number prayer, whichtheoverwhelming a well-developedcourseofstudyon forit—isthrough set thegroundwork The waytoachievethis—oratleast and a senseof understanding for prayer. cy inbothbasicmechanismsoftefi llah aflafter highschoolshouldrequire uen- forJewishlife preparation Nevertheless, them togetgoodgrades. only seriousstudy, notprayerwillenable that ic- mindedstudentshavelearned and counseling.) And our academ- port forpersonalsup- staff and professional usually fl aggedbyteachers,guidance of helplessness.(Thosefewthatdoare themselves in daily do-or-die situations [email protected]. community. Hecanbereached at the teaches in and and lectures the Greaterin Toronto area, Academy KimelEducation Centre Tanenbaum Community Hebrew the AnneandMax studies at ofJewish as vice principal Rabbi Dr. MosheJ. Yeres serves (in cobs (Jewish Prayer), Eliezer Berkovits (Prayer), Hillel Zeitlin (“And So I Was Left Alone” in Derovan, D., Prayer), Jon- athan Sacks (Koren Siddur), Hayim Do- nin (To Pray as a Jew), and others, as well as from Maimonides (Mishneh Torah).

In class we try to deal with a number of specific issues, such as the following:

Why does God command us to pray? Why does He want us to pray? Is it important for man to feel dependent on God? Is it import- ant for man to trust Him? Is it important for man to confront himself?

Is prayer obligatory or only reserved for cri- ses? What sort of crises?

Why has tradition identified three dai- ly times for prayer? What does this mean about the sacrifices in the Beit Hamikdash? What does it say about my connection to the Patriarchs? The Matriarchs? About sensi- tivity to times of day in nature?

How did the biblical prophets pray? Were their prayers successful? Why was there a need to create a formalized siddur? Why not simply pray spontaneously? What is the structure of the Amidah, and why it is this way? Is there a roadmap for prayer?

What does prayer say about our relationship with God? Is prayer a monologue or a dia- logue? Does God answer prayer? How do I know? Can prayer change us?

What is kavannah and what is its role? What is the role of meditation?

How can I feel alone with God? How is How can I feel alone with God? How is that that different from feeling alone by myself? different from feeling alone by myself? How does How does one travel the road on a quest for spirituality? What is the relationship of the one travel the road on a quest for spirituality? individual and the community here? ready alluded above to one response. One that require students to choose from a cannot force and mandate tefillah; one menu of options during scheduled re- These tefillah education classes allow staff can only mandate attendance at tefillah. quired tefillah periods produce graduates and students to deal with fundamental is- At best a school can offer opportunities with a better percentage of post high sues of prayer, but do not include actual for students to pray if they feel so inclined. school maintenance of tefillah. Moreover, student prayer. They help direct students I know of no school that offers a grade I do not accept that those graduates have to ask the proper questions and develop for actual prayer during their mandatory a better sense of what tefillah means and is the sensitivity to why they—and others— tefillah period; any grade or mark at best supposed to do, simply from having been הידיעון may want to pray. tracks students’ lack of disturbance during required to participate in a high school this period; at worst it tracks seat time. tefillah period. And from what I have

Still, can tefillah be taught without requir- read, real-time student interest during ac- • HaYidion ing actual mechanical reading? I have al- I do not believe that community schools [continued on page 16]

[15] [continued from page 15] to an understanding of the values of for students to internalize its importance tual required prayer periods is not exactly prayer. Eventually, most everyone in life and meaning, and to develop their own supportive of true prayer, in any format. reaches a situation where prayer is need- understanding that they can apply to their ed or desired: for some it may be soon lives. Secondly, Jewish day schools often do in coming, for others it may take almost much better teaching texts and sources a lifetime. I hope that when my students When I teach students Talmud, I offer than they do teaching feelings. We excel reach that moment they will be able to them an insight into the world of Jewish in what I call “textus experientus”—ex- use the values and knowledge that they academies of yore, of intellectual battles periencing and studying texts and sourc- have learned to help themselves navigate in the batei midrash of yesterday. But I es. It matters little if these are primary or through it. I hope that they will have dis- also hope that they may come away from secondary sources. We have trained our covered the building blocks to make their my class with a sense of how this can be students well to study, analyze, synthesize prayer meaningful. applied in their lives as Jews, of the vi- sources and readings and class lectures brancy of halakhic process, of talmudic and notes. And schools do this well be- Jewish studies courses help prepare them didactic and give and take, of the sense cause we can quantify that knowledge and for survival as members of the Jewish of scholarly jousting that is so primary to those skills through our tests and assign- community after they leave our high the continued living nature of our faith. ments and papers. school. Success in preparing our students for graduation requires engaging them When I teach them tefillah, I feel the In teaching prayer, I have no aspirations intellectually in the very essence of our same. I know that unfortunately there (or at least not many) that my students Jewish studies curricula. As such, the class are students who may never open a will suddenly jump up and begin shuck- discussions about the role of prayer may prayer book again. But I believe that a ling and davening as soon as they leave be as or even more important than the re- not insignificant number of students who my class. Rather I see myself as helping citing of prayers in school. While we teach have learnt and grappled with the issues probe the complicated issues of prayer tefillah as a classroom subject, we teach of prayer during our course will be chal- with my students so that they will come it differently than other subjects; we aim lenged to pursue the topic further, and that next time when they are in a syna- gogue, they will be able to think about why they say what the congregation is HOW DO YOU BRING HISTORY reciting; that they will recall the values ALIVE FOR YOUR STUDENTS? of our class discussions and texts and use them as they develop their relationship with God and prayer. I believe that they Show us the creative and engaging ways will hear the echo of the Kuzari’s com- you teach with JWA’s primary sources ment: “Prayer is for the soul what nour- and win a cash prize for you AND your ishment is for the body.” school or program! I have at times wondered if we should include more experiential time in this prayer course, more reflective time about The Jewish Women’s Archive will give soul and spirituality and about students the 2nd Annual Natalia Twersky searching for their own inner voices. That Educator Award to an educator who sort of instruction requires both training effectively uses primary sources from and teachers who are comfortable guid- jwa.org to teach inclusive history. ing discussions about spirituality, spiritual and transformational moments. At a high school level, especially where academics How to apply: Applications are are paramount, this may be difficult and online and require a short video somewhat challenging, though this door submission. Deadline for still beckons me. applications is May 13, 2013. The winner will receive $2,500 plus The sainted Rabbi Chaim of Tzanz was $500 for his/her school or program. purported to have said, “Before prayer, I pray that during prayer I will actually pray.” Our school could be said to have adjusted DON’T MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY this to, “Before our students can pray, we Learn more and apply online: jwa.org/twersky engage them in the issues of prayer, so that הידיעון Lesson planning guide now available they will learn to actually pray.” ¿ HaYidion • HaYidion [16] Cain’s Prayer and Abel’s Prayer

[continued from page 12] For older students one can create a per- All of these suggestions take time—time prayer. Many schools give lip service to sonal-writing studio, since their power of for teachers to develop them, time for Abel’s prayer but in reality not much verbal expression is greater and drawing schools to accept them and give them re- more. Here are some concrete steps to appears childish to them. They can be sources to succeed. Some will insist that strengthen prayer of the heart in our introduced to personal prayers / poems Abel’s prayer must not infringe upon schools. written throughout the ages, and can de- Cain’s prayer and must find time else- velop their own powers of expression in a where in the schedule. Others will claim In lower grades, when students don’t yet form that resembles a personal prayer. that it is essential to carve out time during say the entire Shmonah Esrei, they can be taught the blessing “Who listens to We often worry about the tactical questions and told that here (שומע תפילה) ”prayer a person can add his or her own person- of how much students “connect” to tefillah, or al prayer to the formula. They can lower how relevant they find it. But the fundamental their heads, close their eyes and say their own prayer. question remains: To which prayer are we educating our students? In higher grades, when they do say the whole Shmonah Esrei, it is important to A melody studio (nigunim) exposes stu- tefillah for personal expression, while a continue to emphasize the place for per- dents to a large range of wordless melo- third group will argue that Abel’s prayer sonal prayer in this blessing. One might dies, songs and tunes that express various is in fact the school’s main goal. Thus, share the teaching from the Jerusalem emotions. These would include tunes that before launching into a program that fos- Talmud that it is forbidden to read prayer accompany tefillah, with the goal of show- ters Abel’s prayer, teachers and parents to- as one would a letter, without introducing ing students the power that music has to gether must evaluate the aspirations of the something new to it. give voice to the human spirit. In younger school community for tefillah. grades one might begin the morning with At the conclusion of prayer the teacher song, allowing them to choose which one Conclusion might request that students find a quiet in order to demonstrate how their choice place to themselves in the school court- expresses the feeling of that day. In other Prayer still presents a major challenge to yard, where they can address God inti- grades students can develop the ability to our school’s educational team. The main mately, silently, saying whatever they want write their own melodies as a way to refine lessons I’ve learned are that the conversa- to say. An example can be offered in the their personal expression. tion about tefillah must be shared among chasidic practice of hitbodedut, going all stakeholders, and it must get right to into nature to pray alone. Above all, conversation about prayer be- the heart of the subject—the tension be- tween teacher and students is an indis- tween Cain’s and Abel’s prayer, keva and A prayer-drawing studio is appropriate for pensable educational tool for developing kavvanah, fixed prayer and personal ex- younger grades when students are not yet Abel’s prayer alongside of Cain’s. For pression—and not remain on the periph- capable of expressing themselves meaning- example, when a student approaches a ery with all of the concrete issues confront- ful in prayer. The morning can begin with teacher to say that he is overcome with ing school prayer. An open, truthful search a “personal drawing” in which students emotions and unable to daven, the teach- among teachers and parents, parents and depict a meaningful experience or strong er can respond that for this day only he students, and all together—that alone can feeling that they have. The drawings rep- can leave Cain’s prayer, go outside and lead to formulating a clear vision of prayer. resent each student’s personal prayer, and speak to God directly from the heart. by engaging their peers in viewing and un- Such a response makes a powerful state- May we merit seeing our students realize derstanding their drawings, the students ment about the teacher’s view of the na- the prayer of Rabbi Yochanan: “Would together create a communal prayer. ture of prayer. that a person might pray all day long.” ¿

To read this article in the Hebrew original, go to ravsak.org/tel-orsternberg. הידיעון What does your school do to foster student kavannah? Share your successes at Facebook.com/ravsak. • HaYidion

[17] [18] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion A Prayer as Transformation pect theteachers tonotonlyhaveexper- math toTalmud,schools, from weex- any other subject we teach in our day with prayer.veloped relationship In a deep,conscious,meaningful andde- teachers whothemselvesdo not have Moreover, prayer is taught and led by check out. and thenwewonderwhyourstudents often onlyteachesscalesagainandagain, with it.Ourprayereducation,however, andexperiment love itandtoimprovise and musicbuttoappreciate to produce education allowsthestudentnotonly ty andwonderofmusic.True musical only themeanstoexperiencebeau- play and practice scales. But no one wants to must learn an instrument wants to learn their lives. Anyone who throughout toprayer acontinuingrelationship create to students and for them to important cient tomakeprayermeaningfuland notsuffioping aprayerlife,theyare - and essentialbuildingblocksindevel- undoubtedly important of the siddur are tual practice.Whileskillsandknowledge powerofprayeritselfasaspiri- formative and thesiddurratherthanontrans- This is seen initially in its focus on skills cient andmisguidedprayereducation. has been fed by insuffiThis problem - or especially, aftermanyyearsofpractice. and uninspiringforthestudents,even, prayercanoftenbemeaningless where isreflThis problem ectedinourschools obligation. often experiencedasarushed spiritual practiceoftheJewishpeopleis the Jewishworld.Perhapscentral withdailyprayerin isaproblem There and-transformation.reflection prayer,the author claims, isasamethodofself- effective most The wayteach andpractice forto schools ¿ byJames Jacobson-Maisels scales their whole life. Scales are only scales their wholelife.Scalesare

Vision Education Tefillah of tice, what is its nature, what precisely is whatprecisely tice, whatisits nature, why andhow. What:whatistheprac- as withanypracticeordiscipline, what, practice thenwemustbeableto answer, lationship toprayer. Ifprayerisaspiritual conception ofandre- mands adifferent toprayereducationde- This approach case ofprayer. inthe selves andthatthisisacutelytrue change withoutworkingfi rstonthem- meaningful truly educators cannot affect their students.We believeingeneralthat and experiencesocanconveythatto ofprayerintheirownlives importance lelim whounderstandthepracticeand ers ofprayermustthemselvesbemitpal- one. Second,theteach- an instrumental place inthateducationalvision,butonly Skills andthesiddurhaveanimportant mative andmeaningfulspiritualpractice. First, wemustteachprayerasatransfor- founded ontwofundamentalinsights. toprayereducationisthen This approach pray-ers,mitpallelim. are passion fortheirsubject,whenteachers in and teachers themselves have expertise can onlyhappenwhen ences and education mative prayer experi- fective and transfor- for thesubject.Ef- nor passion expertise whom have neither prayer indayschools ty teachandfacilitate strangely have facul- their students.Yet we they willconveyto and passionfortheirsubject,a tise intheirfi eld,butalsotohavelove , the service of the heart. Second, of theheart. ba-lev, theservice prayer whichdenoteavodahshe- unity, rabbinictextson andbythecore God’s call toourselvesrecognizes prayer, asdemonstrated bytheShema’s of structure ly acentralgoalinthevery tings. Idosofi rstbecausethisisclear- for educational set- advocate as primary this is and ways of being in the world. While emotions,dispositions cultivate certain goal, prayer as a technique to particular thatfocusesona educational approach Iwouldliketoadvocateforan Here, fering andothers. inthefaceofsuf- self-analysis, comfort communal solidarity, mysticalunion, the divinecommand,kabbalistictikkun, ceiving that which one asks for, obeying practice, havebeenmanyincludingre- over thecourseofJewishthoughtand vanah (see sidebar). The goals of prayer, of kav- the requirement and particularly ofprayer thenature ic textsconcerning rabbin- can bedemonstratedbythecore That prayerisagoal-orientedpractice we needtobringbearonthispractice? do goal, whattechniquesorapproaches toachievethe inorder tice beperformed to achieve?How:howshouldthisprac- pursuing thispractice,whatdowehope we is thegoalofpractice,whyare one doingwhenprays?Why:what [email protected]. Yeshivat Hadar. Hecanbereached at Institute ofJewish Studiesand of Jewish Studies, Drisha The the Pardesteaches at and Institute andMeditationJewish Spirituality founder ofOrHaLev: ACenter for Rabbi JamesJacobson-Maiselsthe is one goal of prayer it is [continued onpage 20] the goal I Core Rabbinic Sources on Kavannah

משנה מסכת ברכות פרק ה:א Mishnah Brakhot 5:1 ברכות ל: Brakhot 30b

אין עומדין להתפלל אלא מתוך One should not stand up to say tefillah והאמר רבי אליעזר: לעולם ימוד Rabbi Eliezer said: A person should כובד ראש חסידים הראשונים save in a reverent frame of mind. The אדם את עצמו, אם יכול לכוין always evaluate himself. If he is able היו שוהים שעה אחת ומתפללים pious men of old used to wait an hour את לבו - יתפלל, ואם לאו - אל ,[to concentrate [lekhavven et libo כדי שיכונו את לבם למקום אפילו before praying in order that they might יתפלל! then he should pray. But if he is not המלך שואל בשלומו לא ישיבנו able to, he must not pray. concentrate their thoughts upon their ואפילו נחש כרוך על עקבו לא father in heaven. Even if a king greets יפסיק. him [while praying] he should not תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף לא Bavli Brakhot 31a answer him. Even if a snake is wound עמוד א Our Rabbis taught: One should round his heel he should not break off. תנו רבנן: אין עומדין להתפלל לא not stand up to say tefillah while משנה מסכת אבות פרק ב:יג Mishnah Brakhot 2:13 מתוך עצבות, ולא מתוך עצלות, ולא immersed in sorrow, or idleness, or מתוך שחוק, ולא מתוך שיחה, ולא laughter, or chatter, or frivolity, or idle רבי שמעון אומר הוי זהיר בקרית Rabbi Shimon says: Be careful about מתוך קלות ראש, ולא מתוך דברים talk, but only while still rejoicing in שמע ובתפלה וכשאתה מתפלל .reading the Shema and about prayer בטלים אלא מתוך שמחה של מצוה. .the performance of some religious act אל תעש תפלתך קבע אלא רחמים And when you pray, don’t make your ותחנונים לפני המקום ברוך הוא prayer keva [fixed]; instead make it טור, אורח חיים, הלכות הנהגת Tur, Orakh Chayyim, Sec. 1 שנאמר )יואל ב’( כי אל חנון ורחום [a plea for compassion [rahamim אדם בבקר, סימן א Whether much or little, as long as he הוא ארך אפים ורב חסד ונחם על ,and grace [tahanunim] before God א’ המרב’ וא’ הממעיט ובלבד -directs (kivven) his heart in his suppli הרעה ואל תהי רשע בפני עצמך. ,(blessed is He. As it says (Joel 2:13 שיכוין לבו בתחנוניו כי טוב מעט -cations. For better a little with kavva “For he is gracious [hanun] and com- בכוונה מהרבות בהם שלא בכוונה. .nah then much without kavvanah passionate [rahum], slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and he will ר׳ יעקב עמדין, סידור בית יעקב, R. Jacob Emden, Siddur Beit (renounce punishment.” (Avot 2:18 הקדמה עמ’ ו. Ya’akov, Foreword משנה מסכת אבות פרק ד:ד Mishnah Brakhot 4:4 לכן עיקר ויסוד התפילה היא טוהר The essence and foundation of prayer וזוך הלב ונקיות המחשבה שכן היא is the purification and clarification רבי אליעזר אומר העושה תפלתו Rabbi Eliezer says: One who makes עבודה שבלב חביבה. of the heart and the cleansing of the קבע אין תפלתו תחנונים. his prayer keva [fixed]—his prayer is mind. Thus is the service of the heart not tahanunim [supplication, prayer beloved. for compassion]. מכילתא דרבי שמעון בר יוחאי Mekhilta d’Rashbi 23:25 תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות דף כט Talmud Brakhot 29b פרק כג:כה עמוד ב “You shall serve the Lord your God” What is “keva”? ועבדתם את ה’ אלקיכם זו תפלה Ex 23:25), this is prayer. Thus it) רבי אליעזר אומר: העושה תפלתו וכן הוא אומר ולעבדו בכל לבבכם says “serving Him with all your heart קבע וכו’ מאי קבע? אמר רבי יעקב Rabbi Ya’akov bar Iddi said in the [1] )דב’ יא יג( איזו היא עבודה שבלב Deut. 11:13). What is the service of) בר אידי אמר רבי אושעיא: כל name of Rabbi Osh’aya: Anyone whose הוי אומר זו תפלה. .the heart? Say it is prayer שתפלתו דומה עליו כמשוי; ורבנן .tefillah seems like a burden to him אמרי: כל מי שאינו אומרה בלשון ספרי דברים פרשת עקב פיסקא מא Sifre Deut., Ekev, 41 תחנונים; רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי The rabbis said: Whoever doesn’t [2] say it in the language of tahanunim. תרוייהו: כל שאינו יכול לחדש בה דבר אחר ולעבדו זו תפלה אתה ”Another interpretation: “To serve Him דבר. אמר רבי זירא: אנא יכילנא אומר זו תפלה או אינו אלא עבודה (Deut. 11:13) this is prayer. You might [3] Rabba and Rav Yosef both said: לחדושי בה מילתא, ומסתפינא תלמוד לומר בכל לבבכם ובכל ask: Is it prayer or is it bringing sacrifices Whoever isn’t able to say something דלמא מטרידנא. אביי בר אבין ורבי נפשכם וכי יש עבודה בלב הא מה (avodah)? The verse comes to teach you new in it. (Rabbi Zeira said: I am able חנינא בר אבין דאמרי תרוייהו: כל תלמוד לומר ולעבדו זו תפלה. “with all your heart and with all your to say something new in it, but I wor- שאין מתפלל עם דמדומי חמה. soul.” Are there sacrifices avodah( ) with ry that I may become confused.) the heart? Behold the verse teaches “to serve Him” this is prayer. [4] Abbaye bar Avin and Rabbi Hani- na bar Avin both said: Whoever does

הידיעון not pray with the glimmering of the sun [i.e., sunrise]. • HaYidion

[19] [20] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. tions (atleast): the following constellations of disposi- In particular, Iseeprayerascultivating gratitude, loveandhumilityintheworld. cultivate andliveoutqualitiessuchas become thebestpeoplewecanbe,to tain amomentofecstasy, butratherto thanthat.Webroader donotpraytoat- or experiences, but something much states means thatthegoalisnotcertain The focus on emotionsanddispositions telligent, compassionatementsches. healthy,producing happy, emotionallyin- of thecentralgoalsJewisheducation: helps usaccomplishwhatshouldbeone happier, healthier, betterperson.Finally, it sensitive,moral, becoming a more parent: studentand toevery mediately relevant itisagoalwhichclearlyandim- Fourth, practicesandseetheireffects. certain try or metaphysics,butonlyawillingnessto theology anyparticular It doesnotrequire theologically andmetaphysicallyneutral. world,itis generallyinthemodern more ucation in communityday schools but inthecontextofed- particularly Third, ent approaches. goals in differ- alongside other important embraced inJewishthoughtonprayer, it isagoalwhichalmostuniversally [continued from page 18] among others. gestures,trembling, weeping andgroaning, meditation, mantra practice, eye gestures, hand oneself beforethe DivinePresence, mindfulness the practice ofprayer, includingimagining tradition The techniques for isreplete with Self-Awareness, Honesty,Self-Awareness, Clarity, No-Control Humility, Surrender, No-Self, Image ofGod Self-Worth, the Divine-Nature/In Hope, Confi dence, Optimism YearningPositive Desire, Love, Compassion,Intimacy Wonder DivinePresence, Awe, ings Gratitude and Recognition of Bless- to feelallofwhatfollows Openness /Vulnerability: theability 11. 10. more direct and relevant totheir lives. andrelevant direct more theanswerismuch able inpeergroups, fi oruncomfort- dence nottobe nervous and teachers),orthe self-love andcon- with themselves,theirfriends,families their well-beingandrelationship itude totheworld(whichwillimprove ofgrat- anapproach increation, inherent forthebeauty give themanappreciation answer whichexplainshowprayercan givenan Whentheyare such aresponse. what Jewsdo,”Idoubttheeffi cacyof about tradition,continuityor“thisis of tefireceives ananswer llahtodayand When astudentasksaboutthepurpose question theneedandpurposeoftefi llah. ticulated tostudentswhoquitenaturally and change.Thesegoalscannowbear- criticism a mechanismforconstructive for assessmentandrefl ectionandcreates educators.Italsoallows and empowered confi more creates lum whichinturn dent curricu- goals allowsustodesigneffective Havingclear our educationalapproach. implicationsfor al practicehasprofound Seeing prayerasagoal-orientedspiritu- sitions listedabove. Theymusthavethe niques which cultivate the many dispo- to prayerandtech- to approaches practice. We educators needtointroduce prayer scious, deepandtransformative train educatorsthemselvestohave acon- mitpallelim,to ate educators who are The fi istocre- rststepinthisapproach educational approach. practice hasprofound implications for our Seeing prayer asagoal-oriented spiritual Redemption, Liberation,Freedom passion Sorrow,Broken-Heartedness, Com- Concentration standing, awareness andintention. standing, awareness with under- and approached performed tivation. To theymustbe beeffective they losetheirpoweraspracticesofcul- as such.Yet habitually whenperformed and mustbeunderstood and practiced anddetailed techniques all concrete are simply asking Godforthings (bakashot) aletter),or from im, ratherthanreading emotionally evocative way (as pering intheAmidah,sayingprayeran of classicrabbinicprayer. Bowing, whis- andrequirements structure in thevery Prayer aspracticemustfi rstbegrounded practitioners. novated bycontemporary earlierteachingsaswellin- opted from thetraditionandcanbead- throughout Such practices and techniques exist es andtechniques. text andrefl practic- ectionwithconcrete means toteachinawaythatcombines center andtaughttoeducators byteach- The practiceofprayermust be atthe practice. own techniques to enhance their prayer prayer, practitionerscaninnovatetheir knowledge andcommunicationin of languageinprayer, orthebody’s nature nents, suchastheperformative of prayer and its various compo- nature developing a deep understanding of the an, 2:1)amongothers.Inaddition,by (DevarimRabba,Va-etchan-groaning (Yerushalmi Brakhot4:4), weeping and Pakuda), personalizingeachblessing of humility and dependence (Bahya ibn asthecultivation requests han Arukh), (Shul- (Shabbat10a),trembling tures (Yevamoteye gestures 105b),handges- eczner Rebbe),mantrapractice(Besht), mindfulnessmeditation(Pias- de Vidas), (Sanhedrin22a,Elijah Divine Presence the Chasidim), imaginingoneselfbefore ticular blessings in the Amidah (Sefer using musictoevokethepowerofpar- techniquessuchas other recommended Moreover, with thetraditionisreplete [continued onpage 31] tahanun- Full Immersion Learning: JCAT Transforms Students

¿ by Nance Morris Adler, The Jewish Day School, Bellevue, Washington

ach fall, the seventh grade students in my Jewish social studies class be- gin the year by participating in the EJewish Court of All Time online simula- tion. JCAT is an innovative learning ad- venture that is a joint venture between the University of Cincinnati’s Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture, the Interactive Communications & Simu- lations group at the University of Michi- gan School of Education, and RAVSAK. JCAT is a virtual trial that is moderated by graduate students and whose partici- pants are middle school students at Jewish schools around North America.

Participants select a historical persona whom they will portray for the duration of the tri- al, which takes place at a virtual Masada. Students, in character, consider and gather I began the unit by teaching several les- subtleties of freedom of religion and free- evidence, post responses to questions and sons about the situation in Europe related dom of expression in a country dedicat- proposals and get familiar with each other’s to Muslim immigrants and the wearing ed to secularity, the students were ready points of view. Justices are then nominated of the hijab by young Muslim girls. We to participate in a meaningful way in the and must gather votes of confi dence from discussed the pressure from observant or JCAT trial. fellow participants before they can rule on fundamentalist Muslims for all girls to the case. At the end, participants are asked wear it and related this to pressure in oth- Character selection is a tricky thing. Stu- to refl ect on their experience and on the de- er religions as well for everyone to meet dents all want to be someone famous and cision of the court. Participating schools are a certain standard of observance. We also deciding for which of the fi ve kids who asked to work on JCAT two periods a week. learned about the history of secularity in want to be Anne Frank or Lady Gaga I usually do one period of learning related France and their commitment to both you are going to list that as one of their to the topic and one or more in which stu- freedom of and freedom from religion in choices is not an easy job. Students often dents online complete assigned tasks related the public realm. Armed with this knowl- make the mistake of thinking representing to the trial process. edge, and a better understanding of the someone popular will be easy and it is my job to help them make good choices. In The experience of watching my seventh a trial related to freedom of expression, graders fully engaged and excited about Lady Gaga might be an excellent choice; their learning as the events of this past in a trial about reparations to survivors of fall’s JCAT trial unfolded was amazing. the St. Louis, last year’s topic, she might Each year, the JCAT coordinators select not. a timely and Jewishly relevant dilemma to be considered by the students. This year’s Once they have their fi nal assignment, it is trial was based in events in France related their job to get to know their person well to a law forbidding the wearing of “osten- enough to be able to speak to the issues at tatious religious items” in public schools. hand as their person would have respond- The co-plaintiffs were a Muslim girl and a ed. Students write a “resume” or letter of Jewish boy who had both been expelled introduction, as I call it, and post this on- for wearing religiously required items to line so that others can learn about their school. [continued on page 66]

[21] [22] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion meaningful to their religious growth— meaningful to their religious teamtobefairlyor extremely a sports in foundparticipation of thesamegroup itually uplifting,whileincontrast, 20% thattheeventisspir- agreed or strongly agreed al. Only16.4%ofallrespondents prayerasbeinginspiration- not perceive majorityofstudentsdo overwhelming indicatethatthe of thissurvey the results experience,yet andreligious to religion prayer istheonemostclearlyconnected Of alltheactivitiesinschoolday, uplifting event. Tefi llahinmyschoolwasaspiritually lowing statement: withthefol- agreed orstrongly agreed fi who thepercentage ndingsconcerned religiosity,affect oneofthemoststriking ining elementsoftheschoolsystemthat spending a“gapyear”inIsrael,exam- yeshiva graduates,allofwhomwere In astudyIconductedof355recent true. demonstrates thatthisisfarfrom My research for the Orthodox. hold true ty, theassumptionisthat this does not the Jewish communi- Buddhism. Within lower thanthenextclosestreligion, points ed” andnearlytwentypercentage lowest, justslightlyaheadof“unaffi liat- secondto one ofthem.Judaismscored being by anumberofvariables,religion a day. ofprayerdiffers Thefrequency can adults say that they pray at least once ter publication,nearlysixintenAmeri- Cen- toa2009PewResearch According knows noboundaries. Orthodox schools. problemThe iscommunity-wide and is always greener” ishealthier in tefillah that view Tanenbaum’s a arguesagainst implicitly article “grass ¿ byChanaTanenbaum Yeshivot Orthodox The Problem of Prayer in oa 16.4% Total Females 18.2% Males 14.2% Meaningful Tefi llah”)admitsthatmost ituality and Prayer in Educating Toward (“Refl ectionsonRoleModelsforSpir- prayer inspirational.ChaimBrovender found der thatonly16%ofrespondents itisnowon- If thisstatementistrue, exemplary.”is farfrom many cases,themodelsetbyparents and in stand. … The task is repetitive, under- inalanguagetheybarely reading rote to perform required are [children] ment”) opines,“Atayoungagethey aTefi (“Creating Grumet llaEnviron- a highlyinspirationalexperience.Tzvi successfully maximizingwhatshouldbe not thattheschools are it isapparent onthisquestion thelowscores From about theirprayerexperiences? not choosetoattendyeshivainIsraelsay ing. Whatwouldthestudentswhodid foundprayeruninspir-even thisgroup ing in Israel—and voted toTorah learn- post-high school de- spend anextrayear voluntarily chose to thosewho study were inthis participated The students who the school program. inclusionin its very ing makesusquestion to be less than inspir- cent ofthestudentbodyfoundprayer than83per-which indicatethatmore exists.Results ognizing thataproblem The firec- changeis rststeptoeffecting prayer! pointshigherthen almost 4percentage She reasoned thatthiswas“because the She reasoned that “[school]prayerwasuplifting.” withthestatement agreed interviewee 20 membersofthispopulation, onlyone I conducted with In a series of interviews to educatereligiosity. missingadailyopportunity Schools are or developedinthestudentssurveyed. This messageisnotbeingunderstood need toenterintoadialoguewithGod. thatpeopleprayandmanhasa truth psyche.” Hefeelsthatitisauniversal thehuman natural eventderivingfrom calls“a whatBrovender ty toappreciate synagogue—but aboutteenager’sabili- prayer—praying withaminyanorin manifestationsof not abouttheexternal whelming. Perhapsthisraisesquestions foundittobeunder-Both groups prayer.points) intheirattitudetoward (4percentage exhibit minimaldifference menandwomen in theprayerservice, experiences anddifferent congregation Jewish withinanOrthodox distinct roles tonotedespitehaving It isinteresting of prayer. schoolmodel dotosointhepresent sire to prayseriously, andmanyhavelittlede- fi cult.Moststudentsdonotknowhow dif- teaching otherstoprayisevenmore ous.” Prayingseriouslyisdiffi cult,and seri- andvery be “special,noteworthy ously. Hefeelsthatschoolprayermust in prayer do not prayseri- participants at [email protected]. University.Ilan Shecanbereached Chana Tanenbaum at lectures Bar administration was very strict about peo- ple not talking.” She positively described Praying seriously is difficult, and teaching others Hallel that was sung out loud. Her school to pray is even more difficult. Most students do had a small Sephardic minyan, that she participated in, allowing her to feel spe- not know how to pray seriously, and many have cial. little desire do to so in the present school model

Improving the impact of prayer requires of prayer. schools to make a number of important changes and commitments. Financial re- the answer provided by the respondent least successful in transmitting the reli- sources, time and energy need to be in- who did find prayer at school meaningful, gion to the next generation (Beit Hallah- vested in order to effectuate real change. schools should also consider adding the mi and Argyle, The Psychology of Religious It is not the purpose of this paper to solve musical component to the prayer service Behavior, Belief and Experience). the crisis but to awaken the community to and breaking classes into smaller, more the extent of the problem. focused groups for prayer services. The yeshiva is a primary facilitator of re- ligious transmission. As such, time and Grumet and Brovender list a number of Educating to the whole student, while money should be invested in determining suggestions to try to make prayer more bearing in mind that times change and which elements of the yeshiva high school meaningful in the yeshiva high schools. students’ needs change, may help Juda- experience are the most effective and Exposure of students to different visions ism be more successful in transmitting the which need more work. Perhaps by study- of prayer and studying its underlying phi- religion to the next generation, an area ing which experiences are least effective, הידיעון losophy and meaning, exposing students where they are not as successful as oth- yeshivot could reevaluate and reconsider to positive role models, allowing students er religions today. Of Catholic, Protes- how to maximize conditions already pres- to be responsible and lead prayers are a tant and Jewish denominations, based on ent to be more influential in achieving the • HaYidion few of the ideas presented. Based upon three different studies, Judaism was the institutions’ goals. ¿

[23] [24] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion prayer, and thosewhoworkinthe school intheschool is thenoneof atmosphere nel pray, bothaloneandtogether, the praying. Whenthestudentsand person- As Glavich states, “We toprayby learn itive prayerforthem. and wehaveanobligationtomodelpos- models, school becometheirJewishrole students, thefacultymembersat case with each of our students. For many thatisthe at home,wecannotbesure day schoolissupplementedandenforced ataJewish our studentswhiletheyare Though we all hope that what we teach modeling prayer forthe students. Faculty shouldbeinvolved, schoolcounterparts. theirparochial from sons thatJewishdayschoolscanlearn afewofthoseles- are tian schools.Here ourcolleaguesinChris- (or seven)from a thing or two not learn would be remiss that weasJewishdayschooleducators day schoolsetting,Ibecameconvinced tefi llahoverthelastfewyearsinaJewish riencing variouschallengeswithschool ish dayschoolworldaswell.Afterexpe- within the Jew- resonate Glavich’s words petite forit.” experiences ofprayerthatwhettheirap- pray isinschool.Let’sgivethemgood will? Sadly, theonlytimesomestudents teach ourCatholicyouthtopray, who Catholic schoolstating,“Ifwedonot Galvich makes the case for prayer in the and infl uentialprayerintheirclassrooms. and samplesofhowtoleadsuccessful teacherstips,explanations, Glavich offers Kathleen In her book PrayerFirst,Mary forthe same challenges decades. counterparts, whichhave beenwrestling withsomeof from schools canlearn observationtheir Christian of Despite obvious differences,there’s Jewish that much ¿ bySarah Levy Prayer Christian in Schools What We Can Learn from communal event for everyone. communal eventforeveryone. for teachers,encouragingprayertobea for students,itshouldalsoberequired eling whattodo.Iftefi llahismandatory faculty shouldbeactivelyinvolved,mod- handed siddurimandtoldtopray;the how topray. Studentscannotsimplybe “together” and“showing”thestudents seemstobetheelementofpraying here Thekey meaningful andfullofpromise.” to pray, weshowthemawaytomakelife She adds,“Byshowingourstudentshow giving witness as people of prayer.”are prayers can have more meaning withthe prayers canhave more andpersonal events canberecognized, for prayer, could be formed groups life thelarger community,ah. Within smaller bringing ourstudentstogether intefi ll- mechanism toaccomplishthese goalsby er. toChen,prayercanbea According foreachoth- on communityandrespect Many ofourschoolsemphasizeavalue among peopleandwithoneself. healthyrelationships but itstrengthens withGodandreligion, relationship a prayerfosterandstrengthen regular withothers.Notonlydoes relationship between prayer and one’s correlation apositive Self, andOthers,determines on theBeliever’sRelationshipswithGod, of Prayer the Effects sertation, ty, PeterChen’sdis- Christian communi- Focusing on the prayers. through each other relationships with Students build A Studyof viable option when they feel stressed or viable optionwhen theyfeelstressed likely to view prayer as a more they are matter, notpraying in vain, andtheyare ship. When students feel as if their prayers establishing arelation- taking through of thedaythatinvolvesbothgiving and lah shouldbeviewedasanessentialpart an obligationtocompleteeachday, tefi l- students inthismanner. Insteadofonly ence. Tefi to llah,then,canbepresented ing inprayerwaswhatmadethediffer- behavior;rather,self-destructive engag- isnotenoughtoprevent of areligion Swomley’s studyshowedthatbeingpart situations. when instressful and toothers,givingthemoptions emphasizing theirconnectiontoGod purpose, can feelconnectedtogreater prayer,public schools.Through students usage, orshopliftthanCatholicteensat inillegaldrug less likelytodrink,partake involvedinprayerare religiously and are lic studentswhoattendaCatholicschool er’ ofPrayer”inTheHumanist),Catho- to John Swomley (“The ‘Pow- According dangerous outlets. to other, studentsturning from Prayer canhelpprevent our other. ships notonlywithGod,buteach non-academic setting,buildingrelation- dents togetknowoneanotherina yan can,andshould,beatimeforstu- community’s voicebehindthem.Min- [email protected]. leadership. Shecanbereached at specialization inJewish education for adoctorate ineducation witha Rockville, Maryland, andacandidate Charles E. SmithJewish Day Schoolin Sarahteacher for Levythe isa otherwise in need. Prayer is not just about service to God. Through cultivating their relationship with God, those who engage in tefillah can get something in return, in- cluding the avoidance of self-destructive behavior.

Students should be shown variety and option for prayer. While many of our schools recognize the value of traditional prayer options (mechitzah davening, traditional egalitari- an prayers), not all students find a connec- tion to these options, and those who do now may not forever. Gravich states, “It’s important to teach them a variety of prayer forms, so that later when their prayer tastes change, they are equipped to pray in a form that better meets their needs.” By teaching students that there are a variety of ways to pray, we teach them that prayer (and their relationship with God) is flexi- ble and can adjust to their needs.

Although strong traditional tefillah skills like leading a service and reading Torah may be valued by some, these skills may not always help students to find a connec- tion and deal with their different needs at different times. We should, therefore, provide students with a variety of op- tions for tefillah that can adapt to their needs and preferences. Alternative op- tions such as meditation, art minyan, and in-depth study on specific prayers should be offered, allowing students to explore Students cannot simply be handed siddurim various ways of connecting to the idea of prayer and God without feeling as if and told to pray; the faculty should be actively traditional options are their only options. involved, modeling what to do. If tefillah is mandatory for students, it should also be Prayer must become a habit. required for teachers, encouraging prayer to be a Regardless of whether students choose a traditional mode of prayer or an alterna- communal event for everyone. tive option, we should help students to make some form of prayer part of their able to lead a service of their own one day. fillah as a priority should be reflected in regular routine. Speaking about Cath- By doing so, they will not always have to that schedule. Davening time should not olic education in “The Importance of rely on finding a prayer community that be shortened or eliminated because of a Prayer,” Deacon Doug McManaman fits their needs as they will be equipped to special assembly or early dismissal; rather, says, “The most important thing is to ac- make their own. it should be lengthened when a day such quire the habit of prayer. It has to become as Rosh Chodesh requires a longer ser- a habit.” If we engrain prayer into the stu- Additionally, every school’s schedule is vice. If we want to encourage students to הידיעון dents’ schedules now, it is more likely to packed with trying to balance the var- make prayer a serious part of their lives, become a lasting part of their lives. Stu- ious needs and priorities of the school we need to commit to making prayer a dents should be encouraged to work on day. In order to engrain prayer into the serious part of the school’s schedule. • HaYidion their shaliach tzibur skills, aiming to be students’ lives and create a habit of it, te- [continued on page 46]

[25] [26] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion lical intertext behind this line (which lical intertext God ofJacob.”Let’sexamine thebib- of Abraham,theGodIsaac, andthe “TheGodofourancestors, theGod ing oftheAmidah. linesinthefiwill focusonthree rstbless- almost anylineofprayer, asanexampleI While thismethodcanbeemployedfor emerges. allusions intheliturgical text,meaning biblical text.Byunlockingthe prayerisindialoguewitha that every work.)Kimelmanargues a newliterary that inflto asource uencesthewritingof refers intertext (Theterm cal intertext.” between the liturgical text and the bibli- turgical textperseasintheinteraction the liturgy existsnotsomuchintheli- writes aboutprayer:“[T]hemeaningof Reuven Kimelman(inKenishtavol.1) familiar text: the Bible. another very dialoguewith siddur isthatitindirect inthe What isuniqueaboutthepoetry the prayers. of thewords happens thatthepoemsare Itjust becomes: howdoIteachpoetry? The pedagogical framing then terpreted. let usviewthetefi tobein- llotaspoetry instead of it being a text to be taught, tothesiddur: the wayinwhichwerelate I propose to theirrecital. that we shift ofthecomposition,orlawsrelated ry oftheprayers,histo- on thestructure ofthesiddur?Typicallywords wefocus oftheancient the meaningandrelevance a majorchallenge:Howcanweunlock Teaching isdefi prayertochildren nedby andemotionally.engaging bothintellectually and interprets rabbinic sources more canmake tefillah the waysStudy rabbinic of that prayer borrows from Kaunfer ¿ byElie Tefillah Education A Novel Approach to Prayer Dialogue in Tanakh with dus 3:5-6) to lookatGod.(Exo- face, forhewasafraid of Jacob.”Moseshidhis Abraham, theGodofIsaac,and “I amtheGodofyourfather, which youstandisholyground.”Hesaid: your shoesfromfeet,fortheplaceon [God] said,“Donotcomecloser. Remove bush: burning standingatthe of Mosestheshepherd connects totheAmidah).Itisscene the midrashinMekhiltaPisha16clearly his face.” but instead “hides jump at thisoffer, land. Signifi cantly, Mosesdoesnot Egypt and lead them to the promised the peopleofIsraelfrom life: redeem themission andpurposeofhis receive whoisaboutto shepherd a reluctant oftheTorah, therest know from but Moses inthissceneisnottheleaderwe bush.The attheburning troduction in thein- to Moses God’s connection Divine thatGodhastocontextualize the hispeople.Heissofarfrom from wandering aboutinalandfarremoved Godandis God. Heisdistantfrom with the beginningofhisrelationship thisisMosesat important, But more theAmidah). strangely missingfrom but Moses (a fitriarchs, otherwise gure is notoneofthepa- main characterhere First, it is clear the for interpretation. up this line of prayer opens This intertext the Godof God’s encounter with Moses forces him God’s encounter withMosesforces to Godis“WhoamI?”(Exodus 3:11). is. Indeed,Moses’sfiresponse rst verbal ponder whatthemissionof one’s life of God’s speech? It is an invitation to speaking tous.Whatisthe message listening tothewaysinwhichGodis adjectivesatGod,butabout to throw man. Prayerisnotonlyaboutustrying but actuallyaquote adescriptionofGodbyus, not (merely) Second, we see how this line is in fact God. hisheritageandfrom distant from character: someone who feels relatable the Mosesinthissceneisperhapsamore Inaddition, sonal-divine relationship. theheadybeginningsofper-to recall usthatprayerismeant sciously reminded day,every theauthorofprayercon- same blessing(atleast)3timesaday nition of the diffirepeating the culty of fi“the very recog- rsttime.”Perhapsin still with God as if it were his relationship prayer invitestheworshipertoseeher/ most ofteninJudaism,theauthorof prayer that is said allusion for the very Moses. Perhapsinchoosingthisbiblical fi rstcommunicationbetweenGodand It is the very divine-human relationship. line is a stand-in for the beginning of a this sectionoftheblessing.First, prayer, newlayersofmeaningarisefor Reading thisbiblicaltextbackintothe [email protected]. Communities. Hecanbereached at Building Us about Vibrant Jewish MinyanimIndependent Can Teach from Empowered Judaism: What liturgy. isadapted article This completing hisdoctorate in (www.mechonhadar.org) and director ofMechonHadar Rabbi ElieKaunferthe executive is from Godtoahu-

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to ask who he really is. While we certainly don’t have the same mission as Moses, we do have some purpose, and the quotation from the burning bush scene offers the worshiper an opportu- nity to ponder who they really are and what the deeper mission Invest in in Invest of one’s life may be.

This method of searching for a biblical intertext bears fruit through the rest of the blessing as well. Take the next line: “The great, mighty, and awesome God.” To the modern ear, this line feels typical of Jewish prayer: a (somewhat random) piling of adjectives in an attempt to describe God. But these are not just any adjectives, as made clear from the following story: You You There was once one who prayed (the Amidah) before Rabbi Hani- na and said, “The great, mighty, awesome, powerful, strong, cou- rageous God” [thus adding three adjectives to the standard for- Earn a MA, EdD, EdD, MA, a Earn mula]. Rabbi Haninah said to him: Have you exhausted all the possible praise of your Master? Were it not that they were written or Certificate in in Certificate or by Moses in the Torah and affixed by the Men of the Great Assem- bly, we would not even dare to utter those three [descriptions]! But Jewish Education Education Jewish you go on adding all of these?! It may be compared to a human king who had thousands upon thousands of gold coins, and people praised him for owning silver. Isn’t that a terrible degradation of him?” (B Megillah 25a, translation: Reuven Hammer)

R. Haninah here is pointing to the futility of the project to de- scribe God in human terms. Any attempt is doomed to fail, be- cause that is the nature of the infinite Divine. Indeed, these are the only adjectives in the blessing (all the other descriptions of God are actually forms of verbs; it is much easier to say what God does than to say what God is). What is the reason one is able to use the three sanctioned adjectives? Because they are written in the Torah. This is the full context of the biblical quote used in this line of the Amidah:

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. The great, mighty, and awesome God who shows no favor and takes no bribe; who does justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the stranger, providing him with food and clothing. You too must love the stranger, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt. (Deuter- onomy 10:17-19)

Here the biblical context of this line in prayer makes clear that this is not simply a random collection of cosmic adjectives. What does it mean to be “great, mighty and awesome” in the Bible? It means being just and ethical, protecting the most vulnerable members of society (widow and orphan). It involves concrete acts of kindness: providing food and clothing. And in case there is any doubt, the biblical context makes clear this behavior is not simply the purview of God: “You too must love the stranger, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt.” Education Education Again, a line which seemed to be a human attempt to describe in Grounded הידיעוןGrounded in God when seen in its biblical context becomes an ethical charge for how humans should treat other humans. This is not a de- Jewish Values Values Jewish scription of God, but a subtle reminder about how one is sup- • HaYidion [continued on page 31] Online or On-Campus On-Campus or Online

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Invest in in Invest [28] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion corpus is equally invested in the poetry corpus isequally investedinthepoetry Idoubt thatanyotherprayer relevance. ish prayerisespeciallyvulnerable toir- out accesstotheprayersaspoetry, Jew- with- insomany ways.Inshort, restated with them,seemblandandboring when is kind—that,whetherornotoneagrees God ositional statements—Godistrue, asprop- thewords their lives;theytreat from of similarideasthatsoundremote only exacerbated:theyseetherepetition is look atthetranslation,problem To thelimitedextentthat theseJews weigh themanddigestaspoetry. themselves,to exposed tothewords Theyhaveneverbeen of theproblem. atthat,isonlyasmallpart binic Hebrew inHebrew, are fact thatthewords rab- to thoughtorspiritualencounter. The of theunchangingmelody, inaccessible liesfossilizedintheamber of thewords chanting them,buttheactualmeaning andenjoy byheart may knowthewords songs.They thanchildren’s little more ing. To them,thetefiremain llotalways that Jewsdon’tgetbeyondthesing- Unfortunately, manytimesithappens fi neverbalpatterning. their and pleasingtosingarisesfrom soeasy our lives.Thefactthattheyare throughout surprise usandcanresonate into them to fi nd layers of meaning that close studythatpoemsdo;wecandive ical ofpoems.Tefi thekindof reward llot typ- thatare sounds andoverallstructure andrhythms,forrecurring repetitions for intentional and their relationships, forwords with thekindofintensecare poetry. of tefi The words arranged llot are Tefi llahis, fi of aform rstandforemost, their lives,throughout tefillah. too with so forto poetry meaningandinspiration different at levels for aspoetry.tefillah reading turn asapersoncan Just author encouragesThe to refine students’ schools lenses Rabin ¿ byElliott Poetry of the Sublime Tefillah: metaphor orsimile, althoughmetaphor through paring is usually performed this act of com- terms, things. In literary tounderstand something else,inorder of measuring,comparingsomething to ways man mindtograsp.Peoplerequire beyondtheabilityofhu- might—are ofGod’sbeingand ness, theenormity great- mensurable. God’snature—God’s language, thenotionofGodasIncom- that bydefi in nitioncannotbeexpressed many likeitaimtoconveysomething can helporientus.Thispassageand ofprayer about the poetry general words welaunchintoanalysis,some Before them meaning. togive structured are way thatthosewords of tefi llahandthe attention tothewords forclose the rewards to discoversomeof chayyim bechesed,” dah, “Mechalkel section oftheAmi- Let’s focusonone writtentobe. poems thattheywere tefihave forgotten toapproach llahasthe ents to prayer, I would argue, is that we attractingitsadher- trouble have great thanallotherfaithcommunities more whyJews of itsutterance.Onereason 1מְכַלְּכֵ חַ ים ּבְחֶ סֶ ד, /מְ ּיֶ מֵ תִ ים יםהּיִּבְ רַ לחַ מִ חֲ ִי 4 מֶ לֶ מֵ מִ ית/ וּמְ חַ ה/ ה:ּיֶ יְ  צְ וּמַ שׁוּעָ מִ יחַ י וָּה 3מִ כָ מו ל בוּרות/ י ה ?גְּ ּבַ לָּ עַ יוּמִ דומֶ ָ  2 ים/ א ים/ ירוְ נופְ רופֵ לִ חולִ סומֵ וּמַ תִּי 2א וּמְ קַ ם תו י ר.ּיֵ מוּנָ נֵ פָ לִ עָ אֱ ישֵׁ ֵיע ָר ים, / סוּרִ אֲסר ם . ם י ּבִ רַ ב comparison. and measurement anything through limited beingswhocanonlyunderstand ple, abovecomparisons;peo- measurement, toGod.Godexistsbeyond compared becausenothingcanbe or measurement cannot begraspedbyhumanlanguage “legs.”ButGod holding upatableare “feet”;sticks measures examples: aruler to theway humans think. A coupleof andisbasic extends farbeyondpoetry a vast, expansive heap. (As an exercise, a a vast,expansiveheap.(Asan exercise, the oppositetack,pilinglanguage upinto stead, rabbinictraditiongenerally takes not thewayoftefi llahandthesiddur. In- Jewishway,mainstream anditiscertainly tion; withsomeexceptions,that isnotthe byadoptingsilenceandmedita- nundrum this co- traditions confront er religious God. Oth- Jews understand and approach And yet: language is the vehicle by which anythinginlanguage. ity toexpress becauseGodisbeyondourabil- precisely actofpraisingGodispresumptuous very that license,wecouldsaynothing.The because theyappearintheTorah; without in thetefi tosayonly permitted llahweare sage inthisissue.) Thosepraisesthatare (See ElieKaunfer’sdiscussionofthispas- elaborating praisesofhisowntoGod. aprayerleaderfor Chaninah reproves the Talmud Rabbi Brakhot33b,where of language’sinadequacyisfoundin the classic expression In Jewish sources, basar va-dam(fl eshandblood),are can bereached at [email protected]. Hebrew Bible: AReader’s Guide. He the author ofUnderstanding of educational programsthe and Dr. Rabin isRAVSAK’s Elliott director teacher might compare the catalogue po- ems of Whitman, such as “I Hear America Singing,” where a list of examples gives a sense of a greater whole.) Sometimes this strategy takes the form of the alphabet, an aleph to tav catalogue of God’s prais- es found in Psalms such as the Ashrei and prayers such as “El barukh gedol de’ah” in the weekday Shacharit, and on Shabbat “El Adon” and “Tikanta Shabbat ratzita kor- banoteha” in the Mussaf Amidah.

The idea is not that the prayer contains the “A to Z” of God; rather, the alphabetic poem conveys the sense that God is inex- haustible, that no matter how many words you use to describe God you can never possibly come close to fathoming God. Ashrei is like a ladder whose rungs collapse behind you after you run up them. Some- Imagine each verse of the Ashrei as toeholds up times teachers ask their students to “focus on the words” of Ashrei and other prayers, Mount Everest, or waves lapping on the shore and for sure it is important for people to from an immense sea—how would that change understand what they are saying. Howev- er, it is just as important for the teacher to our experience of it? acknowledge that a person cannot possibly ent modality: to allow the rhythms and quest God’s intervention in a variety of “focus on the words” of the Ashrei, by de- sounds, statements and images to wash ways. Even though God’s holiness, God’s sign! There are too many synonyms, too over them, to convey an impression of awe is unfathomable and God’s might is many verses expressing the same thought. God’s awesomeness. In artistic terms this beyond measure, nonetheless we humans The poem is meant to give the impression effect is called the sublime, when an expe- are granted the capacity to have a relation- that God is far beyond human comprehen- rience takes your breath away by convey- ship with God, to speak with God and re- sion; the daveners begin to say everything ing something that your ordinary rational quest that God’s power be channeled for about God so that they realize that they mind cannot grasp. Wordsworth consid- human betterment. This paradox is at the can say nothing, that words are inadequate. ers the sublime as an experience wherein heart of the very act of prayer itself. the “mind [tries] to grasp at something The strategy of Jewish prayer-poetry is to towards which it can make approaches The first thing to notice about this passage explode the mind with an overabundance but which it is incapable of attaining … is that each line has a rhythm that is care- of words to the point where the person [or] of being conscious of external Power fully crafted; the second thing is that the senses what is beyond language. The dav- at once awful [i.e., awesome] & immea- rhythm is constantly tweaked or changed, ener is not meant to understand, visualize, surable.” Others consider the sublime both within and between lines. This kind internalize every word of tefillah; that sce- primarily in experiences that evoke some of rhythmic variety is typical of rabbinic nario is rendered impossible by the sheer mixture of terror, awe, pleasure and pain. prayer and diverges from biblical prayer, verbosity in a Jewish service. (Davening Examples include the feelings evoked by which is somewhat more uniform. Shacharit means reading a hundred page standing near a high mountain, or look- 1 מְכַלְּכֵלחַ ּיִיםּבְחֶסֶד, / מְחַ ּיֶה מֵתִים ּבְרַחֲמִ ים .anthology of Hebrew poems every morn- ing down at the earth from a great height רַ ּבִ י ם , -ing!) Especially during passages where the Imagine each verse of the Ashrei as toe words pile up (think of the repetition in holds up Mount Everest, or waves lapping the Kaddish: Yitbarakh veyishtabach vey- on the shore from an immense sea—how He who sustains life with lovingkindness, / itpa’ar veyitromam veyitnaseh etc.), and would that change our experience of it? who revives the dead with abundant com- where something similar is repeated again passion, and again, it’s critical for teachers not to Nevertheless, just like the verses of poet- have students read the words in the nor- ry, there is great reward in close reading Notice how the two parts are exactly sym- mal way. To do so invites boredom, frus- of the lines of tefillah. Let’s return to our metrical: sustains – revives, life – dead, lov- הידיעון tration and ultimately resistance. passage above. This section is from the ingkindness – abundant compassion. In second brakhah of the Amidah, which Hebrew, the form is pi’el participle, object,

Note as well: this is • HaYidion) . ּבְ Instead, teachers should encourage stu- praises God’s might, a theme that frames adverbial phrase with dents to recite the words with a differ- the majority of the brakhot, which re- [continued on page 30]

[29] [30] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion off afteranight’ssleep. off towakeup andshakethemselves ready thedeadas saying thedead;itportrays a poetic way of in the dust” is not merely less thatwecanknow. “Thosewhosleep justlesstosayaboutthedead,or there’s thoughlonger;perhaps is onlyonepart forthedead verset showingGod’scare each, withassonance(o–eiim).The and sound:verb–objectoftwosyllables attention to rhythm verse showsgreat illness tocaptivity. Asusualintefi llah,the afallto ofseriousness,from progression isa actions as“sustaineroflife”;there the dead.Thefi illustrateGod’s rstthree ing, hopeandhelptothelivingeven ofheal- always,theforce everywhere, snapshots we understandGodasactive vivid short, images.Through concrete fi rst, translating its abstractness into This secondverseelaborates upon the sleep inthedust— Hisfaithfulnesstothosewho And preserves / andreleases thebound/ Who liftsupthefallen/andhealssick powerful statementindeed! powerful tolife.A spectacular asthedeadreturning the samelevelassomethingsuddenand ongoing sustenanceoflifeisamiracleon together, thisversesuggeststhatthedaily, God’s awesomemight.Byyokingthetwo trast, isanapocalypticeventthatreveals Revivingthedead,bycon- work there. toseeGod’s effort the world;ittakesgreat ticed orattributedtothenaturalfl owof scenes activitythatwouldeasilygounno- sustain thelivingisagentle,behind-the- ToYet alsostarklydifferent. theyare scribing God’sactionsintheworld. of a whole, de- ly go together as two parts life backtothedead!Thetwoversetsclear- lifefortheliving,andbrings God supports inthesecond: root) vives” (sameHebrew verse)ispickedupby“re- verset (partial “life”inthefirst with aperiod.)Theword not acompletesentence;itshouldend [continued from page 29] 3מִ כָ מו ל בוּרות/ י ה ?גְּ ּבַ לָּ עַ יוּמִ דומֶ ָ  2 ים/ א ים/ ירוְ נופְ רופֵ לִ חולִ סומֵ וּמַ תִּי 2אוּמְ קַ ם תו י ר,—ּיֵ מוּנָ נֵ פָ לִ עָ אֱ ישֵׁנ ָפ , ים, / סוּרִ אֲסר ם three down overtheverses,from how theverbalphraseshavebeenpared beyonddeath.Note of lifeandarefuge behind all things, the cause active force thatGodisthe theimpression inforce allre- in EnglishforoneHebrew) twowords causative verbs(requiring thestringof The seriesofmem-words, / andcausesredemption tofl ourish. O King,whobringsdeath/andraiseslife ofGod’smight. as thehighestexpression prayer depicts God’striumphoverdeath isnoprayer.of awe,there Theentire thissense abovelanguage.Without realm oftefillahleadustoa with. Thewords familiar other than what we knowand are of God’s majesty, in touch with a reality inthepresence make usfeelthatweare ality, notGod’sreality. Thesequestions stand You; toourre- ourlanguagerefers our needforhumility. We cannotunder- us ofthelimitshumanmindand remind powerfully The questionshere You …andnothinglikeYour works. reading: non-rhetorically in the Shabbat Torah mighty?—and thisideaisexpressed the Sea—WhoislikeYou, amongthe theSongat from The verseborrows ofthisprayerandallJewishprayer.heart These rhetorical questions get tothe who resembles You? Who is like You, Possessor of might? / And ל) ּכֵ לְ ד סֶ מְ כַ חֶ ת) י ּבְ מִ meanttofeelGod’spowerevermore are מֵ ם י ִ חַ ּי overturn thenaturalorder.overturn ofGod’spowerto life, makingusaware Godbringsdeathandthen death; here order. In verses 1 and 2 life precedes significantly, theword thislinereverses Most as the passageprogresses. strongly accomplishes things that no human king now, a comparison,toking!A king who to anything,anyone—and be compared vious sentence suggests that God cannot shockoverit:the pre- acertain register leadsupto.We before should erything thatev- pivot oftheparagraph,word attributed toGodinthepassage;it is the melech,King,isthefiThe word rstnoun ), in a process ofintensification:we ), inaprocess 4מֶ לֶ מֵ מִ ית/וּמְ חַ ה/ ה:ּיֶ יְ  צְ וּמַ שׁוּעָ מִ יחַ י וָּה כמוך There...אין There isnonelike ... ים) ) toone ) totwo נופְ לִ סומֵ נפ ִי ture, creative personinthe21stcentury. creative ture, kinds of questions and thoughts of a ma- offablesthatdonotspeaktothe store a rigidsystemofcommandsorchildish forever. Tefi of llahcomesto appearaspart potentially shutoff, and connectionare misfires, however, thesepathsforgrowth the fi berofstudents’lives.Whentefi llah oftefipoetry llahcanbetranslatedinto the ancient munal bonding; and where forpersonalinspirationandcom- force dents canexperiencetefi llahasapowerful stu- to God; where relationship profound adeepand logical understanding,togrow take the time to develop their own theo- tefi studentscan llahandJewishsources, study of through general studies; where logue withallelementsoftheJewishand cepts oftefi intodia- llahcanbebrought intefigrow andcon- thewords llah;where space to be given the tools and creative oneyeartothenext,studentscan from tefitime toexplore llahindepth;where can allot the curricula saying; where are can understandthemeaningofwhatthey and Hebrew studentslearn ularly; where reg- prayer can be joyously recited where places among Jewish students. Theyare engagement withprayer tivate a mature uniquely poised to cul- Day schools are selves mature in wisdom andspirit. selves mature theirlives as theythem- throughout dren oftefican thewords llahaccompanychil- written. Onlyinthatway that theywere them intherichmanner and internalize tefistudents toread llot,understandthem and outoffocus.We needtoteachour fles andwonderingwhytheimagesare at to watchinga3Dmoviewithouttheglass- isakin ofwriting;thateffort other forms stories,essays,or in thesamewayweread make muchsenseoftefiread them llotifwe We onitsownterms. proached cannot a heightenedlanguagethatmustbeap- Tefi llah,rabbinicprayer, waswrittenin to relate toandcommunicatewithGod. to relate adequate to enableus are sense that words and metaphor. tousa Theverse returns plungedbackintolanguage weare Here bles You? Aking!One who bringsdeath… choose totranslateasfollows:Whoresem- was notsorhetoricalafterall.We might sentence can. Perhaps then the previous * ¿ Prayer in Dialogue with Tanakh

[continued from page 27] And he said, “O Lord God, how shall I know ham—the one who is plagued with posed to treat others. If line 2 was about that I am to possess it?” (Genesis 15:1–8). doubts. In many ways this is the crux of pondering the mission of one’s life, then the blessing that is the foundation of the line 3 is about an ethical charge as the an- The foundation of the relationship be- Amidah. Read with the biblical intertext, imation of one’s life. tween God and Abraham is based on the prayer can be saying: don’t worry two promises: Abraham will have many about your doubts. Even Abraham was The fundamental theme of any blessing offspring, and he will inherit the land of filled with doubt, and he had a direct rela- is often found in its final words, follow- Canaan. When God encountered Abra- tionship with God. The project of prayer, ing the formula “Blessed are You, God.” ham for the first time in Genesis 12, these this blessing could say, is that of holding Here, those words are simply: “Shield of promises were made outright. But here in your doubt and grappling with it, but not Abraham.” In what way is God a shield for Genesis 15, Abraham is afraid that God letting that be a reason to drop out of re- Abraham? The expression is found only in will not make good on these promises. lationship with God. Genesis 15. Abraham questions God: where is my child? God does not become angry, but Whether or not these particular interpre- After those things, the word of the Lord simply reiterates the promise that chil- tations speak to you, the larger point is came to Avram in a vision, saying, “Don’t dren are on the way. But when God re- that an intertextual interpretive approach fear, Avram, I am a shield for you. Your news the promise of the land, Abraham to prayer yields a tremendous amount of reward will be very great. But Avram said, does not fundamentally believe. He asks: nuance to an enterprise that, on the sur- “O Lord, God, what can you give me, see- Lord, God, how will I know? This verse face, may feel like a piling-on of praise ing that I shall die childless and the one in is viewed in early Jewish tradition as the after praise for God. The experience of charge of my household is Damesek Eliezer!” classic expression of doubt in the mouth prayer is greatly enhanced if the siddur is Avram said, “Since You have granted me of Abraham (see Nedarim 32a). treated like so many other texts in Jewish no offspring, my steward will be my heir.” heritage, as a starting point for interpre- The word of the Lord came to him saying, We often think of Abraham as, in Kierke- tation rather than a surface statement of “That one shall not be your heir; none but gaard’s phrase, the “Knight of Faith,” dogma. Seen as a book of poetry, with your very own issue shall be your heir. … the one who was willing to sacrifice his myriad allusions waiting to be unlocked, Then [the Lord] said to [Avram], “I am the beloved son on the altar to fulfill God’s the siddur can become a thrilling text for Lord who brought you out from Ur Casdim word. However, the conclusion of this students to study and develop their own to assign this land to you as a possession.” blessing reflects a very different Abra- interpretive understandings. ¿

Prayer as Transformation

[continued from page 20] art teacher, dance instructor and counselor understanding of prayer and its concrete ers who themselves have a developed and than a teacher in a traditional text-based practice to their students, grounded in systematic understanding of prayer as a learning environment. Our teachers today, their own direct experience and insight, spiritual practice which includes both the including the clergy amongst them, are students will be enabled to develop their techniques necessary to achieve the dispo- almost entirely untrained in this area—a own dispositions and will experience sitional goals of prayer and the methods to shocking indictment of our education of the life-enriching effects of the practice. work with obstacles and difficulties as they Jewish professionals. There is much more to say about how arise. to do that in particular, which would After having developed their own per- include an in-depth investigation of the Doing so means understanding prayer sonal relationship with prayer in the con- components of prayer, a profound ex- as a holistic practice which both includes text of a broader systematic understand- ploration of the concrete practices to be and goes far beyond the saying of certain ing of prayer, educators can then learn taught, and the application of these un- words in the siddur, involving also the how to bring a meaningful relationship derstandings and practices to specific ed- body, sound, imagination, other uses of to prayer to their students. Transform- ucational settings, but the key first step is language and various states of mind and ing the prayer lives of their students providing the insight, understanding and הידיעון consciousness. Educators need to be sys- will be based on this understanding of experience to the teachers themselves, tematically trained in these practices so prayer as a spiritual practice and the con- without which they cannot be effective

that they can take on an educational role crete approaches and practices they have educators and truly convey the impor- • HaYidion more akin to a music teacher, sports coach, learned. Through introducing both this tance and power of prayer. ¿

[31] [32] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion we have failed in reaching thegoal. we havefailedin reaching spending manyyearsinourinstitutions, Buddhism after tual connection through uate indicatesthathehasfound hisspiri- siddur fordailyinspiration.Or ifagrad- toour send outgraduateswhowillturn to opportunity have lostatremendous efi tthemgreatly. Butaseducators,we fl andtefi uencyinHebrew llotwillben- atwhich point onelsewhere, get turned failed intheultimategoal.Theymight prayer,nection toGodthrough ithas all aspectsoftefi llahwhohavenocon- outstudents flIf aschool turns uentin iscommentary.The rest rael isfi ghtingawar, toprayer. oneturns to prayer.Someone is sick, one turns Is- to anotherandoneageanother. onegroup immenselyfrom ah willdiffer how onechannelsthemessagesintefi ll- same whether one is 6 or 80, although the lives we have lived. This goal is the with Him and will call us to account for toconnect way inorder lives inacertain 3, Godiswithus,wantsustoleadour listed bySolomoninEcclesiasteschapter thatinallthestagesoflife to recognize Itneeds arenas. tional andinternational includes eventsonindividual,local,na- and the bad, the happy and the sad; it humanity. Itcomprisesthegoodtimes of bers oftheJewishpeopleandaspart levels:asindividuals,mem- different on needstoform God. Thisrelationship nifirelationship to of one’s cant part The majorgoalisfortefi llahbeasig- of prayerforeveryone. students, wemustunderstandthegoal discussingthegoalofprayerfor Before to fall into place. the contoursenables ofaprogram ofstudy andpractice prayer,the cultivation ofarelationship withGod, Keeping of focusthe mainpurpose aconcerted on ¿ byMarkStolovitsky Focus on the Goal Prayer: Meaningful mitzvot. There was general agreement wasgeneralagreement mitzvot. There to livealifefi lledwithgooddeeds and for Torah teachthatweshouldchoose blessings sages studiedafterthemorning than howlongwelive.TheMishnah pas- important how weliveismuchmore theirtime,” some peoplewilldie“before Americans. Theyknewthateventhough dents discussedthelifeexpectancyof our soul to God—that we all die. Stu- teaches usthatwewilleventuallyreturn forthem.“Elohai,neshama” prepared within theframeworkthathadbeen Whileupsetting,itwashandled services. grade)discussedhisdeathduring third and ular teacher(bothinkindergarten grade studentswhohadthispartic- Pesach.Thefourth teacher diedonerev ish lower school years back,anon-Jew- At ourschooltwo Orthodox. whether pluralist or day schools, tered general, in God-cen- all studies,Jewishand the primeessenceof of thatframeworkis their ownunderstanding.Thebuilding gives themtoolsandlatitudetocome need aframeworkthatincludesGodand To answerthesequestions,students people? HowdoesGodactinthisworld? ofmaninthisworld?OftheJewish role Whatisthe righteous andevilsuffer? sick? Whydowedie?boththe lowing questions:Whydopeopleget tothefol- wide-rangingresponses are develop aframeworkwithinwhichthere To achievethemeta-goal,oneneedsto newspaper orlocal ornationalnewsto- prayer.an oft-repeated Take theschool Wonderful forexample, is Life?Ashrei, viewingofIt’s a ing atthehundredth prayers as comfort- make our repetitive ismuch beloved.Howdowe repeated bedtime stories),thatwhichisoften If we reflrole of ritual (think ect onthe to come up with new “gimmicks.” trying in err Some peopleandcongregations tefi llah? enlarge anunderstandingofthe thereby and the needofstudentsorgroup prayer,the samerote frameit within the inspirationalmessage?Dowetake people (thewarinGaza), do wevary or friends),challengingtimesforour community (deathorsicknessinfamily timeforindividualstudentsor ly hard times. During a particular- different emphasesat enough tohavedifferent wide the Psalmsandotherprayersare them.Thethemesof the worldaround prayersasalensupon events, byreading prayers canaccommodatechanging The leader/teachershouldshowthat the lens. Change scriptions. simplepre- somevery are to detail.Here attention achieve thegoal?Byincredible So, how does one set the stage? How withcaring. good lifereplete that theteacherinquestionhadleda [email protected]. over 25years. Hecanbereached at and community day schoolsfor of schoolOrthodox, Conservative Mark Stolovitsky hasbeenahead ries; look at the prayer through a myriad of lenses and themes that emanate from the psalm itself and relate to current events, and through those themes, to the prayer participants.

Develop particular goals for each student and class in the prayer service. The more the leader knows about the in- dividual students, the better he or she is able to plan for or respond to their par- ticular needs. The cynic, the rationalist and the mystic all need different inspira- tional messages, questions, understand- ings, stories or melodies. If a class loves to sing, how is that love used as a medi- um to clothe the tefillot with meaning? These goals need to be formulated with the individual, class, division and school in mind. Even in denominational schools, where one might be circumscribed in cer- tain ways of approaching tefillah, there can exist a multiplicity of options.

In traditional communities, the leader should not use the student service to fulfill the halakhic obligation to pray. This is a cri-de-coeur against minyanim where no one speaks or inspires students because of various halakhic strictures. The leader requires the freedom to ex- plain, to speak, to monitor and to inspire. If a class loves to sing, how is that love used as a There are going to be students who medium to clothe the tefillot with meaning? need to hear explanations, an occasional thought, a tune to have them connect. ful; however, some students may well get The expectations of the community Leaders are handcuffed if they can’t speak more out of faster davening, while others should be woven into prayer and from Barchu to the end of the Amidah or may desire even more time. When an- built upon where appropriate. during Pesukei deZimra. They need to alyzing student goals in tefillah, the key daven before or after they lead and make question to ask is, “What does a particu- Community expectations are so often it clear to students why they are doing so. lar child need?” How do schools respond related to form: proper behavior in shul, That explanation will both reinforce the to students who say they need more time knowing when to stand or sit, when to halakhic prohibitions as well as the goals to pray on a particular day? How do we bow. While emphasis on the formal as- of tefillah. respond if we know a child is having dif- pects of prayer does not generally speak ficulty with his family as a result of be- to most students, having an aliyah or coming more observant? How do we help opening an ark might speak to students Allow students to begin to own him negotiate the challenges of meaning- whose connection to prayer is the form. the services in whatever areas are fulness in less than optimal situations? A These are future minyan goers who have personally meaningful. student begins to own prayers and ser- developed a connection to other people Because meaning is so personal, the own- vices when he carves a place for tefillah in through prayer, perhaps to a feeling of הידיעון ership of services or tefillah means some- his or her life, no matter what is going on. community within ritual space, but not thing different for everyone. For exam- This ownership is not to be confused with necessarily to deep and philosophical or ple, teachers often assume that the slow leadership, although for some students even God-centered reflection. • HaYidion enunciation of prayers is more meaning- those concepts overlap. [continued on page 36]

[33] [34] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion helped us to further refihelped us to further ne ourquestions and experiment with,which to explore same questions,eachchosea small area about tefi llah.Inaskingmanyofthese new waysofthinking schools toexplore intheirindividual projects tion research school year2010-2011,tookonac- alumni,who,inthe Educator Program ofour Pardes byagroup was informed Our understandingofthisframework want tomake. in thinkingaboutthechangesyoumight do know, whichhopefullywillhelpyou whatwe we willraisequestionsandshare answers. Rather, Jewishfashion, intrue prayer? We donotclaimtohaveallthe tionally setasideinourschoolsforactual etc.—and notonlythetimewetradi- spirituality, personalmeaning-making, includingskills, terms, in thebroadest ah experiencesinourschools—thinking tefiWhat woulditmeantoreimagine ll- cameclose. response was thenumberonechoice.Noother “making prayer meaningful” est interest, nity foryourteacherswouldbeofgreat- developmentopportu- what professional schools, whenasked 93 non-Orthodox pelowitz ofdayschooladministratorsin conductedbyDr.cent survey EzraKo- notalone.Inare- thatyouare assured education couldbe.Ineithercase,rest whattefi ofreimagining the journey llah on already not ideal.Orperhapsyouare that whatishappeninginyourschool what’s notworking—oratleastsurmise this,hopefullyyouknow reading you are lenging abouttefi llahinourschools.If whatischal- toreiterate in thisarticle We going toavoidthetemptation are their schools. in tefillah to strengthen guiding questionsforto grapplethey leaders seek withas teachers, Jewish studies train andsupport provide Twothe Pardes educators from InstituteinIsrael who ¿ bySusan Wall andJudy Markose Prayer: Reimagining for Teachers and School Leaders fl ectingonpracticeandtaking rststeps. fi of re- and understand the importance would beneeded todoso? signed tomeet any ofthese goals? What thetefiare llahexperiencesinschools de- fundamentally,two ofthem.Evenmore those many “yeses” or even just one or the ramifithought through cationsfor ble one,butwewouldaskifyouhave argue with yourvision;itisanadmira- spond yestoalloftheabove.We cannot We imagine that manyofyouwouldre- to adulthood? Jewish prayercommunityastheygrow ly, dowehopethattheywillseekouta about aconnectiontoGod?Andfi nal- fi ndprayerpersonallymeaningful? What derstand themeaningofprayers?to them tobeableleadtefi llot?toun- siddur, whentobow, etc.)?Dowewant a familiaritywiththegeographyof thewords, of prayer(howtopronounce dents tobecompetentinthemechanics Dowewantourstu- wish toproduce? question. Whatkindof“pray-ers”dowe with the vision gogic technique) we start UbDfashion(and goodpeda- In true isourendgoal? What gratitude and“prayerfulness.” dents to develop a sense of curiosity, awe, in theearliergradesifwewantourstu- oftheseedsweneedtoplant importance situation? Othershavewrittenaboutthe we do—ornotdo—thatledustothis intheearlieryears?Whatdid provided thefoundationwe would wenotrevisit withmathinthehighergrades, problems having high school.Ifourstudentswere middleschoolandcertainly approach far less engaged as they ing. But they are as thestudentsseemengagedinsing- “think” tefi llahworksinthelowergrades, agesandstages.Westudents atdifferent is possibleandwhatchallengingfor Weissue oftheiragegroups. knowwhat an to)andmore eration wewillreturn (avalidconsid- our studentscomefrom This islessaquestionaboutthehomes Who are ourstudents? about inanyeducationaldecision-making. the fouraspectsthatneedtobethought teacher, andthemilieu)— thecurriculum four commonplaces(thestudent,the withexaminingRalphTyler’s Let’s start lenge manyaspectsoftefi the llah—from teacher-researchers, thestudents“chal- of one of our high school In the words ity andtoestablishtheirown identities. adultauthor-challenge, toseparatefrom years—thetimeto therebellious these are prised thattheycanbediffi cult? We know wesur-And whataboutadolescents?Are [email protected]. reached and at [email protected] educators.tefillah canbe They new programspiloting training in Jewish Educators, whichiscurrently the Pardeswork within Center for the Pardesof Educators Program. Both Project. Dr. JudyMarkosethe director is Pardes Educators AlumniSupport Dr. Susan Wallthe the director of is Questions Questions existence of God to the relevance of the actual choices and more about the fact that biggest limitations of [my] project was tak- words to the purpose of prayer itself… they were being involved in certain deci- ing into consideration our staff and their for others the question of justice and evil sions (even seemingly minor ones such as abilities. Many [teachers] disclosed a level raised doubts about the God to Whom where tefillah took place or what siddurim of discomfort with tefillah and their own they are to pray.” or melodies were used). personal questions and challenges with God, the liturgy, Jewish traditions. Many In one action research study, where the Some schools have offered a choice of min- dreaded the time spent in tefillah.” That teacher-researcher interviewed a number of yanim—ranging, for example, from medita- was the teachers’ perspective. The word high school students, one said that “when tion to art to discussion groups. Others have most often used by students throughout teachers ask us to open our siddurim or not offered more traditional options such as a these action research projects to describe to talk, we specifically want to do the oppo- learners’ minyan, a singing minyan or a min- the teachers’ role was “policing.” Is that site of what is being requested.” She and her yan for people who want to daven. Schools the role we want our teachers to fill? peers spoke of not wanting their religious need to be honest as to whether they have lives dictated by others. The result is what taken the alternative route because “tradi- Thinking about the teachers who either we all recognize as “student pushback.” tional tefillah” has failed, and this is the next lead or are present in the service, are these best option, or is this an attempt to differen- teachers chosen because of their ability The greatest finding that emerged from the tiate for interests/ability/knowledge or for to inspire spiritual growth? their person- action research projects was that students taking into consideration different learning al prayer practices? their special training are far more positive about and far more styles or multiple intelligences? If the latter in this area? (It is interesting that in ev- engaged in tefillah when they are empow- is the case, should all students be exposed to ery other area of school life, the teacher ered to make certain decisions and choices. a variety of approaches? involved has training in that area. We need Educators may question why with tefill- to provide this type of training for the ah students should have input when they Finally, knowing what we do about ages field.) don’t in other areas. That is not entirely and stages, are some of our goals more ap- true as we often do give students choice as propriate for particular age groups? If so, Tefillah is often considered one of the du- to the books they read, or what to do for then tefillah education should look very ties (like recess or dismissal). What would performance assessments, for example. different at different stages. it look like if we compensated tefillah teachers and gave them time for planning? But in tefillah we are asking for more than Who are the teachers who What if those sharing the responsibility ac- the acquisition of knowledge; we are ask- tually had time to meet and set goals? ing for the students to open their hearts facilitate and support and souls, and that may require asking for tefillah experiences? Some of you may justifiably argue that you their input. For middle schoolers, the re- just don’t have the proper staff. Perhaps search showed that it was less about the A teacher-researcher wrote, “One of the this needs to be a priority in hiring new teachers. Perhaps there are general stud- ies teachers in the school or adults in the wider community – not the ones we’d To Learn More normally turn to - who might be able to help students develop a sense of awe about Moshe Drelich, “Tefillah Motivation through Relationship Building and Role the world, or grapple with philosophical Modeling: One Rabbi’s Approach.” Jewish Educational Leadership Winter 2007. issues?

Eric Golombek. Engaging Souls. Bringing Elementary Tefillah to Life. The curriculum

Eric Golombek, “Action Research Report on an Approach for Creating Mean- In setting our goals, which are most attain- ingful Tefilla Experiences in Middle School.”Jewish Educational Leadership able in which type of framework? When is Winter 2004. it most appropriate to gather as a commu- nity for reciting tefillot, and which goals David Pelcovitz, Scott J. Goldberg, and Jordan Rosenberg, “Tefillah in Jewish are best met through a course, discussion Educational Settings.” HaYidion Winter 2010. group, or elective?

Lawrence Scheindlin, “Preparing Children for Spirituality.” Journal of Religious Do we have measureable benchmarks that Education Spring 1999. we assess? There are schools that have a הידיעון tefillah “curriculum” in terms of what Saul P. Wachs. Towards a Theory of Practice: Conducting Services for and with prayers are included and what about them

Children and Teens in Jewish Day Schools. is taught at each grade level. But how do • HaYidion [continued on page 36]

[35] [36] Understanding Tefillah הידיעון • HaYidion is forstudentsto havedeepconnections, It should seem obvious that if our goal minor rules. Suspend schoolenforcement of to achievesomeifnotalloftheirgoals. will need gender-specifi c prayer groups in“form” girlsinterested ties, therefore, showing up.” In traditional communi- the minyanseeanintrinsicvalueto“just forming who connecttoprayerthrough oftheminyan.Boys or countingaspart theTorah, from having aliyot, reading openingtheark, participate: to formally notpermitted theyare minyanim where challenges in traditional will havemore oversubstance Girls whovalueform here? be timetodifferentiate we satisfiresults? Mightitnot edwiththe Are give themalittlebitofeverything. demand bytheirsynagogues?Insteadwe in somuchthattheywere areas, three if eachwascompetentinatleasttwoor shofar blower?Whatwoulditlooklike a dvar Torah and another as an excellent er withtheskillstoleadHavdalahorgive as ashaliachtzibburforMinchah,anoth- Torahschool asagreat reader, another of skills,sothatonestudentmightleave might wewanttothinkaboutamenu disparate tefiuate with very llah skills, Given thatourstudentsseemtograd- other classes? thancomparable studies in measureable raised bytefi thoseanyless llah,etc.:are tefi llot,theirengagementwiththeissues about theirskills,understandingof these should not be goals). But what fore withGod(andthere- their relationship on goalsthatcannotbeassessedsuchas tomarkthem would beunreasonable ic studies—justnottefi llah.Granted,it grade Bible,rabbinics,andotherJuda- thatmostschoolsdo ah. Itisinteresting Some objecttotestsorgradesfortefi ll- we knowifthestudentsactuallygetit? Meaningful Prayer Meaningful Reimagining Prayer [continued from page 33] [continued from page 35] will inspire our children to thelevel of our children will inspire thegoalswhich defeated Me.”Whatare have triumphantly saying,“Mychildren voice ofHeaven, concludes with God inthemajorityandagainst bis rule of howGod,uponhearing therab- istold In theGemara,famousstory needs tobeasafeandcaringone. in whichtefivironment llahtakesplace the over-arching goalofprayer. Theen- of prayer. Itwilldetractastudentfrom movingact could useintheprofoundly prayertimethatastudent of precious fioff isawaste rstthinginthemorning Gettingtold tothe“uniform.” regards orbeingoutofcompliancewith “tardy” withconsequencesforbeing morning notmetimmediatelyinthe they are Milieu doors becausethat’sthebestwaytodoit, teacher capable of leading? Is it always in- that isbestorbecauseweonlyhaveone grades together because we believe that withallthe Is it in alarge room room? because we don’t have a larger room best?Isittheclass- are that smallgroups becausewebelieve Is itintheclassroom prayers? doweactuallyrecite And where valued inaschoolenvironment? or when theydonotfeelsafe,supported prayers with kavannah gather to recite communal lives?Canweexpectthemto er, markmilestonesintheirindividualand oneanoth- them,support world around for the students develop an appreciation dowehelp the school?Whatandwhere within What aboutthespiritualculture erations? andrabbisinourdelib- involving parents or don’t, belong. What do welose by not well asthesynagoguestowhichtheydo, whichthestudentscome,as homes from ty. wedoneedtothinkaboutthe Here the school prayer communi- surrounds takes place as well as the community that “tefiabout the physical space where llah” Milieu canbeunderstoodtoboth ah. Those “defeats” speak tosuccessfultefi ll- to havebeen“defeatedbyour children.” outwardly, experience itwasawonderful constraint. While Ihemmedand hawed goingtopray withoutatime they were to fi tintothedailyschedule.Thatday of cuttingoutsometheprayersjust tired methattheywere day informed minyan one the gabbaim of the particular high school of 60students by year’s end), minyan andthensome(uptohalfthe minyan. Afterhesucceededingettinga traditional studentwantedanOrthodox one munity schoolIwasheadingwhere in acom- ofonestory I amreminded cates forprayer?To insistonprayer? “defeating us,”sotospeak?To beadvo- cles undermining ourgoals? cles undermining logisticalobsta- to takethemoutside?Are or do we not have the time or confi dence PirkeiAvot: of BenHeifrom educators, needtotake with usthewords We we must persevere. is difficult, too, as students constantlythatwhensomething Yetand immenseundertaking. wetellour on thechallengeoftefillahisadifficult and tobeginthework.Granted,taking charge ustodream Our Jewishsources adirection. tions willprovide of our students? Hopefully these ques- thatissocriticalforthefuture dertaking without that can lead to success in this un- tefi withinor llah,andgetthehelpfrom would itlookliketobeginreimagine sionate abouttefi llaheducation?What our schoolsorinthecommunityispas- dents. We needtoaskourselves,Whoin administrators or stu- studies), parents, this, betheyteachers(Judaicandgeneral about to bringtogetherpeoplewhocare seriousaboutchange,weneed If weare steps? the first are What הא בן אגרא צערא לפום אומר: According—הא realize the reward. thereward. realize and all beprivilegedtobegin the struggle Maywe suchisthe reward. the struggle, to ¿ ¿ Sulam Alumni Shabbaton Inspires Hearts and Minds

chool leaders both lay and professional from the four cohorts of Project SuLaM gathered together in the days before the conference Sfor a shabbaton featuring high-level Jewish learn- ing. The scholar-in-residence was Dr. Elisheva Baumgarten, a senior lecturer in Jewish studies and gender studies at Bar-Ilan University. She delivered four sessions on the theme of “Standing Again at Sinai: Gender and Judaism.” The learning focused on four women in the Bible and the way those women were interpreted in the Middle Ages; par- ticipants studied a nice range of source materials from biblical stories to poems, halakhic texts, illu- minated manuscripts and even a gravestone. De- spite the speaker’s high academic quality and the obscurity of some of the material, Sulamites found the speaker and the subject extremely engaging and relevant.

Participants demonstrated in word and deed the profound impact that Project SuLaM has had on them personally and professionally. They led services and bentsching, delivered stirring divrei Torah, and dove into sophisticated Jewish study with understanding and sensitivity. As always, they looked for ways that the learning and expe- rience would enrich the work of Jewish education at their schools. We at RAVSAK and the entire SuLaM community offer our sincere gratitude to the AVI CHAI Foundation for their support of Project SuLaM and the SuLaM Alumni Network over the past decade. We look forward to partner- ing with AVI CHAI on a new SuLaM initiative; details to be announced soon!

On a professional level SuLaM provided me with the knowledge, resources and network to be a Jewish leader both at Heschel and within the Jewish com- munity. It allowed me to model practices and be- haviors based on Jewish content and make decisions with a Jewish lens. Personally, Project Sulam has changed my life. It has allowed me to connect with my Judaism.

—Betty Winn, head of school, Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, Northridge, CA ¿

[37] [38] הידיעון • HaYidion are mutually, inextricably twined. asforces that leadership andlearning and thecrucialconnectionbetween atalllevels— and ongoinglearning schools have todevelopingleadership testi es tothecommitmentthatday their schools’ administrative teams, oflayleaders,turnout accompanying record by nearly50%! The extraordinary DC, theconference shattered lastyear’s 1000 peopleconverging on Washington, eld ofdayschool education. With over the health, optimismandvibrancy ofthe This year’s conference demonstrated and peers. fromcolleagues enable peopletolearn networking sessionswere organized to eld. Basedonparticipants’responses, that enabledustospottrends inthe into attractive charts andcon gurations attendees; theywove thisinformation Weave thePeoplewere hired tosurvey The socialnetworking consultants opportunities forstrategic networking. our diversitythroughcarefully planned capitalized onthesynergies across world. The conference organizers so oftenabsentinthelarger Jewish the atmosphere ofklal Yisrael thatis forward to, nearlytakingforgranted something thatpeopleexpect andlook By now thediversityofattendeesis which wejoinedforces withPEJE. and resources, andthesecondin and YU—partnered topoolourwisdom agencies—RAVSAK, Schechter, Pardes year inarow thatthedayschool This gatheringrepresented thefourth LEARNING TOLEAD-LEADING TOLEARN Wake Forest. Center forReligionandPublic Affairs at conversation withMelissaRogersofthe Nathan DiamentandDavid Sapersteinin the US, featuringDC-basedadvocates supportanditslimitsin government to aconversationonthelandscapeof century. Inthemiddlewewere treated changing nature ofwork inthe21st totrain studentsforthe necessary of innovation, amodelheholdsis with avisionofschools asincubators Tony Wagner endedtheconference authority gures makingdecisions. others, rather than “heroes,” lone knowledge andresponsibilities with leaders as “hosts” sharingleadership and reecting onthenotionof Frieze hadpeoplemoving, discussing today. Intheopeningplenary, Deborah paradigms foreducationalleadership speakers sharingvitalandcreative Keynote sessionsbroughtdynamic LEARNING TO LEAD-LEADING TO LEARN

During time for sessions organized by agency, RAVSAK members, joined by colleagues from Pardes, got to play Decision Mojo, a game-based presentation exploring the latest insights from brain science on the strengths and pitfalls of the ways that people make decisions. Led by Brent Snow, founder of 10,000 Feet, participants discussed scenarios re ecting different traps that often ensnare people making important decisions. People left with a fun, highly impactful tool for improving school leadership. הידיעון • HaYidion

[39] [40] הידיעון • HaYidion Olami: StoriesOlami: of Tefillah Schools Our in Here are glimpsesfrom five schools. those precious moments someof forto distill ourreaders. Judaic directors canmake worthwhile.the wholeenterprise that meaning We invited not go well for me to question the entire not gowellformetoquestion theentire whentefionly afewmornings llahdoes than thelatter.to theformer Butittakes in between, usually closer somewhere are be told,mostofmyMonday mornings Truth vannah seemslikeafarawaydream. orworse,andka- ening feelslikeachore, the students can seem disconnected, dav- theleyning, a majority of no one prepared of themselves, shlichei tziburseemunsure daveninggetsgoingbutweakly,pared, the Or: thestudentscancomelateandunpre- ty ofachievingkavannah. good, andmaybeevenwiththepossibili- into it,anddaveningcanfeelright thestudentscan be students toprepare, yot havingbeengivenoutwithtimefor confi dently, the readings andali- Torah enthusiasm, the shlicheitzibbur can lead on time and with lin, daveningcan start withtallitandtefican comeprepared l- day, week.Thestudents ifnottheentire ter orforworse,itcansetthetone ing tefi llahcangoinschool,andforbet- twowaysthataMondaymorn- are There Pell,By Rabbi Harry SolomonSchechter Day Schoolof Westchester A Week of Tefillah Moments however,there emerge moments ofinspiration and For those in our schools fortunate to lead tefillah, tefillah, Forto lead those inourschoolsfortunate full offidgety,full tired andoften students. reluctant from arranging the chairs to supervising aroomfromto supervising arrangingthe chairs Tefillah schoolcanbehard at work—everything really worth it?ThatwasMonday. worth really tefi llahexperienceforourstudents,isit ofthe I usuallyamabouttheimportance like thesewhenIwonder, asconfi dentas of seniorsthatThursday. Itismoments would bedaveningwiththesamegroup trated, especiallyintheknowledgethatI leavingfeelingfrus- ed, andIremember the bell,daveningfeltweakanddistract- Torah thekidstrickledinafter readings, scenarios. Thetoranimnevergaveoutthe embodied thesecondofthese certainly Mondaysenior minyan most One recent and hewasnowsittingshivah essentially ber ofhisfamilyatfather’s funeral, He had been theonlymem- recovering. mother had also become ill and was still had losthisfathertopneumonia, andhis sadder: thealumwasanonly child,he his father. even were Thecircumstances studentofmine,hadlost ums, aformer teachers andalumnithatoneofoural- On Sunday, anemailhadgoneouttoour enterprise oftefi llahinschool. there are shoutsofjoy.” eeping canlinger forthe night, dawn at but with theexceptionofminyanim. itaclosedshivah, they hadevendeclared give hismothertimeandspacetorecover, upstairs.Toalone ashismotherrecovered Why? Iasked.“Becausewas the kidin you would have hated me in high school!” ming, shockedmewhenhesaid, “Rabbi, oftheschool’sJudaicprogram- supporter himself adayschoolalumand signifi cant Oneparent, schmoozing withparents. player,much ofacard Ispentthenight al pokernightfundraiser, andnotbeing Wednesday nightwastheschool’sannu- prayer. ThatwasTuesday. astheyjoinedhimin love andsupport himwiththeir the minyantosurround his classmateshadusedtheoccasionof andpride.Moreover, a placeofcomfort aplaceofloss,butalsofrom did sofrom studentledMa’ariv,When myformer he theirclassmate. had cometocomfort firoom lledupwithfellowalumniwho minyan. Very quickly, though, theliving iftheywouldevengeta I wondered what toexpect;thehousewasquietand forMa’ariv,When Iarrived Iwasn’tsure Psalm 30 Olami: Stories of Tefillah in Our Schools

minyan every day with my tefi llin bunched Monday, but still far from perfect. Yet as eventually come to embrace tefi llah and up at my wrist like I couldn’t care.” Hate I looked around the minyan, I couldn’t want to make sure others have the benefi t is a bit of a strong word, but I certainly help but refl ect on the moments I had of it as well? recognized the type. And yet now he was had since our tefi llah on Monday. Would not only sending his kids to day school these students someday use tefi llah to I can’t say for sure, and only time will but funding initiatives to enrich Jewish life rally around a friend in a time of need? tell, but I certainly left tefi llah on Thurs- and tefi llah. That was Wednesday. Would they have to put their tefi llah skills day with a far more positive outlook than to use at a shivah minyan of a loved one? I had had just a few days earlier. As it says Thursday morning, I was back with the Would one of the jokers who gives me a in Yirmiyahu: Yeish tikvah le-acharitekh— seniors; things were much better than hard time about wearing tefi llin properly There is hope for the future!

Absence and Presence By Peg Sandel, Jewish Community Day School of the Bay When he died, I didn’t go to work during shivah, and this happened to “Kaddish yatom, the mourner’s Kad- The call and response, the public nature coincide with our school’s tefi llah sign- dish. All those who mourn and those of Kaddish are part of what makes saying up time. To my surprise, the egalitarian observing a yahrzeit, please rise.” When these words so powerful for me. Kaddish tefi llah swelled with students. Students I heard the rabbi utter those words, I brings us together so that we can remem- joined the minyan simply to allow me to thought, “Oh God, now it’s my turn.” ber that some of us are missing. It is a say Kaddish for my dad. This had a pro- I stood up and within a moment the profound weaving together of absence found impact on me. I had shared with words fl owed from my mouth, at once and presence. The mourner represents my students my teaching that it is as im- with a choked, emotional stutter and yet the absence, while the minyan represents portant to be there for someone saying with fl uidity: Yitgadal ve-yitkadash… the presence. Kaddish, as it is to say Kaddish when your turn comes, as it unfortunately in- I said Kaddish every day for a full elev- The second time I said Kaddish, the evitably does, and it was truly gratifying en months for each of my beloved par- experience was vastly different. I was to see that they had internalized that ents. My mother died rather suddenly now a teacher and had two daughters message. in 1998. My father died in 2010 after of my own. When I said Kaddish for a long and inspiring struggle with Lou my mother, I wasn’t aware of myself as Saying Kaddish with students heightened Gehrig’s disease. Each time, my rela- a role model. This time, I was mindful my awareness of absence and presence. tionship to this prayer, to my commit- that I was modeling the importance of When I said Kaddish for my mother, it ment to say it daily, to my parents and Kaddish for my daughters and my stu- was her absence that Kaddish pointed their memory, as well as to Judaism dents. I chose to say Kaddish daily in to. This time, with children and students changed. the student-led egalitarian tefi llah at the in my life, my Kaddish pointed to many Jewish Community High School, where absences: my father’s and those future Over the course of those eleven months I teach. absences whose voids will fi ll the lives of I felt my grief slowly begin to subside. these young people. Yet when the eleven months were over, A truly transformative thing happened in I found it hard to let go of Kaddish. this minyan. For the three months pri- We often say to those who grieve, “May Saying Kaddish had allowed my parents or to my father’s passing, our egalitarian the memory of your loved one be for a to be a continuous “presence” in my minyan wasn’t a minyan. We only had blessing.” Saying Kaddish with students daily life even though I could no longer about eight people, and so we davened refracted that blessing tenfold. The bless- hear their voices or touch their hands. together without a minyan. Each day ing of Kaddish is the memory of beloved One thought, however, never changed: we concluded our prayers with a Mishe- parents, their painful absence, the pres- הידיעון Kaddish is something everyone partici- beirach for cholim. At various times, we ence of community in minyan and the pates in. Today you may be the one say- shared with each other those we included modeling of this mitzvah to a younger

ing amen; tomorrow, you could be the in our prayers for a refuah shleimah, in- generation who are already taking re- • HaYidion one saying Yitgadal ve-yitkadash. cluding my father. sponsibility simply by being present.

[41] [42] הידיעון • HaYidion Olami: StoriesOlami: of Tefillah Schools Our in andessenceofmybeing,the core very self. It allows me to get in touch with the Tefillah, intoyour- Ibelieve,isajourney By Rabbi Yoseph Chaiton, Portland Jewish Academy Tefillah asaJourney, onaJourney חלק אלו-ה pureממעל,a part sparkoftheDivine“—ממש ,(erful thisspontaneouslesson was,and erful country.” We spokeabouthowpow- andthe victims, families,children students wantedtowriteprayers for ish andsecularprayer. Asaresponse, ofJew- into themeaningandstructure delved beirach toHatikvahandreally Mishe- “We from lookedateverything tragedy. toprayer. Instead,sheturned versation focusedonthedetailsofthis did notwanttohaveafullblowncon- but knewshehadto respond, dikoff, event. Theirteacher, SamanthaZa- clearlystillemotionalaboutthe were after passed,our6thand7thgraders devastated andhelpless.Asthedays feeling sachusetts, manyofuswere After theshootingsinNewton,Mas- DayBrandeis School, Hillel SanFrancisco PrayersStudent for Sandy Hook of the students. One thing that pervision in advanceandmanylonghoursofsu- alotofdetailedplanning trips require Utah.These andSouthern of Oregon experiences tothemanybeautifulparts to takestudents on weeklongcamping Over theyearsIhadopportunity day-to-day lives. gle tohearintheclutterofnoiseour at HarSinaiandthequietvoicewestrug- that weexperiencedasthe“loudvoice” Hashem Hashem thattranscendsnature. and em asisexperiencedwithinnature the timeandtooltoconnectwithHash- single Jew.that is within every Tefillah is ofGodabove”(Job31:2 were really exceptional. really were a coupleoftheprayersthatemerged nature. through life ofhome.ThisisHashemexperienced tothebusy feeling withmewhenIreturn andkeepthis tocapture Itry refreshing; Shacharit. The tefi llahismeditative and to donmytallitandtefi llinanddaven flthe birds I y. Here fi nd thetranquility quiet andpeacefulthatyouliterallyhear jestic mountainoranopenfi eld.Itisso quiet spotwithaviewofstilllake,ma- anyonewakesupIfi before morning nda formeisearlyinthe makes itworthwhile adjust to the darkness. Away from light from adjust tothedarkness.Away to sitonthesandandallowtheireyes asked studentsare Ma’arivservice, formal we walkoutsidethecampsite.Insteadofa camp southofBe’erSheva.Afternightfall we spend the night in a Bedouin itinerary ofour toIsrael.Aspart dents onajourney I also have the privilege to accompany stu- of JewishLifeand Learning it forthemselves.–Sarah Miller, Director planned lessons that ourkids experience in theend,itisalmostalways in theun- get asenseofwhatprayerisall about, but moments forthekidsto plan andcreate to as Jewisheducators,weworksohard Perhaps whatwasmoststrikingthat any otherway. in and don’tevenknowhowtorespond withemotion overcome when youare pray”—those specifi c moments in life to thinkabouttheideaof“needing After our conversation, I continued the Shema,butwithanewdevotion. em. We conclude theeveningbysaying cles, thesetranscendentenergies ofHash- I explainthatwecantapintothesemira- experienced ismiraculousinitsownway. have im timehowmuchwe,bneiYisrael, Intheinter-Hashem showedAvraham. lookingatthesamestarsthat today are today. Earth reaching We sitting here stars thenwouldinsomecasesbejust Lightleavingthe the sandofearth. as the stars of the sky and as numerous that hisdescendants,youandme,willbe fi Avraham waspromised nesofnature. to stepoutsidehistent—toleavethecon- HashemtoldAvraham here not farfrom gers. Iexplaintothemthatsomewhere theirfi through sand andallowittorun n- I askthestudentstopickuphandfulsof ly aboy, giveuspeace. mere- When sometimeswefeellikewe’re us peace. out inaprayerofjoy,When wecry give above, giveuspeace. When weneed your guidance from us peace. When weloseapersonthatlove,give giveuspeace. grown, When theseedsonourlandhavefi nally give uspeace. downinthedumpsallalone, When we’re Adam Teich Prayer for Peace than wecancountorimagine. pollution theskysoonfi stars llswithmore Olami: Stories of Tefillah in Our Schools

When we’re deep in life’s struggles, en- May we speak peace with our beloveds gulfed in stress, give us peace. Prayer for Peace May we learn peace from our elders Zoe Neushatz May we teach peace to our children. When, we’re tired, and need to lie down May we be at peace with ourselves to rest, give us peace May we think peace in our thoughts May we be at peace in our homes May we be at peace with our souls May we be at peace in our cities When our greatest fears come creeping May we have peace in our dreams May we be at peace in our country in, give us peace. May we love peace in our hearts. May we be at peace with our continent May we be at peace with our world. When we feel that we need peace within May we speak peace with our friends us, give us peace. May we speak peace with our families

Why Pray? By Sharon Freundel, Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital with a kindergartner.)

Seven years ago, a kindergarten teach- intellectual view that there was no God, Fast forward 6 years. Gavi decided that er brought a student to my offi ce. The but that there were two cogent reasons his sister was wrong, that there was a children were supposed to be davening, for him to learn how to pray and to en- God, and that it was really meaningful but this young man, whom we shall call gage in it with his classmates. for him to pray in the morning as it set Gavi, refused to participate. This had his head straight and clarifi ed his place in been going on for a few weeks, and the First of all, we could disagree about the the universe. He became not only one of teacher was now turning to the admin- existence of God, but it was impossible our regular prayer leaders, but a true role istration in an effort to get the student to disagree about the existence of the model for the other students. to comply. Jewish people and their long tradition of prayer. Even if one did not participate for Before he completed his academic life at As always, I began by asking the student religious reasons, one needed to partici- JPDS-NC, he came to me and thanked what was going on and why he did not pate out of respect for the community. me for making him pray in kindergarten want to pray. He explained to me, in adult Jewish culture and the very heart of Jew- and for not making the issue about God. terms, that he did not believe in God, and ish civilization would fall apart if there He said that, if I had made it about be- therefore saw no reason to pray. were not some kind of routine commu- lief, he would have dug in his heels and nity activity, and in our school as in the continued to refuse to pray. The logical I was not caught completely off-guard, as larger Jewish world, this activity often arguments I made went beyond any be- I had had many conversations with Ga- involved tefi llah. lief system; he took them as pragmatic vi’s older sister—herself a 3rd grader at pieces of advice (yes, in those words) and that time—about the existence of God. Further, I questioned, what would hap- could respond by backing down from his The two were very close, and I was not pen if he changed his mind down the rebellion. surprised that Gavi, also, was now ques- road and decided that there was indeed tioning the existence of God. a God and therefore wanted to pray? He The good thing about this story is that would not know what to do or how to it has a happy ending. The frightening Gavi, even as a young child, reveled in do it unless he received the basic training thing about it is that everything we say shakla ve-tarya, the thrust and parry of which begins in kindergarten. and do may have an impact on a child intellectual dialogue. I did a quick men- that he or she remembers long after we tal calculation and decided that engaging He sat there for some moments, fi nally have forgotten it. Hence, the tefi llah in הידיעון in a conversation about the existence of looked at me, and said, “You’re right. I’d Shulhan Arukh Orach Chayyim 110 that God was not the way to go. better learn how to daven just in case and Hashem should save us from “all stum-

to be a member of the Jewish commu- bling blocks and errors” when we deal • HaYidion Instead, I told Gavi that I respected his nity.” (Remember, this is a conversation with young people in our charge.

[43] [44] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion spiration from myteacherandmentor spiration from For thisdaunting task,Ihavedrawnin- it shouldbeforthestudent? counter meaningfulandinspirational as evant? HowdoI make en- thisinformal with usoverthousandsofyears stillrel- do wemakethesiddurthathasendured How this potentiallygoodatmosphere? meaning andhope.HowdoImaintain and exampleviamytransmissionof young people look to me forguidance and ethicsmustconveymeaning.The thatmyactions of theresponsibility er, andmaybephilosopher. Iamaware They looktomeastheirrabbi,teach- of God. their handstheyholdtheinfi niteword andsages.In prophets vinely inspired ofourdi- these prayersisthecreation Tanakh and the Talmud. of The order the literature: oursacred from readings dur, abookcompiledofsectionsand holding the sid- their hands they are apathy. anduncertain out” glare In “spaced ers havingthatearlymorning some fi lledwithcuriosity, andoth- staring andwaitingwithanticipation, faced withseventy-fi vestudents,some Then the tefi llah challengebegins.I am environment. in acontrolled status They seemtoenjoythisdifferent be sixth,seventhandeighthgraders. agendas or deadlines. Theyjust have to about their have to take notes or worry signments expected.Thestudentsdon’t nogrades,homeworkoras- are there happy, relaxed, dents are andcontent; the beitmidrashofourschool.Thestu- It’s 8:00 am and the students surge into method:powerful storytelling. attentiontefillah. on one describes article This energyandfocus student their to harness can use prayerThere arethat avarietytechniques leaders of ¿ byBilly Lewkowicz Inspiration for Kavannah Storytelling: them into some kind of a freezer in them intosome kindofafreezer tell ustotake all thesestoriesandput He would ter iswhatthe storiesare.” Torah of fl esh and blood, and the lat- isa andinkthere rah ofparchment Reb Mendelwouldsay, isaTo- “There derstanding” them. than“un- ing” theteachingsevenmore one identifywiththeexperience,“feel- diffiis muchmore canhelp cult.Astory to thestudentonemotionallevel Actually conveyingthis ity andheart. the divinetraitsofcompassion,sincer- experience. Cognitively, onecanteach an intellectualleveltotheactualof made a bridge between his messages on a well-toldtale,he in astory. Through jective ofthelesson sum upthemainob- Reb Mendelwould pact ofthelesson. thefullim- prehend was diffi culttocom- character. Attimesit and refi nementofour this knowledgetopracticalHalakhah teachings ofKabbalahandhowtoapply themystical wewouldlearn where here would teachaclassinchasidism.Itwas RebMendel rael. Earlyinthemorning, when IwasstudyinginayeshivaIs- them identify with the experience. them identify with level ismuchmore difficult. canhelp Astory conveyingtothe emotional students this on of compassion, andheart. Actually sincerity Cognitively,traitsthe divine teach onecan the character in the story was strug- the character in the story able tounderstand how students were kavannah ofthe tefi The llahtookform. ened thestudents’ imaginationasthe opened upclosedplacesand itawak- doitswork.It I couldseethestory mechanically seemedtofadeaway. or ofsayingtheprayersbyrote routine The wasadifference. This timethere backtotefidled, wewouldrevert llah. rekin- thestudents’interest work. With at feel andseethemagicofstorytelling andactivelyengaged.Icould ward toleaningfor- andrestlessness stares blank from of thestudentstransformed astonishing.Thebodylanguage were stories” inthetefiresults llahclass.The I decidedtousemy“freezer-full of den mysticalaspects. ofTorahin therealm oreveninitshid- whether to be found in any other form, thanare depthandprofundity greater the listenerandcommunicateideasof out to has the power to reach a story Reb Mendel would say that our words. andenthusiasmof with thewarmth our minds,takingthemouttodefrost reached at [email protected]. at Tucson Hebrew Academy. Hecanbe director ofHebrew andJudaicstudies Rabbi Israel (Billy)Lewkowiczthe is gling just as they were. But in the end, he or she succeeded in accomplishing A Tefillah Story just what we are striving for. The student can relate to the story and think, “If this In the morning blessings, Birkhot Ha- ing. It was owned by a jeweler who cut person could do it, maybe I can, too.” shachar, the fi rst brakhah says, “Blessed and polished it so perfectly that every- This, I feel, can give the motivation and are You … Who gives the rooster under- one was astonished by its beauty. focus that we strive for in prayer. standing to distinguish between day and night.” At a glance this blessing seems The jeweler had three grown sons. Each After a few good sessions of storytelling strange and begs the question, “Why one wanted the ruby more than anything in prayer, I started hearing the differ- do we start the day with a blessing over else. The time came for the jeweler to go ence. Now when students entered the a rooster?” Normally we should have to on a long journey. Each so begged him beit midrash and we exchanged greet- make this blessing only when we actual- for the jewel. As he was about to leave, ings they added, “Hey rabbi, what’s ly hear the rooster crow, just as we make the jeweler met with each son separately. today’s story going to be about?” or “I similar blessings when we see or hear He gave each one a ruby, saying, “This can’t wait to hear today’s story.” The any phenomenon—thunder, lightning, is for you and for you alone.” When he biggest reward is when I received phone a rainbow. One must always strive to see was gone, the three sons were surprised calls and emails from the parents telling God’s hand in every one of the wonders to see that the three rubies looked iden- me that their child has been very en- of nature. Therefore we praise God for tical. They said, “Our father must have thusiastically sharing stories with them giving the rooster the understanding to owned two other rubies. He cut and at home and how this has changed the sense the breaking of dawn and auto- polished them to look exactly like the conversation around the dinner table. matically crow. However there must be a true one.” The responses have been wonderful and deeper reason. ranged from being grateful to wanting Each one claimed that he had the true to know more about the message from Day and night, light and darkness, are jewel and that the other jewels were the story on a deeper level. synonymous with good and bad, knowl- false. They argued and accused each oth- edge and ignorance, happiness and mis- er of lies and trickery. Finally they went It was after these responses that the fun ery. The Hebrew word for the rooster in to a judge and told him the whole story. began. I started researching stories from this blessing is sechvi. The Talmud tells They then asked him, “Which is the true whatever I could get my hands on, and us that this word also means heart. The jewel?” there are plenty! We have a heritage that heart is the seat of feeling and under- is rich with stories. However, not every standing. Now, while God has given the The judge studied all three rubies, but story is applicable; in a whole book of rooster a special sense to distinguish be- he could not see a single important dif- short stories, only one or two might tween day and night, He has given man ference. Finally, he said, “I cannot tell work. If the story inspired, moved or a special sense to distinguish between you. Only your father knows the an- spoke to me, then the chance of the good and bad. For God has endowed swer.” The sons were deeply distressed. storytelling being successful is virtually man with a Divine Soul which enables They were about to leave when the judge guaranteed. him to think and to feel what is right and spoke again. “I can tell you how to prove what is wrong. that your jewel is not a false one.” “Tell Stories can be drawn from personal ex- us!” They begged. perience, the newspaper or a magazine. Here is the story: One can convert a scene from a movie He told them, “Whoever holds the true and relate it as a tale. The beauty about A ruler in Spain by the name of Saladin jewel close to his heart fi nds that his life it all is that one can twist or shape all the was arguing with many of his advisors of is blessed with kindness and understand- stories and mold them into the theme whose religion was the true one. They ing. Live your life in such a way that that one wants to explain during tefi llah. called a Jewish scholar named Ephraim you always act with kindness and under- Stories don’t need to be conveyed ex- Santizi to decide who was right. They standing. Then the whole world will say actly like the words of the text. One can said, “Tell us, who has God’s true reli- that your jewel cannot be false because manipulate them to bring forth the mes- gion: the Christians, Muslims, or Jews?” your life is truly blessed.” sage and objective of the lesson. Stories Not wanting to shame anyone, Ephraim have many layers of meaning. One can thought deep and hard, and answered by When we recite the blessing “ Who gave play with them, turning them inside out telling this story. the rooster the ability to distinguish be- to discover all the hidden messages. tween light and darkness” we must re- There was a large and precious ruby that fl ect on this story and ask ourselves if we הידיעון At times I would start the story before had a wonderful power. Whoever held it are worthy of the gifts that Hashem has tefi llah and weave different episodes be- close to his heart found that his life was given us. Are we living our lives with a tween the prayers. It kept the curiosity, blessed with kindness and understand- true understanding heart? ¿ • HaYidion [continued on page 47] [continued on page PB]

[45] [46] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion fl ecttheirneedsandcommunitywhile tore- nim andpersonalizetheservice should beencouragedtoleadminya- community.down theentire Students theywillbeletting responsibilities, taught thatiftheydonotupholdtheir the individualprayercommunitiesand in dents canbegivenresponsibilities dents todevelopleadershipskills.Stu- forourstu- opportunity be awonderful world.Additionally,greater minyancan them to become better citizens of the allhelping cus onthoselessfortunate, gives themamomenteachdaytofo- communalprayers.It other through courages studentstothinkabouteach powerabovethem.Iten- recognizing Prayer teachesstudentstobehumblein andheaven.” izens ofearth equippedtobecomegoodcit- more are sense oftheuniverse.Thenourstudents just, andall-good,someonewhomakes all-wise,all- yond uswhoisall-powerful, issomeonebe- thatthere them realize prayer in school, “Wethat through help better peopleinsociety. Glavichadds eventually leading to their becoming God’s presence, know and appreciate prayer inschools,studentscometo thatthrough life andliving.”Hestresses tion ofmenandwomeninallaspects “abouttheforma- Catholic schoolsare W.Bishop Robert Finnemphasizesthat totheCatholicNewsAgency,cording Ac- to God, butitteachesmuch more. Prayer mayfocusonone’srelationship throughthe world prayer. of Students canbecome bettercitizens What WeWhat from Learn Can Prayer Christian in Schools [continued from page 25] Online: www.ravsak.org |Bymail: RAVSAK, 120 West 97th Street, New York, NY 10025 Take ourgrowing and dynamic insupporting community. part of Jewish community day schools, a vibrant ensuring Jewish future. RAVSAK Partner with RAVSAK. strengthens and sustains the life, strengthens andsustains leadershipandlearning as awhole. thepurposeofminyan still serving students couldwriteforthemselves.In isnolimittotheprayersthat there forus,and provided already are more encing somethingforthefi rsttime,and uponexperi- after exitingtherestroom, prayer. andaftereating, Blessingsbefore Judaism isfi for lledwithopportunities God iscallingthemtobe.” ofGod within them and who presence ofthe dents tostopandbecomeaware isaneedforstu- prayer “becausethere timesfor allappropriate feels theseare fellow studentfacesanillness.Nolen when fi ghtshavepassed,andwhena such asattimesofsharinggoodnews, forprayer discusses theopportunities asanobligationtiedtotime.She merely the Shehechiyanu.include reciting of window. the schoolyear should openingof The blessing for seeingarainbow canhangneara the schoolshouldbesaturated withprayer. The transformative truly toIn order bea experience, toaneed,not that prayerisinresponse theneedtoteachstudents derscores Strategies forChristianSchools,”un- “Prayer time. BethNolen,inherarticle prayer hastogobeyondthatslotted benefito betruly cialandpowerful, minyan intotheschoolschedules,but Many ofourschoolsbuildmorning minyan.morning Prayerto belimited cannot we knowtheycanbe. helping toshapethemintothepeople coming ahabitforourstudents,and minyan,be- beyondmorning reaching inourschools, play anessentialrole is tophysicallife.”Assuch,itshould essential to the spirituallifeas breathing the school.Glavichadds,“Prayerisas in and, hence,shouldplayavitalrole othereducationalinstitutions self from it- a Jewishdayschooltodifferentiate is oneofthemanyaspectsthatallow Prayer ed withasenseofthesacred.” the wholeschoolshouldbesaturat- No, the publicschooldownstreet. from That wouldmakeitlittledifferent classes. olic justbecauseithasreligious Glavich explains,“AschoolisnotCath- minyan. morning withGodbeyond vate arelationship lives, theywillgraduallyworktoculti- infusion ofprayerintostudents’daily constant of the Shehechiyanu. Through the schoolyearshouldincludereciting can hangnearawindow. Theopeningof Theblessingforseeingarainbow room. Yatzar can be postedoutside of thebath- displayed.Asher HaMazon prominently prayer. Thecafeteriashouldhave Birkat ence, theschoolshouldbesaturatedwith experi- transformative to be a truly order ¿ Storytelling: Inspiration for Kavannah

[continued from page 45] The best feedback comes from meeting us stories. A good story during tefi llah interest and momentum going. Other former students who tell me that they has the power to raise the students to days I would just tell the story at the are sharing the stories with their chil- a higher level. It can give inspiration end. If the story was working well, I dren. Some of my students have become and strength. would leave it unfi nished, building an- teachers themselves, and they contact I heard the following from a very effec- tive teacher, the well-known educator Stories don’t need to be conveyed exactly like the and consultant Dr. Harry Wong. words of the text. Stories have many layers of I am not in the restaurant business. I am meaning. One can play with them, turning them in the hospitality business. inside out to discover all the hidden messages. I do not sell clothes. I dress successful peo- ticipation for the next day’s tefi llah en- me asking for the same stories for their ple. counter. The students would leave on a lessons. I feel that the stories enhanced positive note saying “Rabbi, you have the quality of the students’ overall school I do not sell insurance. I help people solve left us hanging by our nails! It’s such a experience. problems. cliffhanger!” The holy Rizhiner rebbe said, “How I do not teach history. I teach students. I must tell at least 300 stories a year. The does the Torah, the fi ve books of rewards are priceless. Alumni enthusias- Moses, start? With the Master of the I do not teach third grade. I enhance the tically say to me, “Rabbi, the one thing I World telling us stories.” Before God quality of lives. remember most from my school days are taught us all His laws, statutes and those stories you would tell at tefi llah.” judgments, He started fi rst by telling Storytelling can enhance and inspire. ¿

GLOBAL SCHOOL TWINNING NETWORK

Current and potential members of the Global School Twinning Network are cordially invited to THE JEWISH AGENCY’S FIRST GLOBAL SCHOOL TWINNING CONFERENCE IN NORTH AMERICA • Learn more about the benefits of “twinning” with an Israeli school • Share Twinning best practices and models • Develop educational standards and benchmarks • Learn about new technologies for improving your school-to-school connections Registration is now open! Sunday, May 5, 2013 הידיעון 10 AM – 6 PM

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Newark Airport, New Jersey, USA • HaYidion Pre-registration is required. Resigter now: http://bit.ly/P2G_Conference

The Global School Twinning Network includes over 425 Jewish schools around the world, [47] and is part of a family of programs in The Jewish Agency’s Partnership2Gether (P2G) Peoplehood Platform. [48] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion pressed by these two groups of parents ofparents bythesetwogroups pressed joined institution.Thecomments ex- munity asweworktobuildthis newly of themanychallengesfacing our com- These opposingattitudesexemplify one anymore.” whole schooldoesn’tprayatonetime cozy thatway. It’ssuchashamethatthe on the fl oorlikethey used to?It was so complained:“Whydon’ttheysit parent shesaid.Yetto thewarmth?” another “Whathappened duringservices. bored diminished, andherchildisgenerally the merger, thejoyintefi llothasbeen complainedtomethatsince parent ent boldlystated.Bycontrast,athird anotherpar-kumbaya atMirowitz,” complainaboutallofthe “My children of St.Louis. communities andReform Conservative the munity school,primarilyserving envisioned asapluralisticJewishcom- schools havemerged. Thenewentityis day andReform in whichConservative markingthefiof aventure rstinstance this year,School was born a product JewishCommunity Saul Mirowitz our youngschool. that isparamounttothedevelopmentof merger. liesanissue Behindthesewords theschool’srecent from have resulted unsettled withthechangesintefi llotthat at my school who is a parent from words itz.” Justtheotherday, these Iheard “You havetoomuchkavvanahatMirow- diversity ourschools. inall the to speaks to all acceptable practicetefillah of effortsto collaborate them andforge with anew tefillah. school about expectations conflicting Her Maayan confronted parents withhardened and ¿ byCheryl Maayan Newly Merged School Prayer a in The Keva-Kavvanah Conundrum prayer forlife. in their ownchildren gram thatwillengage while buildingapro- prayer at Mirowitz, for levels anddesires emotions, comfort to understand their trying to workcloselywithourparents, of ourmerger.at theheart We continue topraytogetherisanissue backgrounds various Bringing together families from vanah conundrum.” toas“thekeva-kav- illustrate whatIrefer that isatthesame timefascinatingand transition thisyear, athemehasemerged thathasaccompaniedour of anysort change toward the generalapprehension Along with of our conundrum. the root Unfortunately, precisely thesegoalsare less Jewishthantheirown. feel thatanotherJew’straditionisany or atempleandfeellikestranger, or hope thattheywillneverwalkintoashul ing in the variety of traditions. It is our butalsocanfistyle ofservice, ndmean- andConservative with bothaReform student notonlybecomescomfortable a community in which every to creating of our legacyschools. We committed are students totefi llotinthestylesofboth our deep-seatedgoalofexposing stemsfrom The challengeatMirowitz Background When they refer to kavvanah, they are tokavvanah, theyare When theyrefer day.that generallystaythesameevery with tunes implies a fast-paced service keva meaning oftheprayers.Inshort, todiscuss or teachthe in theservice prayer withasteadyfl ow, withnobreaks lah They talkaboutkevaasthestyleoftefi l- towhentheyusethese terms? referring parents Mirowitz to them.Sowhatare totheintentiononebrings nah refers oftheprayers,andkavva- and order tothefiKeva typicallyrefers xedwords Terminology ments. move- andConservative in theReform come todelineatethestyleoftefi llot nuance that,overtheyears,hasindeed withasmall struggling I believeweare “other.” thanthat. Ibelieveitismore withthe to changeanduncomfortable simplyresistant are seem thatparents attheirownsynagogues.Itmay services to look,soundandfeeljustlikeworship forourdayschooltefients’ desire llot issimplyourpar-vanah conundrum thatourkeva-kav- One mightsurmise value. ly aConservative value,andkevaaspredominant- Reform our familiesviewkavvanahasprimarilya Itwouldappearthatmanyof troubling. in which we recite the words of each the words in which we recite contacted at [email protected]. in St. Louis, Missouri. Shecanbe Mirowitz Jewish Community School the headofSaul Maayan is Cheryl But when did kavvanah become kumbaya?

identifying anything that leads to feelings and Conservative traditions part of our Jews must feel a deeper connection with of connection to God (and to others in regular program, not as “alternatives” to the meaning of prayer and its potential in- their community). This includes the tra- it. On Mondays and Wednesdays, some of fl uence on their lives. ditional defi nition of kavvanah, but also the tunes are more reminiscent of those has come to include other ways of creat- you’d hear in the local Conservative syna- Learning from General ing these connections: trying out differ- gogues and we say mechayyeih ha-meitim, ent tunes, having guitar music, stopping God revives the dead. On Tuesdays and Education to discuss the meaning and intent of the Thursdays, the tunes are more reminis- prayers, even just having a cozy atmo- cent of what you might hear at summer As an educator, I see parallels between sphere or swaying together. The use of camp or a Reform synagogue, and we say our keva-kavvanah conundrum and devel- the term kavvanah in this conversation mechayyeih ha-kol, God brings all things opments in secular education in America. refers to our emphasis on taking the time to life. Over the last half-century, we have come to create spirituality, even if it means not full circle in math and literacy education fi nishing all of the prayers by the 9 am A Broader View in this country. We experienced an era ending time. of throwing math fact practice out the But when did kavvanah become kum- window for the higher purpose of build- Tefillot at Our School baya? And has there ever been a value ing conceptual math. We remember the placed on keva free of kavvanah? days when the teaching of phonics was In an effort to reap the benefi ts of both of thought to be misdirected and outdated, these styles, tefi llot at Mirowitz are slight- A publication of the Solomon Schech- and cast it aside in favor of a vehemently ly different each day of the week. We de- ter Day School Network written by Dr. philosophical whole-language approach. veloped the tefi llah model for our new Saul Wachs clarifi es that it is certainly not Those of us who have been around long school after surveying many other exist- a value of the Conservative movement enough remember our passionate convic- ing Jewish community schools. At most to choose keva entirely over kavvanah. tion about conceptual math and whole community day schools around the coun- In “Towards a Theory of Practice: Con- language as the wave of the future. We try, a typical program includes a Conser- ducting Services for and with Children also remember our guilty realization that, vative service on all but one day a week. and Teens in Jewish Day Schools,” Wachs indeed, children need both facility with הידיעון This special day is often called “alternative advocates for omek, depth: “When tefi ll- concept and fl uency with fact, the rigid tefi llot day.” At Mirowitz, we felt that the ah consists of skills and little more, there keva of phonics together with the kavva- best way to retain equal respect and build comes a time when, for many pupils, skills nah of whole language. • HaYidion comfort was to make both the Reform no longer reinforce themselves.” Young [continued on page 53]

[49] [50] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion munity as a core expression intefi expression munity asacore llah. new attemptliesacommontheme: com- expand thebasicconcept.Behind each ilar selichotaswellnewexperiences to 4-8 haveeachfoundnewvenues forsim- bythe simplefactthatgrades be proven this eventcan and successsurrounding went toeighthgrade).Theexcitement inIsraeltraditionally 1-8; “elementary” School(grades perimental Elementary nual traditionintheKfarAdumimEx- This magicalhourhasbecomeanan- about thenewyear. inauniquediscussion those interested conversation)for Shacharit (morning to atraditionalprayerandSiach continues withtefi llahforthoseinclined nings, changeandprayer. Themorning Israelisongsonthethemeofbegin- ern and oldertraditions,singingmod- newer the selichot,sharingstoriesfrom of poetry) ancient piyyutim(religious teachers willjointogetherprayingthe For thenexthour, and students,parents thespring. hills surrounding the majesty of the to appreciate everyone andinvites idence) welcomesthegroup perience. Theravbetsefer(rabbi-in-res- forauniqueselichotex- have gathered the fi andteachers fthgrade,theirparents Rosh HashanahandYom Kippur, and 6 AM on one of the ten days between lies beneathKfarAdumim.Itisnearly their waytoEinFu’ar, thespringwhich slowlywending are andchildren parents overtheJudeanDesert As dawnbreaks forexperience eachgroup. tefillah the schoolhascreated a how author describes who identify asboth “religious” and “secular,”the includesstudentsBased inanIsraelithat school ¿ byAytan Kadden Community Creating through Tefillah, Tefillah through Community through the pastseveral years wehaveinvestigat- headed byprincipalAmiraPerlov, over spirituallife. Inateamspear-our shared study theimpactthatourjoint life hason agrantto perimental wing,wereceived ofEducation’sex- theMinistry Through life infl uenceourJewishexperience? living together, howdoesourshared ing withanewquestion:Beyondsimply has beeninvestigatingandexperiment- During thelastseveralyearsschool andvaluetheother.respect totolerate, tolearn backgrounds ferent familieswithdif- gether studentsfrom mandate oftheschoolwastobringto- theinitial tothisbifurcation, response a schoolthatrefl ectstheirbeliefs.Asa society oftenfi ndthemselveswithout nuancedviewofJewishIsraeli a more ligious orsecular. Familieswhoprefer todefiforced re- nethemselvesaseither schoolsare education system,staterun another. IntheIsraeli one from and learn together to respect and secular students ligious, traditional raise andeducatere- institution that would founded in1980asan Schoolwas mentary Experimental Ele- The Kfar Adumim formed. together and a sense of a community is drawn andteachersare children Parents, munity thatdo notseethemselvesas ofacom- can bedevelopedwithinparts oftefi anexpression 1) Isthere llah that thoughts andworkontefi llahare: as a compassforour that haveserved ofthecentralquestions Three more. have askedourselvesthesequestionand to delveintotefi llahascommunitywe tent ofourmeeting?Aswehavebegun the communitymeet?Whatiscon- andwhendoes our community?Where of questions ofcommunity:Whoispart behind critical the traditional expression as aplace for prayer. Minyan has been beit knessetisaplaceofmeetingaswell the community”(BTBrakhot30b).The one shouldalwaysconnectoneselfwith as theamoraAbbayesays:“[Inprayer] theprayerinpluralform, to express inal authorsoftheAmidahmadecertain seen asacommunalexperience.Theorig- Tefi llah,Jewishprayer, hasalways been of communityintefi llah. thecentrality andrediscover recognize tefi llahinourschool, wehavecome to for expression anappropriate and create community school.Aswestrivetodefi ne inandenrichamixed can beexpressed have beguntoinvestigatehowtefi llah the Jewishcalendar. Most recently, we to experiences related and shared service study,ed thisissuethrough community reached at [email protected]. School.Adumin Elementary Hecanbe and Judaicscoordinatorthe Kfar at Aytan Kaddenthe rav is sefer bet halachically obligated or spiritually con- The rav bet sefer welcomes the group and invites nected to prayer? everyone to appreciate the majesty of the hills 2) Must prayer be defined within the clas- surrounding the spring. sic parameters of venue, text and commu- nity? several years has been the Rosh Chodesh our community through prayer. Each indi- ceremony. vidual student gains a connection to his/ 3) As our community strives for spiritual her family’s cultural heritage while they growth in prayer, is there a limit to the This monthly assembly has seen varied ex- also develop a new respect for the cultures flexibility that we can afford to express pressions of teacher and student input, yet of the communities of their classmates. while remaining connected to the contin- its core has been in place since its incep- New immigrants from Ethiopia are no lon- uum of our traditions? tion: the Hallel prayer, piyyut and modern ger seen as temporary immigrant students Israeli song. Heftziba Kelner, our music staying for a year or so bussed in from their Prayers Old and New instructor, has taken upon herself the task absorption center, but as representatives of of teaching the students the Psalms of Hal- a culture that can enrich the makeup and Keeping 700 students orderly and calm lel, medieval as well as modern piyyut and prayer of our wider school community. In at an assembly in a cramped social hall modern Israeli song as part of our music this experience we have learned that prayer can be a challenge. However, when the curriculum. This educational project has can be experienced outside of the syna- first notes of Hallel are belted out, the produced moments of prayer that span gogue, can include non-canonical texts students lean forward to see which of from King David through traditional Iraqi and can bring together elements from var- their friends is the chazzan and are nat- or Ethiopian piyyut to Naomi Shemer and ied backgrounds to widen and strengthen urally swept up in the song and hand Ehud Manor. In this way we are able to our entire community. הידיעון motions that they have passed on from include and connect to the cultural tradi- month to month and year to year. One tions that reflect our varied student body. As we have learned to expand the texts of the richest expressions of community of our communal tefillah and to be more • HaYidion tefillah we have developed over the last Through this experience we have expanded [continued on page 52]

[51] [52] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion choose at the beginning of the year and whichthechildren from age groups the last fi various multi- ve years,offers in which has taken off This program, and discussion. time for introspection a communal gathering which provides elementsoftefimimicking certain llah: was developedwiththeintentionof called Siach Shacharit. The program ley Shovalwehavedevelopedaprogram to tefi llah.Under theleadershipofShir- a meaningful experience parallel create experimented withvariousoptionsto As amixed,pluralisticschoolwehave Shacharit. oftheirchoiceforSiach way togroups andfidents inamultiageforum ndtheir for tefi llah.Otherkidsmeetupwithstu- joinotherkidsintheirgrade the children for long. Some of stay in the classroom However,their homerooms. theydonot cajoling thestudentsmaketheirwayto alittlebit(orlot)of With scotch court. kicking goalsandskippingonthehop- basketballs, rebounding the playground of KfarAdumimcanbefoundtogetherin As thebellringsat8o’clockstudents and twoshulswouldnotbesobad… Jew andtwoshuls,soperhaps700kids We allfamiliarwiththejokeofone are and Beyond Two ShulsonOneIsland… students. ofourcommunity—the ening thecore community ofprayerwhilestrength- expandingthe further versation weare connections totefi llahinourwidercon- andtheir Byincludingtheparents dren? the fi rsttimetogetherwiththeirchil- experiencingfor inandare participated hood, orperhapssomethingtheynever their child- from their lives, a memory means to them. Is tefi in llahapresence thequestionofwhattefiaround llah ticipate inaworkshopwhichcentered topar-durim, weinvitedtheirparents oursecondgraderswithsid- to present forgotten. Whilepreparing frequently members ofaschoolcommunitythatare natural toincludeparents, also learned inclusive ofawidercommunitywehave [continued from page 51] for the group. for thegroup. closing toeachsession,a“setprayer” has beeninstitutedasanopeningor apoemorsong groups incertain more, for richandvariedoptions.Further- providing on theirhobbiesandinterests based acurriculum couraged tocreate Teachersattend each morning. en- are expressions ofcommunity.expressions clude varied spiritual explorations and boundaries of traditional tefi llah toin- expandingthe communities whichare and newgroups creating lah. Theyare tefiin afullerexperiencesurrounding l- ested intraditionaltefi llahastheyare andinter- equallycomfortable who are ing theschool.Intheseweseepeople atthecommunitiessurround- particular attention onIsraelisocietytodayandin For our nextstepswehave focused our andstudents. challenge thestaff ingful prayeronadailybasiscontinuesto er tefi inamean- llah,engagingchildren arich- some oftheseideashaveproduced to leadtefi llahwithherstudents.While al questionsshewillbebetterequipped er hasaskedherselfmeaningful, spiritu- as individuals.We believethatifateach- designed toallowthemdiscoverprayer engagingteachersinworkshops ly weare about tefi Current- llah,andmuchmore. personal siddur, Q+A prayerjournals, with varioustools:songandstories,a experimenting (as somany others have) we havefound ourselves constantly realm our traditionaltefi llahaswell.Inthis energies into tive, wehaveinvestedfresh successofthisalterna- Due tothegreat within ourselves. andstudents!) (both amongthestaff nities within our school and newvoices new commu- iment we have discovered success. In this exper-Shacharit a great have made Siach and multi-age groups of avariedbeginningtotheday, choice, stories and other topics. The elements events,chasidic crafts,current erature, music,lit- in thecommunitygarden, thatfocusonworking between groups Over the years students have chosen sation andmeaningfulexperiences. engagedinopenconver-atmosphere, inacalm day inaselfselectedgroup, the In thesemeetingsthestudentsstart with thechallenge oftefi llah. andwrestle we willcontinuetocreate ance toothers.Overthenext fewyears munity andcanbeofassistance andguid- es andexperiencesthatenrich ourcom- approach- that wehavedevelopedcertain We theendofaprocess. reached hope We do not imagine that we have certainly community. limits andguidelinesoftefi llahinour the ofthatweseektoexplore outgrowth lend theiruniquevoicetotefi llah.Asan engagingteachersto experiment we are our community. Finallyinourcurrent and text in additionto strengthening questionsofvenue of prayer considered selichot andRoshChodeshwehavere- uniqueexperiences such as In creating work thatrefl ectselementsoftefi llah. tive totefi llahwhilemaintainingaframe- analterna- thatprovides velop aprogram Siach Shacharitwehaveattemptedtode- earlier.the questionspresented Through tograpplewith ourefforts have shared we theexamples described here Through our larger community. within gether newvoicesandgroups to- will combinetheseworldstocreate will takecharge inSiachandstillothers lead thewayintraditionaltefi llah,others school community. will children Certain within the broader spiritual expression to give new dents with the opportunity over uniformity, ourstu- wecanprovide shul, butseveral.Bychoosing plurality notone our community—byforming experiences. We wouldnowliketoenrich didnotmingleduringthose two groups and oneforsiach.Formanyyears,the had twoshuls—one for traditionalprayer our community. Inthepastweindeed ofthepluralityvoicesin the nature questioning In thisexperimentweare ty, andmuchmore. andnationalidenti- communal, religious guided imagery, to dialoguerelating the twosides: piyyut, meditation,song, of expressions that canincludedifferent in-between siach—with manyalternatives traditionaltefitunities—from llahtoopen dents. We ofoppor- envisionaspectrum thismodelforourstu- like toprovide refl ectourwidercommunity. We would We believethattefi llahinschoolmust ¿ Prayer in a Newly Merged School

[continued from page 49] to guard the keva. This kind of vigilance to safeguard the balance between the two. Surely there is much to be learned from is also our duty in day schools. We need the evolving philosophy of general stud- to do more than just invite in community Our students should be able not only to ies education. Children—and Jews of all clergy to lead our children in prayer. We recite the prayers, but to articulate that ages—need both keva and kavvanah. No need to do more than just try to “hire the like Balaam who first uttered the words day school educator hopes to raise a Jew right person” and appoint them to take mah tovu, we have the power to turn our who puts on tefillin at minyan every morn- care of that part of the day. Indeed, our curses into blessings. Like Miriam and ing but who mindlessly recites the prayers students must achieve a comfort level with the children of Israel who proclaimed mi with no heart. Likewise, no day school the structure, the tunes and the flow of khamokha, we should sing songs of joy hopes that their graduates will grow up to traditional Jewish prayer. for our freedom. And, as we are remind- be unfamiliar with the basic prayer service ed in avot ve-imahot, we should strive to found in any Jewish setting. But with equal diligence, we must also be have a unique relationship with God. The guardians of kavvanah. Day school stu- fixed prayers children say in the morning Self-Reflection dents (and educators!) are incredibly for- should lead them to behave with kindness, tunate. We get to start each of our school ethics and integrity throughout their day. How do we accomplish excellence in sec- days with depth and meaning. We have the ular education today? We show a full com- opportunity to converse with the Divine We are on a journey at Saul Mirowitz Jew- mitment to both facts and concepts, and and allow the prayers to teach us how we ish Community School to create a practical we balance one with the other. Each is our should behave throughout our day, how definition of pluralism in our tefillot. We goal, and we measure our success through we should interact with our community hope to infuse children with both skills and targeted practice and assessment. We at- and how we can strengthen our relation- omek—keva and kavvanah—and to con- tend professional development for each ship with God. Abraham Joshua Heschel tinually nurture our students’ growth and of those skills, and stretch our academic taught us that the very act of prayer can deepen their love of Judaism. Our journey program year after year. bring about holiness. is far from complete, and we are proceeding with our eye on the future of the Jewish When was the last time we attended a pro- As educators, it is our duty to bring togeth- community, a commitment to self-reflec- fessional workshop on excellence in tefil- er the worlds of keva and kavvanah—and tion, and a desire to achieve excellence. ¿ lot? When was the last time we stated our goals for skill devel- opment and content knowl- edge of prayers? Have we conducted an in-depth study Teelah of different prayer options, or Engage your students in with did we just create a list? How award-winning books! many of us closely supervise our tefillot programs? Are we inclined to delegate this sa- EKS P   cred responsibility to a “prayer H   specialist,” or outsource it to community clergy?     .

Vision of the Future

It is our duty to be both cus- todians of keva and generators of kavvanah.

A Mirowitz parent who is a Conservative rabbi recently told me that his synagogue הידיעון clergy meets weekly to talk www.ekspublishing.com about “what tunes will NOT 1-877-HEBREW change in services that week.” • HaYidion The purpose of this practice is

[53] [54] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion the inquiry paradigmandmethodology the inquiry we mustuseourimaginations to extend availableforgeneralstudies; are sources the school. Awealthofre- throughout development tocurriculum approach as a pedagogical as we embrace inquiry overthepastseveralyears, citing journey Our dayschoolhasembarkedonanex- areas. borne inthisandothersubject richfruit have inquiry ences in teaching through teaching tefi llah! recent experi- Yet our howtoapproach unsure wonder weare and sustainstheJewishcommunity?No that enrichestheirlivesandthus develop asenseofattachmenttoprayer How doweencourageourstudentsto ofjoyandgrowth? meaningful, asource that studentsfirelevant and ndprayer so thelearning How dowestructure tional spectrum. thedenomina- synagogues throughout canbefoundin who doattendservices their bneimitzvahyears,whilethose outside ofschooluntiltheyapproach students havenocontactwithprayer Amajorityofour teacher background. by differ agogic goalsandapproaches theped- intellects andhearts, with alert competence combined rote skills require abstract yetfraughtwithsignifi cance,the discussingtefifrom llah.Thetopicfeels sponsible people,butweoftenshyaway asfriendsandre- our studentstogrow we refl ectonthewaysweencourage conversations about Torah and Hebrew, wecharge into spiral ofourcurriculum, to reflreview the ect onourpractice and time out precious politan Seattle, carve school, theJewishDaySchoolofMetro- When Judaicstudiesteachersatour Here’s asolutionemployed by oneschool. time for andstrongfinding it pedagogical methods. Schools oftentefillah— the study of with struggle Messinger andSuzanne ¿ byBethFine TefillahIyyun Through community? the Jewish andsustains thus enriches lives and their to prayer sense ofattachment enriches that How dowe encourageto ourstudents develop a their progress andwork. their progress for inthelearner a senseofresponsibility skillsandcreating personal andresearch developing thinking,inter-the process, activelyin cuses onengagingthelearner path fo- learning world. This structured ing meaningaboutthemselvesandthe inconstruct- ing thatguideslearners oflearn- isaprocess belief thatinquiry cycle units. Theinquiry work todesignandimplementteaching frame- Connections) asthecurriculum fi inClassroom nedbyKathMurdoch cycle(asde- At JDSweusetheinquiry er schoolsthatmaybeonasimilarpath. prayer andopenaconversationwithoth- toexamine two unitswhichuseinquiry to inquiry,approach the outline of share ofour wegiveanoverview this article understanding aswellprayerskills.In teaching iyyuntefi llah,afocusondeep into into Judaicstudiesandinparticular the Eyes of Inquiry is basedonthe question guides our learning through through question guides ourlearning thecontent.Each tions whichstructure the essentialques- Next, wepresent for studyingtheAmidah, example. ing blessingscouldeasilybe adapted specifi ccasestudy—theunitonbuild- a signifi cantidea.Thistranscends the gin withanenduringunderstanding, that endShabbat.(Seesidebar.) We be- eating, andHavdallah,thesetofprayers fi llah:BirkatHaMazon,theprayerafter grade on two pieces of te- units in third We havedeveloped acoupleofinquiry and takeactionintheworld. theirlearning toshare a responsibility come toseetheirwork as signifi cant,feel toothers.Students learning self-directed their developing theskillstopresent them, thatmostinterest and pursueareas think criticallyaboutideas.Theynotice taughttoaskquestionsand Students are ing theirownthoughtswithconfi dence. valuing eachother’sideaswhileexpress- practicing listeningtoeachotherand They workintwosandsmallgroups, doing rather than listening. through and witheachother, buildingmeaning Students engageactivelywithmaterial and bfi[email protected]. can bereached at [email protected] School ofMetropolitan Seattle. They coachthe Jewish Dayinstructional at third gradethe teacher and is Judaics elementary education andBethFine the director of Suzanne Messingeris texts and other resources, active engage- ments, burning questions and reflections Two Lessons on Tefillah Using the Inquiry Model on learning. Each inspires activities that encourage students to think, experience, First Unit: Building Blessings practice, challenge and integrate the em- bedded skills and concepts. Essential Understanding

The inquiry cycle is made up of 7 stages: Blessings, including Birkat HaMazon, the blessing after eating, are meant to fill our tuning in, finding out, sorting out, draw- Jewish lives with awareness and thankfulness. This can happen when we are aware of ing conclusions, going further, taking the meaning, the structure and the intention that builds a blessing. action and reflecting. This learning cycle lends itself to meaningful study of prayer. Essential Questions

The first essential question of each unit • When do I experience thankfulness and appreciation? How do I show that? sets the stage for tuning in. It is purpose- • What is a blessing? What are the parts of a blessing? fully designed to give the students the op- • How do blessings express thankfulness and appreciation? portunity to make connections between • How do we chant and understand Birkat HaMazon? themselves and the enduring understand- • How does Jewish tradition offer guidelines for eating? ing. In these two units, these questions • What is our responsibility to make the phrase “give food to all” come true? initiate learners to engage in prayer: how does this text connect to me, how is it rel- Second Unit: Walking the Lines of Time evant or significant for me? The goal of tuning in is that on the very first day of Essential Understanding the unit, each student can begin to feel how the topic is relevant and meaningful We make time holy by setting special moments apart and recognizing the transition to him or her. Students make connections from regular to holy and back again. and their connections get at the why rath- er than the what of a unit. Essential Questions

The next essential questions are designed • Why do we need separations and lines in time? to guide both the teacher and students • What does “kadosh” or “holy” mean? What makes time holy? through new, shared learning experienc- • How do Shabbat and Havdallah interrelate? es. Finding out is an invitation for stu- • How do we observe Havdallah? dents to construct new knowledge and • How can we share our learning? understanding of the topic. Teachers give students the opportunity to explore sev- eral resources and participate in a variety of learning engagements. These include Each question inspires activities that guest speakers, field trips, hands-on ex- encourage students to think, experience, plorations, books, magazine articles, movies and Internet resources. Teachers practice, challenge and integrate the choose engagements that actively involve embedded skills and concepts. students by allowing them time to explore and observe, make choices and engage in The cycle then moves into finding out from teaching students a prayer in a rote conversation. and sorting out, when the learner devel- manner and then asking them to sing it ops new understanding and skills in rela- back as proof of learning. Here we grap- For example, in the Building Blessings tion to the topic—in this case, learning ple with big ideas, with philosophical di- unit, the teacher scattered different bless- how to chant and understand the prayer. lemmas, with the reasons for prayer, with ings around the room. Students walked During the going further stage, students our own doubts and hopes. from blessing to blessing reading them, discuss and research their and their class- using a T-chart with the categories “I mates’ questions. Using the inquiry cycle Throughout the inquiry cycle, teachers think / I wonder.” This encouraged stu- both structures and deepens the teaching. provide opportunities for their students dents to notice what they already knew Each activity builds on the last, allowing to ask and record their burning questions. הידיעון about blessings and what their questions students to organize their own thoughts When an engagement or discussion sparks were at that point in the learning. These and the newly acquired knowledge in a a question that warrants further discus- questions were then used to guide peer- useful manner, and then asks students to sion or research, students affix it to the • HaYidion to-peer and class discussions. use that knowledge. This is very different [continued on page 57]

[55] Reshet RAVSAK Meets and Greets at the Conference

his year has seen the creation School Conference provided a won- fieldwide conversations taking place of several peer networks, or derful backdrop for Reshet RAVSAK in various media. reshets (reshatot in Hebrew), participants to get to know each oth- enablingT leaders at RAVSAK schools er in person. RAVSAK hosted recep- Several new varieties of Reshet RAV- to share their initiative, wisdom and tions for Reshet HoS and JD, as well SAK are in development, including experience, thus leveraging the pow- as a separate get-together for board Reshet SuLaM for alumni of this pre- er of our network for the benefit of members in the newly formed Resh- miere program. We invite and encour- all our schools. These networks have et Board. Additionally, Reshet ECE age you to leap into the network(s) flourished at a distance, primarily hosted a conversation over breakfast. most appropriate to your work. If you through listservs buzzing with con- Each of these gatherings presented have an idea for a reshet you’d like versations and conference calls rich an opportunity for people to make to help create, email Reshet@ravsak. in content. personal connections with peers, fos- org to share your suggestion. Learn, tering greater comfort and familiarity teach, and take part in the excitement The North American Jewish Day among schools that will enhance the of Reshet RAVSAK! ¿ הידיעון HaYidion • HaYidion [56] [continued from page 55] with your learning? How will you show fighting hunger. burning questions board. These ques- what you know, share it with your com- tions then become the starting point for munity or take action in response? We hope that this discussion has sparked rich classroom discussions and indepen- your thinking about how teaching dent research in the going further stage The final question in the Building Bless- through inquiry could enrich your teach- of the inquiry cycle. ings Unit asks, What is our responsibili- ing of iyyun tefillah. One of the most ty to make the phrase “give food to all” powerful elements of our school’s trans- In the Walking the Lines of Time unit, come true? Last year the third grade class formation over the last several years has students came up with some of the fol- decided to raise money for a local charity been the power of collaboration. We lowing questions: Why are the five senses that fights hunger by having a craft and come together in a room to dream about used in the Havdallah blessings? How bake sale. The class determined tasks that enduring understandings, the big ideas does fire remind us of God? What would needed to be accomplished and broke we want our students to encounter, as help me have a good week? What is a into groups. One group researched local well as the case studies that would illus- Messiah? Who was Elijah? How come charities and made a recommendation to trate that big question. We work through there is so much wine in Jewish tradition? the class. Another gathered recipes and creating essential questions, the road How is wine made? ingredients, so we could bake goodies in map of the learning process. the school kitchen. One of the most exciting parts of the We are confident that our practice would inquiry cycle occurs when students have A third collected materials and created be enriched by ideas from other schools, completed their shared learning experi- crafts. One group worked on advertis- and similarly hope to have something ences. The taking action phase asks learn- ing, writing a blog and creating posters. we could contribute to your school’s ers to do something with the learning, Other students priced all the crafts and growth. We think that putting our heads whether acting in the world, sharing the treats, brought in change and kept track together and collaborating with other learning with others or pursuing areas of of the profits. Our class raised $700 for like-minded faculties on developing in- interest and questions which arose. The an organization called Hopelink. This quiry units in iyyun tefillah would be an teacher asks, What next? Now that you year’s class may choose a different way exciting and potentially rewarding en- are experts in this topic, what will you do to take action and partner with God in deavor. Join us? ¿

Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) works closely with Jewish day schools and community organizations to customize an Israel experience that meets the school’s and organization’s educational philosophy and goals. AMHSI offers campus-based programs, travel programs, creative itineraries and committed educators who bring Israel’s history to life. Through AMHSI, teens discover, explore and embrace their connection to Judaism as well as the people and culture of Israel. הידיעון • HaYidion To learn more, contact: Hindie Fried, Director of Operations 212.472.9300 x-185/ [email protected] www.amhsi.org [57]

HSI1007 Half Page Ad.indd 1 11/29/11 1:22 PM [58] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion source of leading and learning. From From of leading and learning. source TKI, tefiThrough llahhasbecomethe perimental tefi llot fortheircommunity. experientialandex- modalities tocreate skills, anddeveloputilizea varietyof tefi andpractice leadership llah, acquire aboutJewishtextsand chosen tolearn are motivated to make a difference are year to year,ago. From students who the Tefi llahKehillah Institute fi veyears ty JewishHighSchoolinLAestablished tunity. To thatend,theNewCommuni- tefiaddressing llahasaleadershipoppor- One way we can achieve this change is by andreal. over itandtomakerelevant must empowerthemtotakeownership spective aboutthisvaluablepractice,we engage intefi llahandtochangetheirper- ever, ouryouthto toinspire inorder skillswithinaJewishcontext.How- tury todevelop21st cen- stant opportunities or monthly, tefi schoolscon- llahoffers lenges. Whetherscheduleddaily, weekly chal- to meet real-world their learning but also “literacy,” the ability to apply knowledge Students donotneedmerely pected toimpart. ex- andweare expectedtoacquire, are onlysomeoftheskillsourstudents are and imagination,agilityadaptability laboration andcommunication,curiosity solving,col- ical thinkingandproblem Crit- clude theseskillsinthecurriculum. advisedtoin- changes. Educatorsare skills” andourneedtoadjustthese muchtalkabout“21st century brought The lastfewyearsineducationhave tefillah. throughinitiative for leadershipskills to students learn meaning anddevelop engagement. Rosner an describes effectivethe most isoneof tefillah waysto find forthem givingstudents overthat ownership Studies show ¿ byYonatan Rosner Chiefs of Tens: Leadership Opportunity ate theirownparadigms ofJewishprayer. andletthemloosetocre- sources mary weexposethemtodataandpri- truth, solutions totefi llahandacceptthemas on our (sometimes unsuccessful) rely Instead ofhavingthestudents proach. andmulti-modalap- on aconstructivist principleoftheTKI,whichisbased core allow them to makemistakes.This is a and ers, wegivethemguidedfreedom aslead- andallowthemtogrow process involvestudentsinthis totruly In order nity members. to becomeactivelycontributingcommu- practical applicationoftheirstudiesbut skill of the important only to acquire spirituality, weenablethestudentsnot another dayschooltoengageinJewish youngerstudentsat Aging ortoinspire bat inthenearbyJewishHomefor to lead Kabbalat Shab- responsibility and themtheopportunity By affording thecommunityasawhole. strengthens ing experience and riches their learn- en- leaders provide that these student The tefi llahservice tefi llotintheschool. tional and faculty-led upon tefi llot which expand ingful student-led The communitybenefi themean- tsfrom leadingforthepurposeoflearning. are the educator’s perspective, they From forthepurposeofleading. learning are the perspectiveofstudents,they the more tradi- the more Tefillah as a essary skills to solve the problem athand. skillstosolvetheproblem essary edge abouttefi thenec- llahandacquire themtoobtaindeeperknowl- inspires challenge,which to thisreal-pragmatic inresponse ofinquiry extended process an thestudentsgothrough vironment, munity. en- learning Inthisproject-based com- studentbodyandthegreater entire tefi llahsessionfortheirclassmates,the ating an experiential and experimental withthecomplextaskofcre- provided tefitowards llahchangesoncetheyare ourstudentsknowandfeel Everything himself/herself. In the storming stage, himself/herself. Inthestorming of that calling by the leader recognition beginswith acalltoleadandthe role leadership Our textsteachusthatevery odus 3:4-10) My people,theIsraelites,fromEgypt.” (Ex- Moses!” Heanswered, “Here Iam.”“Free God called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Storming oftheprogram. attheheart are leadership skills which 21st century core stage, thestudentsdevelopandpractice self-refl through growing ection.In each and performing norming, ing, forming, acycleof(brain)storm- session through andreflate, perform ectontheirtefi llah the experience.Next,studentscre- in munity memberswhowillpartake cluding thedate,lengthandcom- framework ofagiventefi llahsessionin- the beginsbypresenting The process reached at [email protected]. in West Hills, California. Hecanbe New Community Jewish HighSchool the teacher at as aJudaicstudies KehillahT’fillah Institute, andworks the leadershipprogramdirector of Yonatan Rosnerthe founder is and the students start to explore their audience in order to find the balance between the needs and wants of this community. The class discusses the theme they would like to focus on and the message they might want to convey. Students develop their communication skills; they learn how to listen actively, to build upon the ideas of their peers and to articulate their own thoughts.

Forming

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt? What shall I say to them?” “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh.” (Exodus 3:11-14)

Leaders must become aware of their own merits but also recognize what they still need to learn. This is the time to learn for the purpose of leading. In the forming stage, the students develop a variety of te- fillah components to allow them to convey their message and create a spiritual experience for the community. In order to do so, the students recognize that they must first deepen their knowledge and improve their leadership skills. The task invites exploration of Jewish texts rel- evant to the theme and message, to be introduced by the teacher and explored by the entire class.

Then the students often divide into smaller groups. Each group ad- dresses a different aspect of the themes that the texts generate and creates a component relevant to the needs and wants of the commu- nity. This process provokes the students’ curiosity and motivates them to claim ownership over their own learning process. Their awareness extends outward from themselves to the others they wish to lead.

Norming

“I have never been a man of words… Make someone else Your agent!” “There is your brother Aaron…he shall speak for you to the people.” (Ex- odus 4:1-16)

A true leader does not need to know everything. She surrounds herself with resourceful and skillful advisors who help her make the right deci- sions. It is the process of leading others while learning from those you lead. Now that the students have a good idea about each component that they would like to utilize, they reach out beyond the TKI group to seek additional students and professionals with whom to collaborate.

Involving others in creating a tefillah not only guarantees that the ses- sion will be relevant to the majority of the community, but also allows the student leaders to introduce tefillah through a variety of modalities. Using meditation or yoga techniques to create a state of mindfulness, art and visuals to broaden or change people’s perspectives, and using music to encourage participation are some examples of modes to enrich and enhance the tefillah experience. Given that the student leaders are not always masters of such techniques, guest speakers, artists, musicians, faculty members or even proficient students can lead workshops for the TKI group and partake in the leading of the session for the community. הידיעון By the end of this stage, the groups assemble all their different ideas and components into one cohesive session outline. The students must be flexible as they adapt all the pieces into one coherent whole. • HaYidion [continued on page 67]

[59] [60] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion Action research isareflAction research in ective process their abilitytolead. canhaveon and theimpactthatsupport minyan leaders need and want support focusingonthe do someactionresearch Educator Pardes I decided to s Program, ofthe the encouragementandsupport andhelpminyanleaders.With direct canimpact, asaminyancoordinator role howmy thisinmind,Iwondered With given. no gradesare during minyan,otherthanbehavior, as student accountabilityforwhathappens with humans.Thisiscoupledlittle let aloneaGodwhohearsandinteracts withany conception ofGod, struggle ish prayerorJewishspirituality. Most Jew- generally disengaged with formal tempting toengagestudentswhoare four daysaweekfor30-40minutesat- challenges theyface?Theymeetstudents theminyan leadersandtheunique port self, inwhatotherwayscanIhelpsup- logistics, I needed to ask my- Aside from etc. whichrooms, ing where, go- ening minyanim,whichstudentsare choice, whatisthefocusofnon-dav- students cansignupfortheirminyan leadingaminyan,how teachers are tainly alogisticalone.Ifi outwhich gure iscer- as a minyan coordinator My role minyan leaders? wecangive support about appropriate al disciplineissue.Yet wethinking are development, andperhapstheoccasion- student motivation,howtoassessskill thinking aboutgoalsoftheminyanim, In theworldoftefi always llah,weare approach. and growthis capacity. in hisschool’s discusses Margrett to reflect, forteachers structures time andsupport learn prepared;teachers are least few yet schoolsprovidethe many schools,At leadingminyantask for isa which Margrett ¿ byReuven Leaders Minyan Supporting needed amongalldayschools. useful,applicableand are lessons learned I believe the to this small-scale research, somelimitations are change. Whilethere inthat whileactivelyparticipating search or makeachange,andconductsre- which apersonseekstosolveproblem Teachers want collaborationandidea Support task becomesthatmucheasier. thentheirmostdiffiately supported cult appropri- system. Ifminyanleadersare support to seekwaysdeveloparobust minyanleadersand offering theyare port thespecifiadministrators toreview csup- Itisincumbentonall of suchsupport. thegiverorreceiver whether youare of foster among colleagues, regardless can support that appropriate difference met.Asteachersweallknowthe were oftheabovegoals guidance, allthree and alittlebitofstructure receiving leaders surprisedme.With The results them. affecting changes were themtoseehowthe orinterview naires teachers Iwouldgivethemquestion- After meetingswith confic) bemore dent. experiences. ofteaching repertoire their b) increase a) bebetterprepared. to helpminyanleaders ascoordinator my role on howIcoulduse focused My research come from it. come from ing on,andmajorthemes ideas that work- a) Theprayerstheminyanimwere would discuss: focusingon.We wewere of curricula thepiece the meetingwastogothrough weeks andlastedonehour. Theaimof two or three yan meeting that met every establishment ofafi xed9thgrademin- the above was What the emerged from Minyan meetings their repertoire. even themostexperiencedcandevelop theveterans, and amountfrom great a chef. Noviceminyanleaderscanlearn posite isunpalatableforall,includingthe sult whichmostenjoy, theop- whereas with them.Successmeansaflre- avorful youhaveandhowtowork ingredients youneedtoknowthe art: like culinary know whatworks.Leadingminyanfeels Some havehadyearsofexperienceand thepeoplewholeadminyan. school are assetswehaveinour Among thegreatest sharing.) larger minyanissuesandnotforidea leaders, but the time was used to discuss general minyanmeetingsforall studentmotivation.(Weincrease had and activitiestoengagestudents about having good ideas concerned Minyanleaderswere in theclassroom. activitiestodo andrelevant appropriate practicalideasof sharing, particularly [email protected]. in Detroit. Hecanbereached at the Frankelat Jewish Academy Sefer arts HaChinuchandscribal educates students inMishnah, the minyan program and Rabbi Reuven Margrett coordinates b) Suggestions about how to turn those ideas into classroom activities. Leading minyan feels like culinary art: you need to know the ingredients you have and In an attempt to formalize the discus- sion I created a Google doc entitled how to work with them. Success means a “The Big Book of Tefillah Ideas.” We flavorful result which most enjoy. would look at a particular brakhah with siddurim in front of us, brainstorm ideas these meetings were a waste of time, and cret tzaddik didn’t work the first time— that come from the brakhah, and then even further some began to feel that this not focused enough instructions. Worked come up with minyan activities that meetings were essential to help them be second time.” The meetings gave minyan teach those ideas to the students. While competent minyan leaders. leaders the support they needed in order the minyan leaders discussed their ideas, to try, and fail. I typed them up onto a projected white- Collaboration board. Previously the minyan leaders had dis- The collaboration during the meetings played a certain tunnel vision. They were I was surprised how a change of focus allowed for new ways of looking at how concerned only about their own minyan, from the normal meeting agenda (an- to teach tefillah. Oftentimes ideas de- and they didn’t have time to discuss with nouncements, issues, new ideas, plan- rived not from one person but from other minyan leaders unless there was a ning, etc.) to more practical outcomes the combined energies in the room. big issue. The focused meetings created changed the effects of such meetings. After one meeting where we brainstormed the time for positive open discussions al- Rather than minyan leaders mere- the 13th blessing of Amidah (concerning lowing genuine creativity that was authen- ly knowing more logistics, or having tzaddikim, the righteous) and came up tic, rather than forced. Minyan leaders thought about minyan ideas that may or with the idea of doing a “secret tzaddik” were also encouraged by the support they הידיעון may not happen, they were coming away activity (like secret Santa, or gamad- found in their colleagues and the realiza- with practical, relevant materials, ideas im), one minyan did the activity in their tion that the other minyanim were not and activities that they could use in their classroom. In the following meeting one perfect. This meant that risk-taking was • HaYidion minyan. Due to this, no one thought teacher gave the following feedback: “Se- [continued on page 66]

[61] [62] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion holiday programming, butunlike other holiday programming, changed forspecialRoshChodesh and nies onFridays,andthedaily schedule upforKabbalat Shabbatceremo- dressed not heldduringtheschoolday. Students were services ularly scheduledreligious Zionists andHebraistsinthe1940s.Reg- Academywasfoundedbysecular Barrack not included. development. Spiritualdevelopmentwas and onaffirming eachstudent’s moral young leadership cellence, on promoting academic ex- has focused on nurturing years, theschool’sStatementofMission old missionofourschool.Overthe ofthe65year- not necessarilybeenpart however wemightunderstandit,had that Jewish development, also realized When wethoughtabouttheissue, their children. the basisofJewishdevelopment ourschoolon ents wouldrecommend to which par- in the degree peer group ofour that weplacedinthebottomthird To ourdisappointment,wealsolearned highly.ents ratedourwritingprogram thatourpar- tabulated,welearned were byPEJE. Whentheresults supported by Measuring Success and administered developed and pated in a national survey partici- afterourparents began shortly of school.) Discussions the start before heldinthemorning services voluntary (Previously,support. only were there involvementand we wouldneedparent lot duringtheschoolday, weknewthat thepossibilityofhavingtefito explore l- lation ofpolicy. Whenourschoolbegan nity shouldbeinvolvedwiththeformu- andtheextendedcommu- which parents overtheextentto Schools oftenstruggle identity. bound upwithissuesoffamily andcommunity and rewardingtefillah,the area of in whichisoften formulating valuable schoolpolicycanbeespecially fraughtWhile withpitfalls, engaging parents in KrugerLevingston¿ byJudd Prayers Parents’ Answering • • • • following areas: Jewish development,wesettledonthe tempted toclarifyourunderstandingof several conversationsinwhichweat- any better than we did, and after term didnotunderstandthe ents probably thatpar- cametorealize The taskforce individual. also wasasuccessfullydevelopedJewish graduate led ustoaskifouridealBarrack identity development.Ourdiscussions itto lectual development.Othersrelated andintel- toJewishlearning it asrelated development; others saw with religious velopment.” Somesawitassynonymous onthedefiagreed nitionof“Jewishde- that nobody learned quickly The taskforce years. just anothercoupleof again in administered wouldbe PEJE survey knew thatthesame sense, too,becausewe make good business Itwould our parents. to meetthehopesandexpectationsof suffi ourprogram could improve ciently dataandtoseeifwe tions ofthesurvey theimplica- toprobe to leadataskforce ofJewishstudies,Iwasasked As director include timefordailyservices. Jewish dayschools,thescheduledidnot Conversational Hebrew tency withhomeritualpractices Developing familiarityandcompe- Knowledge ofJewishhistory andchesed days) (chesed projects incommunityservice Participating bined the numbers of parents placing a bined thenumbers ofparents home ritualpractices.When we com- about synagogueskillsand that theycare tothem.We important were alsolearned ofthe schoolday as part gious services reli- indicated thatregular our parents of highrankings,aboutathird received all and “KnowledgeofJewishhistory” Israel,” ish,” “Identifying with modern While “FeelinggoodaboutbeingJew- than60%ofour parents. more es from We respons- pleasedtoreceive were cess inachievingthem. andtoratetheschool’ssuc- these areas, questions: toranktheirprioritiesamong justtwo askedrespondents This survey also surveyed). cent alumniandjuniorsseniorswere (re- opinioninasecondsurvey parent cided toopenthedooronceagain de- Jewish development,thetaskforce Having settledonanunderstandingof • • • • • • • • • [email protected]. Schools. Hecanbereached at Adolescents inPublicandPrivate Character: MoralThe Education of the Seedsof the author ofSowing Mawr,in Bryn Pennsylvania, andis at JackM. Barrack Hebrew Academy asdirector ofJewish studies serves Rabbi JuddKrugerLevingston PhD Identifying with modern Israel Identifying withmodern moralandsocialchoices mature tomake Drawing onJewishsources Feeling goodaboutbeingJewish lical andrabbinictexts instudyingbib- Achieving expertise cal andrabbinictexts Developing skillsforstudyingbibli- sonal Jewishtheology Developing personalfaithandaper- tency withsynagogueskills Developing familiarityandcompe- oftheschoolday part prayeras inregular Participating thinkers inJewishphilosophy Exploring centralideasandmajor priority on these three goals, we felt con- pray. As a Jewish educator, I told them, celebrating the bar or bat mitzvah with fident that a significant number of our I could not use my position in the school the school community. parents would be supportive of an effort to require that anybody pray. At the same to bring tefillot into our school day. time, I explained, the school leadership What have we learned from involving our felt that it was not unreasonable to ask parents in tefillot? Many of our students were asking for dai- that students at a Jewish day school be- ly tefillot as well. A large number of our come familiar with formal Jewish prayer When framing the scope and goals of a te- students come to us as ninth graders from as a part of their education. fillah program, it was very helpful to have other Jewish day schools, and many have a joint parent-staff task force deployed to expressed regret at missing the special To address this concern, we formulated a explore the issues, to consider areas of re- connection that they felt from participat- scheme that led to the acceptance of tefill- sistance, and to develop strategies. It was ing in Jewish rituals and prayers in their ah among some of the more resistant par- essential that the task force had gathered former schools. ents. Students were asked to sign up for parent insights through the survey so one trimester in a siddur-based Shacharit that we can continue to refer to that data With a new head of school and a support- group and for two trimesters of any other as questions come up about the role of ive board, our school leadership felt that group that would please them. No more Shacharit in the school. it had sufficient mandate to move forward than ten or fifteen students (less than 5%) with plans to have Shacharit services on of our students asked to be released from Once a minyan or Shacharit program is Monday and Thursday mornings. Having the siddur-based group, so we have strong launched, many parents may be willing to Shacharit services as part of the school attendance both in our regular minyanim help make a minyan. Some parents may day became part of a shift in school cul- (Orthodox/mechitzah, middle school even look to their children’s school for ture that was supported by the board, egalitarian, upper school egalitarian, and a minyan if they are saying Kaddish and many of the parents, the administration, explanatory) and in our other reflection don’t have time to get to a shul. the teachers, and, ultimately, by the ma- groups. jority of students as well. Parents are willing to support the school’s Students in the different reflection groups efforts to educate students about tefillot Because we knew that a number of par- practice yoga or guided imagery, make and to have tefillot constitute an import- ents might oppose this shift, I led two art, listen to music from different tradi- ant element in the school’s educational open discussions about tefillot for parents tions, write in their journals, read dra- program when they are assured that their and several with students as well. Some matic scripts that raise theological, phil- sons and daughters are not going to be of the parents were vociferously opposed osophical and moral issues, and listen to “forced to pray.” to Shacharit services, citing the school’s literature that raises moral issues. These mission as they understood it, asking why groups have emerged from teacher initia- When they are allowed to choose some services were more valuable than biolo- tive. Teachers are encouraged to offer a of the terms of their engagement, stu- gy, English or Jewish studies classes that Shacharit group that relates to their in- dents are willing to accept and buy into could shape a student’s intellect and mor- terests. a program with tefillot when it is cast as reflection time, as a gift, as time for en- As a Jewish educator, I could not use my position richment, and, yes, also as an opportunity to connect with God and with the com- in the school to require that anybody pray. At the munity. same time, it was not unreasonable to ask that Schools looking to begin or strengthen students at a Jewish day school become familiar a program of tefillot can benefit from in- with formal Jewish prayer. volving parents in multiple ways as we did through a survey, through focus groups, al development. One parent felt that it We still face the ongoing challenge of and through a task force that was charged should not be the business of the school maintaining our Tuesday, Wednesday and with interpreting the survey results, with to require anybody to pray, that prayer Friday minyanim that meet before the making programmatic suggestions and should be part of a student’s home life, school day. With parent support, we have with supporting the school’s efforts to not a part of school life. Many students tried to build attendance with an online create a new, meaningful, responsive and felt the same, telling me that they were signup website and word of mouth. We sustainable Shacharit program. dead set against “mandatory prayer.” also welcome parents on Mondays or Thursdays immediately before or after the The task force completed its work once it הידיעון I answered the students and parents by bar or bat mitzvah. Parents enjoy taking made its recommendations, but its impact telling them that I, too, was against “man- us up on this invitation because they are was far-reaching for the goodwill it gener- datory prayer.” I agreed wholehearted- eager to mark the occasion and to bridge ated among parents and for the program • HaYidion ly that students shouldn’t be forced to their home and school communities by that it allowed to begin. ¿

[63] [64] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion was heldinamultipurpose service The contemporary mechitzah option. choosing thetraditional just ahandfulofstudents with service contemporary ity ofstudentsattendedthe excitement. Thevastmajor- met withoverallsuccessor Neitherminyan ian service. cluded atraditionalegalitar- minyanthatin- temporary traditional mechitzahminyanandacon- weekly andhadtochoosebetweena times prayerthree dents hadmandatory atourhighschool,stu- Until recently er-growing oftefi burden llaheducation. shoulderanev- School musttherefore synagogue services. attend and manyofourstudentsrarely our schooltakesplaceinaclassroom, expected insuchaplace.Daveningat understandlessofwhatis inturn, fore tothem,andourstudents,there- posure islessex- impact, mainlybecausethere a placeofprayerhavelessvisceral of decorandaccoutrements the sacred generation.Thequietpews, the previous beautiful andlessunderstandablethan They fi ndsynagoguelesssolemn, tries to avoid is simply no, they do not. And yet, an obvious answer everyone means....?” what beinginasanctuary how tobehaveinshul?Don’ttheyknow mitzvah celebrations.“Don’ttheyknow year-old studentsatbarandbat thirteen displayedbymanytwelveand decorum what to do about the shameful lack of thecountry,and othersaround debate year colleagues in our school, Every eral, asmetaphorical, aswell place ofprayer inaschool. space for davening,the lit-to shouldbegiventhought unnoticed. aschoolhasdesigned Whether ornot the physical environment sometimesgoes that isone tefillah, the many impinge upon factorsAmong that ¿ byYaakov Green The Real Estate of Tefillah meant to recreate amikdashme’at,the meant torecreate beit knesset,ahouseofgathering,was ate theHolyTemple experience.The ized Jewishprayeristhegoaltorecre- fabric of institutional- thevery Within common mindandpurpose. to aspecifi csanctifi edlocationwitha gathers together kahal. A congregation of acommunity—atzibur, akehillah, often usedwhendescribingtheactions fi most llahisaword longtime.Te-a very our peoplehood for a sociologicalvalueof it has been the heart, private endeavor of sonal experience, a While prayerisaper- sat ontablesinstead. unavailable, students suffi cient chairswere ortheschoollobby.dom classroom If ups, theminyanwasdisplacedtoaran- withlarge set- classes hadmajorprojects When science or art room. lab or the art metineitherthescience tional service diately followingprayers,andthetradi- imme- thatbecameaclassroom room knesset shouldfeelinspirational. regularity, theoverallexperienceofabeit day. oftheirevery part Anddespitethe Jews canengagespiritualityasaregular which of ritualandpracticethrough ates fl uencywithinacommonlanguage stated goals.Tefi llahinsynagoguecre- purposeofour a beitknessetforthevery theexperienceofprayerin rabbis created became dramaticallyevident.Theancient space of sacred of atmosphere, portance to prayandknowhowpray—theim- would occur;studentswhocouldchoose prayer occasional inspirationthrough enoughwithprayerthat comfortable flgoals—students who were uent and onour When ourschoolrefocused Holy Temple? to evokethefeelingsofentering about aprayerexperiencethatismeant hopetoeducateourstudents we really prayer, where butweignore wepray, can amount ofprayer, thevarietyoftypes of pay attentiontothelengthofprayer, the Holy Temple Whenwe inminiature. reached at [email protected]. in BocaRaton, Florida. Hecanbe Jewish Academythe DonnaKlein at of high school Judaic principal s tudies Rabbi Yaakov Green isassistant like anaturaltransition. we expected.Itactuallyfelt up muchlessofastirthan habit, andthisshiftkicked beadaily prayer wouldtruly Teaching thehabitsof dayoftheschoolweek. ery of dailyprayereachandev- school movedtoaschedule changes.Ourhigh crucial our goalsweinstitutedtwo To aligned with stay more

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The second change had a greater impact: we designated a room for prayer. With only one room newly made available, it was designated to address the more pressing needs of one minyan. No longer did the participants of the traditional mechitzah ser- vice travel from location to location throughout the week, nor William Davidson Davidson William do they spend the first few minutes of every day rearranging the chairs and desks, then reassembling a classroom at the end Graduate School of of School Graduate of prayers. Jewish Education Education Jewish Students walk into a room set up as a synagogue, a bright, orderly space that conveys an impression of kedushah. Each • Deepen your knowledge knowledge your Deepen • student takes a siddur, many begin to wrap their tefillin, and • Enhance your credentials credentials your Enhance • prayers begin. There is, of course, some typical quieting down that needs to take place, but the struggle that once existed to • Expand your network network your Expand • remind students of the purpose of the place has evaporated. Students no longer walk into tefillah geared up to fight, and teachers don’t preemptively prepare for battle. Study with one of the most most the of one with Study

The students instinctively know when they enter that this place outstanding Jewish Education Education Jewish outstanding is different, and so must be their behavior. The mechitzah faculties in North America. America. North in faculties minyan that once struggled to reach a quorum now struggles to find seats when eighth graders opt to join in. Just over half The Master’s Program in Jewish Education Education Jewish in Program Master’s The our student body participate in this minyan, and it is at this offers a variety of options: options: of variety a offers minyan that they are learning the skillset of tefillah. They learn not just the skills needed to turn to the correct page and sing • Day School Teaching Teaching School Day • the words of our people, but also how to respect the sancti- • Experiential Education Education Experiential • ty of space and how silence can be solemn and comfortable. • Educational Leadership in Synagogues Synagogues in Leadership Educational • They learn how to connect to each other without cellphones and Communal Settings Settings Communal and and without words. They are learning what the physical atmo- sphere of prayer feels like because we have deliberately chosen • Distance Learning Program Program Learning Distance • to teach just that. The Doctoral Program for aspiring scholars scholars aspiring for Program Doctoral The Our contemporary minyan service is still well attended, still and professionals working in the field offers offers field the in working professionals and meets in a multipurpose room, and noticeably, still suffers from significant decorum challenges each and every day. Attempts three different schedules: schedules: different three to elicit more respect for the endeavor of prayer often falls • Full-Time Full-Time • on deaf ears. The students enter a room in disorder, quickly • Part-Time Part-Time • abandoned after a class, and they reluctantly file into the room • Executive Doctoral Program Program Doctoral Executive • that resembles nothing like a sacred space. It would be difficult to say that all the students’ challenges in prayer would cease through the room’s extreme makeover. However, space, along Tuition fellowships are available. available. are fellowships Tuition with the conscious and subconscious reactions it evokes, plays an extremely important and often overlooked role in the Jew- ish prayer experience. For more information about The Davidson School, School, Davidson The about information more For As tefillah leaders and educators, we must remember that our please contact Abby Eisenberg at (212) 678-8022 678-8022 (212) at Eisenberg Abby contact please lessons must transmit more than words and songs; we must be cognizant of the holistic quality of Jewish prayer. What does or [email protected]. jtsa.edu. @ edschool or synagogue sound like, smell like, feel like and look like? Our students must be made to ask themselves, “How comfortable am I in a space that truly feels like a space for prayer? How does it make me feel, and what do I want to do about that?” הידיעון All of this is prayer. All of this is part of the Holy Temple ex- William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education Education Jewish of School Graduate Davidson William perience, and it must all be part of our final product. We must www.jtsa.edu/davidson www.jtsa.edu/davidson plan for it, and perhaps only then will our students display a • HaYidion sense of awe and decorum in our synagogues. ¿

[65]

www.jtsa.edu/davidson www.jtsa.edu/davidson

William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education Education Jewish of School Graduate Davidson William

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please contact Abby Eisenberg at (212) 678-8022 678-8022 (212) at Eisenberg Abby contact please

For more information about The Davidson School, School, Davidson The about information more For

Tuition fellowships are available. available. are fellowships Tuition

• Executive Doctoral Program Program Doctoral Executive •

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• Full-Time Full-Time •

three different schedules: schedules: different three

and professionals working in the field offers offers field the in working professionals and

for aspiring scholars scholars aspiring for The Doctoral Program Program Doctoral The

• Distance Learning Program Program Learning Distance •

and Communal Settings Settings Communal and

• Educational Leadership in Synagogues Synagogues in Leadership Educational •

• Experiential Education Education Experiential •

• Day School Teaching Teaching School Day •

offers a variety of options: options: of variety a offers

The Master’s Program in Jewish Education Education Jewish in Program Master’s The

faculties in North America. America. North in faculties

outstanding Jewish Education Education Jewish outstanding

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William Davidson Davidson William [66] Tefillah Initiatives הידיעון • HaYidion Supporting Leaders Minyan itician whoisrabidlyIslamophobic.This aDutchpol- Wilders, leadership ofGeert name afew—hadtakenpowerunderthe Napoleon, Charlemagne and Rasputin to leaders— ofstrong-minded and acohort days,Bhuttowasout Within to respond. andnotmuchtime a putschunderway tofia Muslimgirl.Studentsreturned nd woman shouldnotbehostingthetrialof TherationalewasthataMuslim break. zir Bhutto, developed over Thanksgiving a movementtounseatthe“host,”Bena- This year’strialwasespeciallyexcitingas don’t. Ihaveseenbothinmyclass. ifyou pendence forit,ordisheartening fun if you have the self-esteem and inde- able. Beingthe“oddpersonout”canbe comfort- closer to their own view more with this;othersfi nd choosingsomeone to playagainsttheirviewsanddowell assigned identity. Somestudentschoose the opinion of their their job is to present as of thestudentbecomesunimportant, to buildalliances.Thepersonal opinion opinions and experiences, and they begin [continued from page 21] Immersion JCATFull Learning: Transforms Students to our school, this process ofself-evalu- to ourschool,this process particular Whilst these evaluations are of prayer texts. sult in a better learning engagedstudentsre- vinced thatmore not con- The secondisthattheywere studentengagement. led toincreased The fi rstisthatexperientialactivities theactivitiestheydidinclass. cerning Minyan leadersmadetwopointscon- doing. of whattheywere reflteachers bemore ectiveonthesuccess A meta-aimofthemeetingswastohelp evaluation Self-reflection and intheminyanim. risk-taking increased and creativity encouraged. Asaresult, [continued from page 61] how hard theyworkedandhowwell how hard world whenthetimecomesafterseeing themtosavethe Itrust and hiscronies. successful in their plan to unseat Geert to seethesestudentsscramblingbe moment ateacher’sproudest was truly actionandstrategizing.It high powered for50minutesof showed upinforce andtheRAGgroup lunch andrecess invited studentstocomeinduringtheir pens tobeadayIdon’thavethisclass. was allowedforaWednesday, whichhap- order.wanted torestore Adayofprotest foralltheJCATaround who participants torally class andRAGbecamethegroup ofgirlsinmy byagroup was formed (RAG) RevoltAgainstGeert of Geert. getting Bhuttobackoratleastrid sen, goalssetandstrategiesoutlinedfor cho- made.Leaders were alliances were and formed into action.Quicklygroups spond. Itwasamazingtoseethemfl y my classandthensetthemloosetore- to thisnewreality presented I carefully their ownmemberstothelistofjustices. of votesconfi denceneededandadded thetrial,raisednumber froze group gained, Iwas surprised thatIhadnot theyhad ers, andthefocussupport onminyanlead- After seeingtheeffects Conclusion thoughtfully planforthefuture. know whatwasworking,ornot,andto to essential formeasminyancoordinator theirinputwas to achieve.Furthermore, of what minyan at our school was trying gaged, andinvested,intheoverallaims en- really Minyanleaderswere effective. being them toaskthemselvesiftheyare development ofminyanleadersisfor to achieve.Criticalanymeaningful fl trying ectiveofwhatitwastheywere re- plan, minyanleadersbecamemore and review By takingthetimetoshare, ation is relevant toallschools. ation isrelevant trial intheirJSSclass. toavirtual planned forsomethingrelated JCAT makesithappen. nightinaschoolproject— the previous online andseewhathashappenedsince motivated, at13,togetupearlycheck and to be come of something important, that youractionsmightchangetheout- that theywillneverbethesame.To feel their voiceandseeitspower, andIknow I watchedquietandtimidstudentsfi nd I couldhaveneverwrittenalessonplan. experiencesforwhich learning it offered my students,andthisyearinparticular JCAT tobeanamazingexperiencefor encounter.might neverotherwise Ifi nd aboutpeoplethey tolearn opportunity other historicalcharactersgivestheman else’s thoughts. Interacting with the perspectives andexperiencesomeone newthings,see Theylearn parts. of the most challengingandrewarding on thisaspectofJCAT andfi nditone as someoneelse.Mystudentsrefl ect side their own brain as they participate to thinkoutsidethebox—evenout- JCAT studentsanopportunity offers minyan leader? asset wehave:the on themostprecious ulum, andminyangoals,yetfail tofocus aboutcurric- concerned ministration are Howmanyinthead- and feelsupported? help ourminyanleaderstogrow, develop wemissingthatcould are opportunities minyan experience.”Howmanyother my commented that “itrevolutionized impact onthoseminyanleaders;one This onerathersimpleideamadeabig leftforgeneralminyanmeetings. were invited.Generalminyanissues nim were that onlythoseengagedinsimilarminya- minyan meeting.Keytothesuccesswas focused,andpractical weeks forashared, twoorthree made thetime,onceevery self andwiththeminyanleaders.Yet we timeconstraints,bothofmy- were there done thissooner. else, Aswitheverything ¿ ¿ The NEW Tribe Siddur Tefillah as a Leadership Opportunity for Children & Families [continued from page 67] For ages 7-12 Performing Introduction by Chief Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh: “Thus Rabbi Lord Sacks says YHVH, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1)

The passionate leader attracts others. His rhetorical skills and All new illustrations gravitas commands attention and respect. The performance stage is the peak of the leadership experience. It is the pro- cess of leading others while learning from one’s own leader- New Sections ship. In order for the students to successfully facilitate their for festivals tefi llah session, they must learn how to speak in front of an audience with voice and presence; to become aware and take advantage of their body, voice and pace; to lead a discussion 284 Pages In while listening carefully to the responses; to manage time and Full colour make decisions, and to adjust their plans in real time. This is Ę ýĘă ÿĐ an ongoing process that requires repeated trials and constant 189 Hallel Lulav Ę ýĘă ÿĐ LđĚă Ę ýĘă ÿĐ is a collection of Ħ ăĀč ÿĈĥøĘ ğ Āĝ We say Ę ýĘă ÿĐ on the followingęĕ üĘă üĐ øĦă (psalms)joyous occasions: praising God. Pesach, Shavuot 170 Hallel and Sukkot as well as on Rosh Chodesh and Chanukkah. On Yom 188 support as these young leaders gain confi dence and develop Ha'atzma’ut and Yom Yerushalayim, some say it with the opening Shabbat Musaf Đ Āė ĀĤ øăč and some without. č ĀĘđĘă Ħ ÿĘĕ üĔøĜ LOn ĦŖ ăė Ăĝ, except on ! W e s t a n d f o r Ħ Āăč Ĉĥÿ , we take the Shabbat Musaf and č ĀĘ Ę ýĘă ÿĐ. ĎāđĤ øĦ þČ before đĘă 171 Ę ýĘă ÿĐ đĜă ĈĥĀĄ Ũďă üģ Ĥ Ĉĥþ úČ ,ę ĀĘ āđĞ ĀĐ their voice. In our experience, the student body and the com- ø Ħ ÿĘĕ üĔøĜ Ħ ăĀč ÿĈĥøĘ ğ ĀĝđĚă Ė þĘ þĚĄ đĜĕă ýĐāĘĄ ùČ ĐđĐĕ Đ Ā , we say a special middle Ħă ÿČ ø č ĀĘ Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ 1 occurs on .Ę ýĘă ÿĐ ÿĐąĦ þČ ČāđĤ øģ üĘ ĖđĤă Āăč đĘă When Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ L đĜĄă Ā Taking Đ Āė ĀĤøăč that is suitable for both, an occasions,extra sacrice because was oered.in theğ Āĝ đĚă đă üĢ øđ đĕ ĀĦĈđ øĢ üĚ øăč munity respond much better when led by these student lead- , on Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ 2 the Lulav Ęă üĠĦ ø ă ĈĥĀăď øģüăĚÿĐ Ħĕ ýăč Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ, there were two extra ğ ĀĝđĚă ę Ĉĥý ĕ üĐ øĕ .ĐđĐĕ ę ĈĥąĦý þČ ğ ĀĝđĚă Ħ ÿ Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ was on When đĘă ŨĘ ÿĐ ,ĐđĐĕ ĕ ýď øč ÿĞ sacrices. We replace theseĈĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤsacrices themes. by saying one ,āđČāđč øĚąď ÿĞ Ĉĥ þĚ Ĉĥąēþ Ą ÿĤ øĒ ü Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ and đĘă ŨĘ ÿĐ Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥøĘ combining , Ěă üĚ .ę ĀĘāđĞąď ÿĞ øđ Đ Ā ĐĀĕă đĘă ŨĘ ÿĐ 3 ers, even when their expertise does not match those of veteran .āđďāđč øėă ę üĕ ÿĚĄ ĈĀ Ħ ÿĞ ýĚ , ø ! Take the ĥă ÿĐąĘ ÿĞ ,ĐđĐĕ ę üĕāđ ă Ė ĀĤāč øĚ ĐđĐĕ č ĀĘ Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ øđ 4 with the spineđĘă in facing your you,right the hand, three Musaf for ! Take three steps back.  while bowing to your left. ,ĦāđČ øĤ üĘ ĕ üĘĕ ü ĎąĘă šėąĘă ÿĞ ę ĀĤ .ĐđĐĕ ę Ĉĥý Ę Ā while bowing to the right. ęĕ üĝ ÿď úĐ (myrtle leaves) on the right, Say đĕ ĀĚāđĤ øĚüăč ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ ĐþĉĥāĞđĐă  Ġă Ĉĥø1 ÿ two  while bowing forward. Ěă ÿĐ .Ħ þč ĈĥĀĄ ĀĘ ĕ üĐĕ üăč øĎ ÿ Ęă ĂĐ øĚ 5 Ħāđč ĀĤ úĞ (willow leaves) on the left. Shabbat Rosh Say đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đþĉĥ úĞÿĕ Č ėąĘă ÿĞøđ Take the đĤă øĚüČøđ ,Ę ýČ ĀĤøĉĥüĕąĘš .ěāđĕ øč þČ ęĕ üĤ Āĕ Ħā Ěă ÿĐ , ĎāđĤ øĦ þČ Say ě ýĚĀČ đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ ÿ with its pointed in end your towards left hand, the educators. Chodesh đĐă ,đĕ ĀĚāđĤ øĚüăč ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đ þĉĥāĞ Ġ2ă Ĉĥø ÿČ ýĚ ,Ę Ā ėă ĕ üĚ 6 ,Ħ üĕĄ ÿăč ÿĐ Ħ þĤ þģĄ úĞ ĕ üčĕ ĈĥāđĚü .āđ ďă Ĥ ĀĠ ĀĞ ýĚ ĕ üĚĕ üģ øĚ .ġ þĤ ĀČĄ Āč oor. If you are left handed, take the ă đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đ þĉĥ úĞÿĕ Č đĤă øĚüČøđ ,Ę ýČ ĀĤøĉĥüĕ in your left hand and the ąĘėąĘ š ÿĞøđ , .ě ýĚĀČ đă ę üĕ ÿĚĄ ĈĀ č ĀĘđĘă things. When Ěă ÿĞ ĕ ýčĕ üďøĜąę üĞ ,ęĕ üčĕ üďøĜąę üĞ ĕ üčĕ ĈĥāđĐü ĥă øĘ ÿăč 7 hand. Now say this ĎāđĤ øĦ þČ in your right Đ Āė ĀĤ øăč: calm and 8 đĜă ĈĥĀĄ Ũ to carry out .Đ Āĕ ďă üģ Ĥ Ĉĥþ úČ ,ę ĀĘ āđĞ ĀĐ ZMy  God, keep my tongue and lips from saying harmful ă đĘă ŨĘ ÿĐ ,Đ Āē ýĚ øĉĥ ęĕüĜ Āăč ÿĐąę ýČ ø Ė þĘ þĚĄ đĜĕă ýĐāĘĄ ùČ ĐđĐĕ Đ Ā people say damaging things about me, let me remain Đ ĀĦ Ũĕ their ĀĐ .Ē plans ýĞāĘ ę from ÿĞ ýĚ čāģ úĞ ÿĕ Ħĕ ýăč ,ę üĕ ĀĤĄ øĢ ü 9 Ħă ÿČ ø humble. Help me to love Your Torah and to be eager ring honour to Ė 1 Z Blessed are You, Hashem our God,.č ĀĘ KingđĘă Ħ of ÿĘĕ the üĔøĜąĘ univers ÿĞ đĤă Āăč Your mitzvot. If anyone wishes to harm me, prevent er my prayer. ě ýďă øĤ ÿĕă ÿĐ ,ĝāĜ Ā Ěă üĚ Ę ýČ ĀĤ øĉĥ üĕ holy through His commandments and has commandedđĜĄă us Āđă üĢ a øđ đĕ ĀĦĈđ øĢ üĚ øăč working. Do all this to show Your strength and to b ĕă ÿđ Đ ĀČ ĀĤ ę Ā 2 s e n d f r o m m y h e a r t ĕă ÿĐ .đĕ ĀĦāđĘ ĈĥŨ øĚ ÿĚ Ę ýČ ĀĤ øĉĥ üĕ ,āđ Ĉĥ øď šģ øĘĦČ Đ Āď ýĢ øăč 10 the Lulav. e, who has made us 1 .ěČāĢąĕ ýĜ øč ü Reflection and Growing Your reputation and to Your Holy Torah. Please answ Heavenlyė ă Peacemaker, Ħ āđĞ Āč ø ! On the rst day the bout taking Ħă ÿČ Let the words which I say and the thoughts which I Ďă ,ęĕ üĘĕ ýČ øė đĐă øĕ 11 Ā Ħ Ā ă øĤĄÿĢĀĕ Đ Ā ple. Amen. đďă Ũģ ĀĤ ęĕ üĤ ĀĐ þĐ .Ĥ āđē ĀČ øĘ čā č ĀĘđĘ is taken, add this ģă üĚ Ė ŨĚĀĘāđĞ 2 đďă Ũģ øĤ ü ă Ęă ė ü ă ,ę þďĄ þ ĥă ÿĐ be pleasing to You, Hashem, my constant Protector. Ħă ęĕ üĤ ĀĐ þĐ .Ĥāđē ĀČ øĘ3 čā Đ Āė ĀĤ øăč: Ā ĝ üĕ 12 đĜă ĀĚĄ Ũĕă üģ øđ ă ĖŨĦă øėČ ÿĘ øĚ ĀĦĕĄü Ħă øčĄÿĐĀČ ,ĕ üĞĕ üč ŨĈ send peace for all of us and for all the Jewish peo ĝă üĦ ě ý ă đĜĄă Āĕ ùē þĐ Ĉĥþ ,ę ĀĘāđĞ ĀĐ ę āđĕ ÿăč đĜă ĄĀĦāđČ Ā 3 ĕýĜ øĠ ü Ā ĕ üĐøĕ ă ďă øĤ ÿĕă ÿĐ ,ĝ ĘăĖĕĄ üĚ þĜ ĀĠŨ,ġĘă þĤ üĚ ĀČĄ ěāđĢ ĕ üĘ ĀĤ 4 đĜă ĀĦ ĕ ü ø đĜĄă Āăč ĀĦĕ ĄüĢ ĀĤøđ Ęă ÿĐ đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ đă Ąē ěāđď ĀČ ĕýĜ øĠ ü ėă ę Āĕă ÿĐ ĖĀ øĘąĐă ÿĚ Ė þĘ þĚĄ đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ Đ Ā ă đĜă ĄĀĦă øĚÿĚāđĤ øđ , đĜă Ħ ĄĀ ă øĈĥÿďă üģøđ ,ĦāđĜāđ ĈĥŨ ďă øģüĚă ÿĐ Ęă üĚ .ěČāĢąĕýĜ øč ü 13 ąĘ šė üĚ Ā 4 đĜĕă ĄýĦāđč úČ ĕ ýĐāĘČ ýđ .ę üĕ ĀĚąāđĜĄ Ũĕ øĞ ÿĚ øĘ Ĉĥĕ üĚ Ā Ħă ÿČ ø Ėĕ ĄþĦĈđ øĢ üĚøăč Ā ĕă þĈĥ , 5 ėă ĦāđĞ Āč ø Z  ĖđĤă Āăč 3 ėă øĘ ÿĚ đĜă Ħ ĄĀ ă øč ÿĤýģøđ , Ďă ÿĐ Ė øĚü Ĉĥøđ Ħĕ ýăč ĐþĜ Āăčü đĜĕă ĄýĚĀĕ øč Đ ĀĤýĐøĚüăč ĈĥĀ Ęă ÿē ,ę üĕ ĀĚąęĄ ÿĎ úČ Ĥ Ďă ,ęĕ üĘĕ ýČ øė Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the univer Ā đĜă ý ģă ÿĐøđ ĘāđďĀ Ā đĜă ĄýģøĘ þē ě ýĦøđ , 14 .Đ þĒă ÿĐ ě ÿĚ ŨĒ ÿĘ “Why did You send me?” “You shall know that I, YHVH, am ,Ė ĄþĦĀďāđč úĞÿĘ đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ Ĉĥāđď Ā 5 Ė ĄþĦĀĤāđĦ øăč ėă ,Đ ĀČøĤüĕ øăč đă Ģă ÿĐ ĕ üė ŨĠāĐ ÿĐ .čāģ úĞ ÿĕ ÿ kept us alive and brought us to this time. ă đĜă ĀĞĕĄ üĎă üĐ øđ Ā đă ę ĀĘāđĞ ĕ ýĚĕ ü 6 4 Ħă Ħ ü ă ÿđ . ĀĦČĄ ĀĤĀģ Ė øďšč úĞÿĜ ę ĀĈĥøđ . Đāđ ĄĘ ùČ se, who has given us life, đĜĄă ĀĘąě þ ĕüĜāđĚă øďÿģ ęĕüĜ ĀĈĥøė đĐøĕă ă 15 ! Turn the đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ đĜă øĚüĘ ĦāđĦ Āăč ÿĈĥ ,Đ ĀčúĐÿČøăč đĤĕă üđ Đ Āď ĎāđĤ øĦ þČ 6 ėă ,ęüĕĄ ĀĘ ĀĈĥ and shake the so that its pointed end is facing up. Face the front of the synagogue Ā đĜČĄĀĔĀēþ Ĉĥ Ħ ÿēøĜ üĚ ĐđĐĕ ÿĘ Đ Āč ŨĤĀĞøđ .Ħāđ đă ę ĀĘāđĞ ĕ ýĚĕ ü č ĀĘđĘă and Ġă ÿėøĘ ęĕ üĈĥĀďŢē ĕ ýĈĥČ ĀĤøđ Đ Āē ĖĕĄ þĜ ĀĠøĘ ă down. Continue to hold ĎāđĤthe øĦ þČ in the following sequence: ahead; right; back; left; up; ĕ üĠøĘđă .Đ ĀĤĀ đĜă øēĄ ÿĜ úČ .ĦāđĕüĜāđĚă øďÿģ ęĕüĜ ĀĈĥøė hand until you have to shake them. 7 č ĀĘđĘă and your God.” (Exodus 5:22-6:7) đĜĕă ĄýĦāđč úČÿđ ĎāđĤ øĦ þČ during đĜă ĄýĤĕ üĞ Đ Āč ŨĤĀē , đĜă ĄýĈĥĀďă øģüĚ Ħĕ ýăč Ę ýĘă ÿĐ. You can hold them in one ę ýĚĀ Ĉĥøđ , đĜă ĄýĤĀģøĕ Đ ĀĘĀĎøđ , 8 ėă Ę ÿăĔĂĜøđ , on page 174. ă đĜă øēĄ ÿĜ úČ ! Wait a few moments, đĜĕĄăthen ýĐāĘČ take ėý threeă ěĕ ýČ steps forward. ěĕ ýČøđ ,đĜĕĄă ĕ ý ÿē Ħĕ ýăč üĚ ďāđč Ā Continue with đĜĕă ĄýĦāđčāđē Ħāđĉĥ úĞÿĘ ęĕ üĘāđėøĕ Ďă ÿĐ 9 ĖĀ ĄþĦĀĤĕ üēøăč Ħĕ ýčøăč ģă ÿĐøđ Ęāđď Ā Ħ üĕĄ ÿăčÿăč , ĖĀ øĚü Ĉĥ ČĀĤøģüĜă þĈĥ Ĉĥāđď Ā ĕă ÿĐ ĕýĜĠ Ũ ă üĚ ,đĕ ĀĘ ĀĞ Đ ĀēŨĘă Ħ ÿ ă øĈĥüĜ þĈĥ ďĀ The leadership experience is not complete without the per- Ħ ăĀč ÿĈĥøĘ ğ ĀĝđĚă 170

Shabbat Musaf sonal and professional growth achieved by individual and Shabbat Musaf 171

Ħ ăĀč ÿĈĥøĘ ğ ĀĝđĚă group refl ection. Students realize how much their leading Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ, we say a special middle Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ occurs on When L that is suitable for both, an occasions,extra sacrice because was oered.in theğ Āĝ đĚă Đ Āė ĀĤøăč Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ ă , on , there were two extra ğ ĀĝđĚă Ęă üĠĦ ø ĈĥĀăď øģüăĚÿĐ Ħĕ ýăč was on Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ ğ ĀĝđĚă Ħ ÿ When Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ themes. experience benefi ted their learning. They refl ect upon their sacrices. We replace and theseĈĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤsacrices by saying one Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥøĘ combining Ħ Āăč ÿĈĥ Ĉĥþďċē ĈĥČāĤ øđ Musaf for ! Take three steps back.  while bowing to your left. while bowing to the right. contributions to the creation and execution of the tefi llah Say đĕ ĀĚāđĤ øĚüăč ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ ĐþĉĥāĞđĐă  1 Shabbat Rosh Say đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đþĉĥ úĞÿĕ Č ėąĘă ÿĞøđ while bowing forward. Say ě ýĚĀČ đĤă øĚüČøđ ,Ę ýČ ĀĤøĉĥüĕąĘš Chodesh đĐă ,đĕ ĀĚāđĤ øĚüăč ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đ þĉĥāĞ 2 ąĘėąĘ š ă ÿĞøđ ,đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ ęāđĘ ĀĈĥ Đ þĉĥ úĞÿĕ Č .ě ýĚĀČ đĤă øĚüČøđ ,Ę ýČĀĤøĉĥüĕ session; they provide positive reinforcement and constructive things. When calm and

ZMy  God, keep my tongue and lips from saying harmful to carry out people say damaging things about me, let me remain their plans from criticism. Students discuss their session’s impact on the com- humble. Help me to love Your Torah and to be eager ring honour to Your mitzvot. If anyone wishes to harm me, prevent er my prayer. working. Do all this to show Your strength and to b s e n d f r o m m y h e a r t 1 Your reputation and to Your Holy Torah. Please answ Heavenly Peacemaker, munity and discuss ways that the experience was valuable. Ħă ÿČ Let the words which I say and the thoughts which I Ā Ħ Ā ă øĤĄÿĢĀĕ Đ Ā ple. Amen. ģă üĚ Ė ŨĚĀĘāđĞ 2 Ā Ęă ė ü ă ,ę þďĄ þ ĥă ÿĐ be pleasing to You, Hashem, my constant Protector. 3 ĕă ÿăč ĖŨĦă øėČ ÿĘ øĚ ĀĦĕĄü Ħă øčĄÿĐĀČ ,ĕ üĞĕ üč ŨĈ send peace for all of us and for all the Jewish peo ę āđ đĜă ĄĀĦāđČ Ā 3 Ā Ęă üĚ ěāđĢ ĀĤ ĕ üĐøĕ đĜĄă Āăč ĀĦĕ ĄüĢ ĀĤøđ Ęă ÿĐ ĖĕĄ þĜ ĀĠŨ 4 ėă üĚ đĜă ĄĀĦă øĚÿĚāđĤ øđ , đĜă Ħ ĄĀ ă øĈĥÿďă üģøđ ,ĦāđĜāđ ĈĥŨ đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ ďă øģüĚă ÿĐ The process ends with students sharing and discussing their ąĘ š ĖĕĀ ĄþĦĈđ øĢ üĚøăč 4 ĕă þĈĥ ,đĜĕă ĄýĦāđč úČ ĕ ýĐāĘČ ýđ đĜă Ħ ĄĀ ă øč ÿĤýģøđ , ĖĀ øĚü Ĉĥøđ Ħĕ ýăč ĐþĜ Āăčü đĜĕă ĄýĚĀĕ øč Đ ĀĤýĐøĚüăč ĈĥĀ 5 Ā đĜă ė ý ă øĘ ÿĚ ģă ÿĐøđ ĘāđďĀĎă ÿĐ Ā đĜă ĄýģøĘ þē ě ýĦøđ , ,Ė ĄþĦĀďāđč úĞÿĘ đĜĕĄă ýĘ ĀĞ Ĉĥāđď Ā 5 Ė ĄþĦĀĤāđĦ øăč ėă ,Đ ĀČøĤüĕ øăč Ħă Ħ ü ă ÿđ . ĀĦČĄ ĀĤĀģ ĖĀ øďšč úĞÿĜ ę ĀĈĥøđ . đă ę ĀĘāđĞ ĕ ýĚĕ ü 6 đĜĄă ĀĘąě þ ĕüĜāđĚă øďÿģ ęĕüĜ ĀĈĥøė đĐøĕă đĜĕĄă ýĐāĘ ùČ ĐđĐĕ đĜă øĚüĘ ĦāđĦ Āăč ÿĈĥ ,Đ ĀčúĐÿČøăč 6 ėă ,ęüĕĄ ĀĘ ĀĈĥđĤĕă üđ Đ Āď insights within the classroom setting with the goal of sup- ă Ā đĜČĄĀĔĀēþă Ĉĥ Ħ ÿēøĜ üĚ ĐđĐĕ ÿĘ Đ Āč ŨĤĀĞøđ .Ħāđ đă ę ĀĘāđĞ ĕ ýĚĕ ü ĕ üĠøĘđă .Đ ĀĤĀĠ ÿėøĘ ęĕ üĈĥĀďŢē ĕ ýĈĥČ ĀĤøđ Đ Āē đĜă øēĄ ÿĜ úČ ĖĕĄ þĜ ĀĠøĘ .ĦāđĕüĜāđĚă øďÿģ ęĕüĜ ĀĈĥøė đĜĕă ĄýĦāđč úČÿđ 7 đĜă ĄýĤĕ üĞ Đ Āč ŨĤĀē , đĜă ĄýĈĥĀďă øģüĚ Ħĕ ýăč ę ýĚĀ Ĉĥøđ , đĜă ĄýĤĀģøĕ Đ ĀĘĀĎøđ , 8 ėă Ę ÿăĔĂĜøđ , on page 174. ă đĜă øēĄ ÿĜ úČ ! Wait a few moments, đĜĕĄăthen ýĐāĘČ take ėý threeă ěĕ ýČ steps forward. porting the growth of the group of leaders as a whole. ěĕ ýČøđ ,đĜĕĄă ĕ ý ÿē Ħĕ ýăč üĚ ďāđč Ā Continue with đĜĕă ĄýĦāđčāđē Ħāđĉĥ úĞÿĘ ęĕ üĘāđėøĕ Ďă ÿĐ 9 ĖĀ ĄþĦĀĤĕ üēøăč Ħĕ ýčøăč ģă ÿĐøđ Ęāđď Ā Ħ üĕĄ ÿăčÿăč , ĖĀ øĚü Ĉĥ ČĀĤøģüĜă þĈĥ Ĉĥāđď Ā ĕă ÿĐ ĕýĜĠ Ũ ă üĚ ,đĕ ĀĘ ĀĞ Đ ĀēŨĘă Ħ ÿ ă øĈĥüĜ þĈĥ ďĀ Currently, the Tefi llah Kehillah Institute includes over 30 trained student leaders in grades 10-12, a fi gure which con- stitutes approximately 10 percent of our entire student body. Now enlarged. Suitable for home, school, Following Jethro’s advice to Moses, we have sought out from among all the people “capable men who fear God, trustworthy synagogue and supplementary school men who spurn ill-gotten gain” (Exodus 18:21) and set these Retail price US $24.99 over New Community Jewish High School as “chiefs of tens” to help our next generation enter the 21st century though Discounts available for bulk sales. הידיעון the realm of tefi llah and leadership. It is my hope that you Order by mail: will consider and appropriate this advice as well and “make it International Specialized Book Services, easier for yourself by letting them [your students] share the • HaYidion burden with you” (Exodus 18:22). ¿ 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97213 – 3786 Order by phone on (800) 944-6190 Order online at www.isbs.com [67]

Tribe Siddur Ad.indd 3 10/01/2013 15:36 RAVSAK Art Contest

he RAVSAK Art Contest requires a challenging regimen of Jewish study and artistic interpretation. Participants delve into Jewish sources and only then create works of art that grow out of their study. This year’s theme was “Blessing the Bad,” a chapter out of the curriculum Blessings and Gratitude produced by our partners, the Global Day of Jewish Learning. Below are the winners, chosen by art teachers at our schools, accompanied by judges’ notes explaining their selections. For a gallery of some of the top entries, along with their artist’s statements, go to www.ravsak.org/programs/ art-contest. Congratulations to all of the artists for their fine work.

MIDDLE SCHOOL - FIRST PLACE Rachel Weiss • Hillel Academy of Tampa

This three dimensional sculp- ture carries a strong message. The judges were impressed by the clarity of thought and how it was communicated. This is a sculpture that illus- trates the balance between good and evil by showing a good face and a bad face pre- cariously balanced on a thin wire. Both faces form part of a whole. The use of color lends to the mood. The hap- pier more serene face has bold bright colors while the evil side was done in grays and blacks. The ethereal wisps of tissue paper at the top add movement as they reach up towards a higher power; re- minding us that God loves us, and that we are all a balance between good and bad. הידיעון HaYidion • HaYidion [68] HIGH SCHOOL - FIRST PLACE Ethan Plotsker • Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Boca Raton

Ethan Plotsker’s work is a touching tribute to his father. The painting clearly depicts a son who is quietly cherishing the memory of his father while “holding” him in his heart. Technically the painting is well executed, it clearly conveys the strong emotions expressed in the artist statement of why we bless the bad. הידיעון • HaYidion

[69] [70] הידיעון • HaYidion RAVSAK Contest Art way to help us appreciate whatwehave. way tohelpusappreciate person.”MaybeitisGod’s a stronger perience comesapositiveoutcomeand ex- eachdifficult bad inlifewas,“With Emily’s answertowhydoweblessthe statement. bytheartist’s impressed grandfather; however, also wewere lent. It is a beautiful painting of her is technically excel- Emily Lipson’s art • Jewish Academy,Donna Klein Lipson Emily noevilexists. world where nicates thatwedonotliveinaperfect clearly commu- floral shapes. The artist den, itsvibrantcolorpaletteandlovely contrasted withthebeautyofgar- evil.Thisis thatrepresent words carries thetree snake thatiswrappedaround The present. beginning evilwasalready ofEdentoillustratethatinthe Garden message.Itbringsusbacktothe strong a This beautifulpaintingonsilkcarries Academy of • Hillel Tampa Tori Lamport Boca Raton HIGH SCHOOL-SECOND PLACEHIGH SCHOOL-SECOND PLACEMIDDLE MIDDLE SCHOOL - THIRD PLACE Simone Obadia • Pardes Jewish Day School, Phoenix

A silhouette of a tree is in front of a bril- liantly colored sunset. A camoufl aged mask is hidden within the branches of the tree. The artist comments that God blends into our surroundings and that without color, the world would be a darker place. Strong use of line, con- trast and composition.

HIGH SCHOOL - THIRD PLACE Liana Greenberg • Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Boca Raton

Liana Greenberg’s art is highly evoca- tive and creative. Moreover, her artist statement ties the piece together and is a good example of artistic commentary. Liana contends that God alone knows the workings of the universe and that the random occurrences of luck and hardship can not be fully understood by us. Therefore, we must bless both the good and the bad in life. הידיעון • HaYidion

[71] [72] הידיעון • HaYidion RAVSAK Contest Art • Hillel Academy of • Hillel Tampa Melody Eckert Academy of • Hillel Tampa Lauren Gold MIDDLE SCHOOL - HONORABLE MENTION SCHOOL-HONORABLE MIDDLE MENTION SCHOOL-HONORABLE MIDDLE • Frankel Jewish Academy, Detroit Lexi Smith • Donna Klein Jewish Academy,• DonnaKlein BocaRaton Shiran Mayron HIGH SCHOOL - HONORABLE MENTION SCHOOL-HONORABLE HIGH HIGH SCHOOL - HONORABLE MENTION SCHOOL-HONORABLE HIGH Glossary

Note on transliteration: our goals are 1) to make the transliteration simple to pro- Specific Prayers nounce for non-Hebrew speakers, while 2) enabling Hebrew readers to decode as much as possible. Here are a few of our choices: double letter = dagesh (a point) in the Amidah (“standing”): the central Jew- Hebrew letter; h at end = fi nal heh; apostrophe = ayin (’) or aleph (‘) only, not a shva; ish prayer, usually recited silently while shva = e or not transliterated, depending if it is pronounced; ch = chet, kh = khof, k = standing kof and kuf. Brakhah (“blessing”): a unit of prayer, Terms for Prayer or judge. One who prays is mitpallel (pl. exhibiting the formula beginning “Ba- mitpallelim). rukh Ata…” Blessed are You; from the Avodah she-balev (“service of the root berekh, knee heart”): a Talmudic expression for Prayer Paraphernalia prayer, to distinguish it from the service Hallel (“praise”): a series of Psalms recit- of God through sacrifi ces Beit knesset (“house of assembly”): He- ed on holidays and Rosh Chodesh (the brew for synagogue beginning of the month) Daven: a Yiddish term for prayer (origin obscure) Leyn (“read”): a Yiddish term wide- Kaddish (“sanctifi cation”): prayer offer- ly used to refer specifi cally to reading ing praise of God, recited several times Iyyun tefi llah (“study of prayer”): edu- from the Torah; the Hebrew equivalent as a form of punctuation between sec- cating about the prayers, as opposed to is kri’at haTorah, and a Torah reader is tions of the service engaging in the ritual of prayer; from the called a ba’al koreh (a master reader) word ayin, eye Kaddish yatom (lit. “orphan’s Kad- Shaliach tzibbur (pl. shlichei tzibbur; dish”): a Kaddish recited by a mourner Kavannah (“intention”): a term refer- “agent of the public”): prayer leader during services; people mourning for a ring broadly to putting personal mean- parent traditionally “say Kaddish” every ing into prayer; also refers to a specifi c Shivah (“seven”): the weeklong period of day for 11 months after the death and thought the pray-er should have while mourning immediately following burial once a year on the “yahrzeit,” the anni- reciting a specifi c prayer; from the verb versary of the parent’s passing lekhavein, to aim Shivah minyan: a prayer service in the home of one sitting shivah Ma’ariv (also called Aravit): evening service Keva (“something fi xed”): the scripted prayer of Jewish ritual Shuckel (Yiddish “to shake”): vehement Minchah (lit. “gift”): afternoon service swaying during prayer Matbe’a tefi llah (“the coin of prayer”): Mishebeirach (“He who blessed”): the the specifi c text of Hebrew prayer Shul (“school”): Yiddish-English for fi rst words of the prayer for the sick (as synagogue well as other prayers) Minyan (“a count,” pl. minyanim): loosely, a prayer service, so-called be- Siddur (“ordering”): a Jewish prayer book Pesukei deZimra (Aramaic, “verses of cause of the count required to conduct song”): introductory section to Shacharit, a full service (traditionally, ten men over Synagogue: Jewish house of prayer, focusing on praise of God the age of 13); “to make a minyan” is from Greek “assembly” (cf. beit knesset) to participate in the number required for Selichot: penitential prayers recited the service Tallit (pl. tallitot): a four-cornered gar- during the High Holiday season ment with ritual fringes (tzitzit) thread- Nusach (“formulation”): the version ed at the corners, worn over clothing Shacharit: morning prayer of prayer conducted by a community; during prayer service traditional nusachs include Ashkenazi, Shema (“Hear”): the prayer acclaiming Sephardi, Sephard (Chassidic, adapted Tallit katan (“little tallit”; also called Jewish faith in God’s unity from Sephardi), Italian, Yemenite, and arba kanfot, “four corners,” or tzitzit, Romaniote (from Greece) “fringes”): a four-cornered garment Shmonah Esrei (“eighteen”): a term for with ritual fringes usually worn under the Amidah, which originally had 18 הידיעון Piyyut: a liturgical poem, often written the shirt throughout the day blessings (a 19th was added later) for inclusion in the prayer service

Tefi llin: leather boxes attached to straps, Tachanun (pl. tachanunim): a section of • HaYidion Tefillah (pl. tefillot): the most common containing small parchment scrolls, supplicatory prayers recited at Shacharit Hebrew word for prayer, from the root worn usually by men during weekday and Minchah; more generally, prayer as p-l-l, to hope or long for, also to counsel morning services a mode of supplication to God ¿

[73] [74] הידיעון • HaYidion www.dynamicdataconcepts.com Dynamic Data Concepts www.jewishedproject.org DigitalJLearning Network www.davidproject.org The David Project www.connectionsacademy.com AcademyConnections www3.cet.ac.il &NETA)CET CET/NETA (note: are two logos,there www.capitalretreat.og Capital Retreat Center www.CalWestEducators.com Cal/West Educators Placement www.brothersallnatural.com Brothers-ALL-Natural www.bonimbyachad.com B’YachadBonim www.beyondyear.org BBYO Passport/Beyond Year www.ajws.org Jewish American World Service www.AmericanHebrewAcademy.org Academy, Hebrew American Inc. www.amhsi.org Israel in MussHighSchool Alexander AMHSI- http://dev.alephbeta.org BetaAleph www.jerusalmonlineu.com JerusalemOnlineU.com www.israelway.com Israel Way Educational Tourism www.theisraelexperience.org The Experience Israel www.myisraelbooks.com www.myhebrewbooks.com, Corp Connection Israel www.infograsp.com Inc. Infograsp www.independent-thinking.com ThinkingIndependent www.hebrewcollege.edu CollegeHebrew www.gradelink.com Gradelink www.gemaraberura.com Gemara Berura www.collectgaryrosenthal.com The Gary Rosenthal Collection www.meltonschool.org Jewish Learning MeltonFlorence SchoolofAdult www.factsmgt.com FACTS Management Company www.erblearn.org ERB www.emeseditions.com Emes Editions www.rediker.com Software,Rediker Inc. www.parentlocker.com ParentLocker www.pardes.org.il Pardes Institute ofJewish Studies www.opendayschool.org DayOpen School http://sss.nais.org Schools Independent NAIS -National Association of www.halachaed.org HalachaMerkaz www.measuring-success.com SuccessMeasuring www.lookstein.org The Lookstein Center www.jewishjourney.co.il Masa Yehudi /Educational Travel www.universityinisrael.com Lirom Global Education www.korenpub.com Toby Press Koren Jerusalem Publishers Ltd. / The www.keshetisrael.co.il Israel Keshet www.jewishinteractive.net Jewish Interactive Thank you to the following participating vendors at the 2013 North American Jewish Day School Conference Marketplace.

RenWeb School Management Stanley Peerless- Representing WalkingIsrael Software Tsurel-the Bridge & JETS www.WalkingIsrael.com www.RenWeb.com Technion - Israel Institute W & E Baum of Technology SAGE Dining Services, Inc. www.webaum.com www1.technion.ac.il/en www.sagedining.com Weiss Advisory Services Ltd. TEQ Sefer Israel, Inc. www.weissadvisor.com www.teq.com www.seferisrael.com The Whalen Berez Group, LLC Tomorrow’s Genius Silverpoint www.thewbg.com www.tomorrowsgenius.com www.silverpoint.net William Davidson Graduate School The VHS Collaborative Sofer on Site of Education www.TheVHSCollaborative.org www.soferonsite.com http://jtsa.edu/davidson

VSchoolz Stand With Us WZO-Eliner Library www.vschoolz.com www.standwithus.com www.wzo.org.il

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• We are absolutely committed to your students’ • HaYidion health and safety. Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism in Israel More than an Israel Trip Provider — Tel 646-358-4058 www.keshetisrael.co.il Your Educational Partner [75] [76] הידיעון • HaYidion 76 ] Din Beit Moot NetworkJewish HighSchool RAVSAK New York,NY10025 120 West97thStreet The JewishCommunityDaySchoolNetwork RAVSAK summer issue. Look for thewinnersin The excitement isbuilding! 18-21,2013 April Philadelphia and Competition iscoming to DinShabbatonThe Beit Moot Mechanicsburg, PA NonProfit Org US Postage Permit 63 PAID