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] Mobile Solutions for Active Families. Parents are on the go. That’s why we’ve made the FACTS system even more accessible. Parents can make payments, review account changes, view their payment schedule, and more—right from their preferred mobile device. Families can also get support from FACTS 24/7 on their timetable. Contact us today to learn how FACTS’ technology makes tuition management easy for families. הידיעון Tuition Management // Grant & Aid Assessment // Donor Services // 877.606.2587 // FACTSmgt.com HaYidion • HaYidion [2] 1442_Facts_Haiydon-Ad_FIN.indd 1 1/31/13 12:03 PM 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 Bloomeld, 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 Tloh 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 reect 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] ¿From by Barbara Davis the Editor everal years ago, NPR correspondent Barbara and often passionate suggestions for the enhancement of the prayer experience. Bradley Hagerty reported that “scientists are Their analyses are cogent and enlighten- making the first attempts to understand spiritual ing, and offer meaningful pathways to en- hance and enrich davening. experience—and what happens in the brains and bodies of people who believe they Dr. Barbara Davis is the connect with the divine. The field is called secretary of RAVSAK, execu- tive editor of HaYidion and ‘neurotheology,’ and although it is new, head of school at the Syracuse it’s drawing prominent researchers in the Hebrew Day School in Dewitt, NY. Barbara can be reached at US and Canada. Scientists have found that [email protected]. the brains of people who spend untold hours in prayer and meditation are different.” The poet Robert Frost, in a sermon in a synagogue, said that religion “is the This issue of HaYidion focuses on prayer, tefi llah. While there are no scientifi c studies straining of the spirit forward to a wisdom included, there are many examinations of the theme from different perspectives: poetic, beyond wisdom.” Prayer is a means for us analytical, pedagogical, philosophical. Prayer is not hard to defi ne. Wikipedia calls it to reach out to that “wisdom beyond wis- “an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity, an object of worship, dom.” Moreover, Jewish prayer, which is or a spiritual entity through deliberate communication.” It has been said that all prayer quintessentially communal prayer, allows falls into one of three categories: Wow; Please, please; and thank you. Someone wrote participants to overcome the immense that prayer represents the pray-er saying “God—pay attention…to ME.” But prayer is sense of loneliness in the universe that also infi nitely complex and is subject—particularly in the school setting—to becoming sometimes overwhelms all of us. As ed- denatured. ucators and educational leaders, we seek to give the gifts of prayer to our students. The authors in this issue struggle with the fact that prayer in school is often rote, de- This issue of HaYidion will inspire you to void of meaning, emotionless, irrelevant to the pray-ers. They analyze the causes of the fi nd new ways to meet the challenge of impoverishment of what should be a transcendent experie nce, and they offer creative doing so. ¿ חג פסח שמח הידיעון RAVSAK's Board and Staff wish you a happy Passover HaYidion • HaYidion [4] הידיעון • HaYidion [5] A Tribute to Arnee Winshall, RAVSAK Chair ¿ by Barbara Davis Arnee Winshall is completing her term as the founding occurring in our organization, from a board led by school professionals to one chair of RAVSAK’s Board of Directors. I am usurping her composed of lay leaders, were crucial in column this quarter to pay tribute to the amazing work the successful transition to the place we she has done in this capacity. are today. It is hard to fi nd the right words to adequately capture the essence of Arnee; she is a Arnee is our treasure—she is thoughtful, devoted daughter, wife, mother, and caretaker. She is an educator, a linguist and a pi- kind, considerate, intelligent, articulate oneer. But most of all, I think, Arnee is a builder. Through the whirlwind of travel and and fun. Her connections are so numer- tasks that make up her busy life, Arnee is laying the foundation for our future. ous, her willingness to roll up her sleeves and get a job done is so inspirational, that The fi rst time I saw her was on a panel at a RAVSAK conference, and somehow I it is hard to know how to sum up her at- learned that she was our destiny. Her willingness to serve as the founding chair of the tributes. There is a little poem, however, new lay board of RAVSAK was a gift to us. Her concern for the former executive com- that describes her well, and we dedicate mittee members and her sensitivity to the seismic nature of the transformation that was it to her on behalf of all of those she has led at RAVSAK: Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can. Thank you, Arnee, for all the good you have done for RAVSAK, its schools, its members, its students, its present and its future. We will always be guided by the example you have set as we work to ful- fi ll RAVSAK’s mission to strengthen and sustain the Jewish life, leadership and learning of community day schools, en- suring a vibrant Jewish future. ¿ Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ravsak | Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ravsak RAVSAK strengthens and sustains the Jewish life, leadership and learning of .community day schools, ensuring a vibrant Jewish future הידיעון Please support RAVSAK. HaYidion • HaYidion Online: www.ravsak.org | By mail: RAVSAK, 120 West 97th Street, New York, NY 10025 [6] 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.