Running Minyan in School

Re: Running Minyan in School

Rabbi Zvi Grumet — Fri, 19 Feb 1999 22:00:00 -0700

Seth Kadish correctly noted that the problem is not unique to schools nor
to any particular segment of the community. There are a number of
suggestions that can be offered as a start, but in this forum I will be
brief.
1-Smaller prayer groups allow for greater control of the environment and
setting the appropriate tone.
2-Tefilla groups in schools should feel free to be creative, as are
Beginner's Services, as they are part of a child's education. This
creativity can include omitting certain paragraphs, pausing during
tefillah for explanations, use of audio, visual or other aids to create the
proper atmosphere for tefillah.
3-Tefillah education teaches students to function in shuls, emphasizing
proper reading, diction and "Jewish calisthenics" (i.e., when to sit,
stand, bow, take three steps, pound the chest, hop, cover the eyes, etc.).
An equal amount of time and effort should be spent on creating the sense
of encounter with the Divine - clearly a more difficult but no less
important task. Included in this can be open and frank discussions - not
lectures - on belief in God, the role God plays in our lives, and whether
prayer is possible even if one is unsure regarding issues of faith.

Rabbi Zvi Grumet

Re: Running Minyan in School

Yocheved Lindenbaum — Sun, 21 Feb 1999 22:00:00 -0700

I have been teaching eighth grade girls in an orthodox day school for
eight years. Tefilla is one of the most challenging parts of my day. It
is difficult to make it a meaningful experience for my class, and that
does not vary even though the children do. One of the best pieces of
advice is simply to model good behavior. Our students should see us daven
properly and maybe some of our behavior will be emulated by our students.

This year, I am attempting something different. Each day, before tefilla,
I either tell a story, learn a halakhah connected to tefilla, and I hope
to add "explain the tefilla" once a week. I have some students who are
preparing the material and presenting to the class. It is a 2-3 minute
presentation before tefilla starts. I am trying a schedule of halakhah 2
days a week, stories 2 days a week and a tefilla synopsis one day a week.
Finding meaningful stories is a challenge. I do not want the pat story of
"....they davened and everyone lived happily ever after.", but rather
stories of chesed or facing challenge. I will try to keep posting if I
feel this program has any effect, positive or negative. In general we
must ask the question of do we help our students form a relationship with
G-d? Do we rely on texts to help them see His ways and thereby form a
relationship with G-d? Do we know adults who have a relationship with G-d
(outside from when they are experiencing pain and suffering?)
B'ydidut
Yocheved Lindenbaum
yayman@msn.com

Running Minyan in School

Seth Kadish — Tue, 16 Feb 1999 22:00:00 -0700

Daily tefilla in schools is not only a very old problem in Jewish
education, but also a terribly frustrating one, since nearly all of us have
to confront it anew every single day. Personally, I find it to be *the*
most exasperating part of my duties as a teacher of Jewish studies, and a
number of other educators have told me they agree.
The problem is unique to Jewish education, and a universal one for it: it
the same in Israel as in the Diaspora, the same for Sefaradim as for
Ashkenazim. It exists in "right wing" schools and in "centrist" schools.
It is frustrating at nearly all age levels (except possibly for very young
children); Aviva Wasser at RPRY posed the question regarding a minyan for
middle-school students, yet it is the very same thing in high schools. So
the problem affects nearly all Jewish educators in religious schools, and
yet I think it is safe to say that none of us has a really good solution!
I don't think there is any cure-all for the problem. The reason is this:
the model for daily tefilla in schools is daily tefilla for adults. And
daily tefilla for adults is deeply problematic too. Since even the very
*model* for prayer in schools falls so far short of the ideal, this is much
more than just an issue for educators.
Because it is not really an issue specific to schools, I don't think this
list is the right forum for an in-depth discussion of kavvana in prayer and
all the issues surrounding it. But I hope it's OK to refer educators who
want a thorough analysis of the problem to my book - Kavvana: Directing the
Heart in Jewish Prayer (Jason Aronson, 1997; the cheapest way to order it
is through the various on-line bookstores). Source-sheets for teaching the
topic are available too. I am also happy to discuss kavvana issues via
private e-mail.
As far as schools go, Aviva Wasser asked for suggestions regarding the
"structure" of the minyan. Any tinkering with the structure doesn't really
get to the guts of the problem, but it is still true that partial solutions
are better than none. I'm sure that others will bring up all kings of
suggestions regarding structure, but I would like to focus on specific
thing: the coed aspect.
Mrs. Wasser said she has both girls and boys in her minyan, and also asked
what is done for the girls. My school is also mixed and its minyan was too
(we had blackboards on wheels for mehitzot). But this year, for logistical
reasons, it was absolutely impossible to fit all the boys and girls
together into any available space. So we were forced to separate them,
despite the obvious loss to the girls of keriat ha-Torah, kaddish and
kedusha, etc. As it turns out, this was a very positive thing. The girls
(so I am told!) now find it much easier to structure tefilla as they like
in terms of singing, speed, and divrei Torah. The boys, who have very
different tastes, like to keep running things in the style of a regular
(sefardic) minyan. So maybe this is something that should be considered in
other coed schools as well.

Hodesh Tov!
Seth (Avi) Kadish
Amit Karmiel Torah & Science High School
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