<HTML> 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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* Seth & Sheri (Avi & Shoshana) Kadish *
* Rehov Megiddo 5/10 *
* Karmiel 21950 *
* Israel *
* (04)958-1553 *
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