My friend and colleague, Joe Hirsch, articulated the challenges schools around the world encounter when it comes to tefillah. I heartily applaud his initiative in starting the conversation. Many factors certainly contribute to our present circumstance, but I have two thoughts that I fear will be unpopular, but nevertheless compel me to contribute.
I have long been considering some of Seymour Fox's writings on assessing the compatibility of pedagogical methods with the values inherent in Jewish education. I have a sense that many methods of modern education which we as a community have adopted wholesale undermine concepts that our students need to live a full Jewish life. Most notably, the comment I have heard repeatedly, that if "you can't measure it, you don't know if you're teaching it," deeply troubles me. We cannot, and should not attempt to, measure engagement in tefillah. Quantifying a relationship with God is patently absurd. Are we undermining noble efforts by implying to our students, even implicitly, that only the measurable has value?
Secondly, built in to the concept of prayer is the relationship with "the other." A discussion has been ongoing in various venues as to the effect of technology, or the ways in which technology is used, on students and children, particularly in their ability to read other's mental states (see here for an example: [
tinyurl.com]). Whether or not the research supports the hypothesis that students have a harder time relating to "the other," anecdotal evidence is certainly present in sufficient quantities to instigate self-reflection, at the very least. Resigning ourselves to the fact that this "is just how the modern world is," would not be an option. An inability to see beyond oneself would fundamentally undermine a relationship with the Divine. Tailoring our teaching methods to help teach students the vital skill of understanding other perspectives would (and I would argue should) become of premier importance for the Jewish educational community.
Jeffrey Schrager
Dallas, TX
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2015 06:28AM by mlb.
