First, let me say that the discussion about teaching tefilla is so important. Kol hakavod to Rav Tal and Lookjed for raising the issue in such a thoughtful and intelligent way.
I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that davening well is very difficult, even for (or maybe, especially for) adults, and not just for adolescents. Most of us would agree, I believe, that the best way to teach faith is by genuinely modelling it. Perhaps a forum might be found for teachers to share their own struggles and successes with tefilla, and the reasons they persist in davening, despite the fact that it is rarely easy and not always rewarding. Obviously, serious thought would have to be given to how to go about sharing this kind of emotionally and spiritually charged information to avoid unintended consequences (such as undermining the teacher’s authority or, God forbid, derailing the natural, intuitive, pure prayer of the rare student who davens with a real feeling of engagement with God, among other things). Still, one of the critical messages we wish to give our students is that their commitment to Judaism should be firm even in the face of difficulty—‘sheva yipol tsaddik vakam’. This might be an opportunity to explore the idea that instant gratification isn’t the best kind and that it is worth struggling to attain deeper meaning.
Kol tuv,
Simi Peters
