Below is a collection of Tefillah and Berakhot lesson plans, interactive tools, and articles created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.  

 


LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES

Yom Kippur Tefillah: A Discussion Guide – This lesson for middle and high school students explores common feelings that are felt by children (and adults) during Yom Kippur prayers in an open and non-judgmental way. By Moshe Goodman.
Birkat Hamazon Study Units – In this twelve-part unit, middle school students analyze the text of Birkat Hamazon and its origins. Click the button below the lesson plans to continue on to part 2. By The Lookstein Center.
V’Ten Tal U’Matar – This source analysis for high school students explores the Jewish calendar and the origins of the dates assigned for reciting the V’Ten Tal U’Matar prayer. By Dr. Moshe Sokolow.
Chana’s Anguish and Triumph – This three-part study unit for middle school students analyzes Chana’s prayer in Sefer Shmuel as an example of the role of personal prayer in Judaism. Click the button below the lesson plans to continue on to part 2. By The Lookstein Center.
Birkat Kohanim – These activities for elementary school students explore the feelings and emotions associated with reciting Birkat Kohanim in the synagogue. By Israel’s Ministry of Education.
Kevah and Kavanah – This lesson plan for middle and high school students reviews mishnayot that focus on the topics of kevah (permanence/0 and kavanah (intention). By Harold Bell.
Tefillah Resource Database – These resources from Pardes, by educators for educators, are divided by grade and topic.

 

Blogs, articles, and podcasts

Rethinking Prayer and Jewish Education from a Neurodiverse Perspective – This blog post explores how to make prayer more impactful for all students. By Jacki Edry for The Lookstein Center.
Bringing Elementary Tefillah to Life – This blog post analyzes elementary students’ relationship with prayer and how to improve it. By Eric Golombek for The Lookstein Center.
Commitment and Recommitment to Tefillah – This discussion thread discusses ways to make the tefillah experience meaningful for students. Started by Karen Miller Jackson.
High-Frequency Words in the Siddur – This list of high-frequency words that appear in the standard nusach Ashkenaz siddur can assist teachers to determine which tefillah words are most worthwhile to teach students. Compiled by The Lookstein Center.
Methods of Teaching Jewish Prayer – This two-part podcast presents a learner-centered course for structuring optimal prayer experiences for students. Click the button below the podcast to continue on to part 2. By Professor Steven M. Brown.
Prayer in Jewish Community High Schools: Generation Y – This dissertation explores the role of tefillah in Jewish community high schools. By Yonatan Yussman.
Tefillah: A Unique Way of Communicating with God – This article explores the roots and meaning of Jewish prayer today. By Rabbi Steven Weil for Jewish Action.
Themes and Theology of Jewish Prayer – This article analyzes the origins and practices of Jewish prayer from the times of the Temple until now. By MyJewishLearning.
LearnTefillah.com – This website includes resources on learning prayers as well as daily Tehillim and more.


unlocked articles from Jewish educational leadership: TEFILLAH

Meeting the Middle School Students’ Tefillah Challenge: A “Hands-On” Approach – This article by Chaim Feuerman describes an approach for empowering middle school students and making their tefillah respectable. 
Tefillah Education: A Pedagogy of Direction – This article by Tamara Frankel underscores the need for setting goals in tefillah education.
Praying with Students? – This article by Barry Kislowicz examines the roles that faculty play during tefillah and how they can be shifted.
Tefillah, Meaning Making Skills, and Spiritual Literacy – This article by Joshua Ladon explores paths to meaning-making as a function of literacy, with a focus on tefillah.
The Art of Prayer – This article by Peter Stein examines how to integrate art into an alternate tefillah experience.
Tefillah, Inquiry, and the Power of Text Study – This article by Ziva Hassenfeld explores the idea that text study can be a powerful tool for teaching tefillah.

 

locked articles from Jewish educational leadership: TEFILLAH

To access all locked Jewish Educational Leadership articles and more, become a member.

🔒 Creating a Rubric for the Tefillah Experience – By Eliot Feldman.
🔒 Enriching the Prayer Experience through Writing Psalms – By Russell Jay Hendel.
🔒 Empowering Prayer Communities through Religious School Worship – By Saul Kaiserman.
🔒 Making Space for God in Tefillah – By Ariel Wolgel.
🔒 Together or Separate: Halakhic Response to Breakaway Minyanim – By Levi Cooper.
🔒 Jewish Meditation in the Context of Prayer: A Case Study in an Orthodox Jewish High School – By Hillel Broder.
🔒 Let’s Not Fall into the Trap – By Saul P. Wachs.
🔒 Attention! The Challenges of Prayer in an ADHD Society – By Simcha Chesner.
🔒 DEEPER: A New Model for Writing Goals for Tefillah – By Lior Misrachi and Natanya Milner.
🔒 Tefillah in a Community Day School – By Sharon Freundel.
🔒 A Multi -Textured Approach to Tefillah – By Lisa Exler.
🔒 Literacy or Inspiration – By Daniel Rose.
🔒 The Birthing of a New Field – By Susan Wall, Zvi Hirschfield, and Seth Korelitz.
🔒 Incorporating Hand Motions (ASL) into Prayer Teaching – By Susan Marx.
🔒 Finding God in the Seventh Grade – By Seth Korelitz.
🔒 Creating a Meaningful Tefillah Experience through the Lens of Adolescent Development – By Moshe Drelich.


locked articles from OTHER ISSUES OF Jewish educational leadership

To access all locked Jewish Educational Leadership articles and more, become a member.

🔒 Perspectives on Jewish Education: Searching for Spirituality in EducationBy Saul J. Berman.
🔒 Tefillah Studies Visual Arts – By Gail Baker, Judith Leitner, and Pam Medjuck Stein.
🔒 Panoptical Prayer and Other Practices: Rethinking Religious Girls’ Education through Tefillah – By Elana Maryles Sztokman.
🔒 The Open Siddur: A Next-Generation Communal Jewish Educational Resource
By Efraim Feinstein and Devorah Preiss.
🔒 Prayer Options and Prayer Education in Pluralistic Jewish High Schools – By Daniel N. Finkel.
🔒 The Experience Of The Synagogue In The Development Of Spirituality Among Orthodox Israeli Preschoolers – By David Brody.
🔒 PrayerLive: A Model for Techno-Spiritual Collaborative Learning
– By Devorah Preiss-Bloom.

Have anything to add to the list? Contact us at content@lookstein.org.