Tefillah
The Hebrew word tefillah directs us to reflect on our actions and attitudes. The siddur (prayerbook) provides a number of opportunities to reflect on Jewish values. We call our prayer services tefillah. Each session of Sunday School, our student community comes together to pray and to celebrate. We alternate between praying and celebrating as one community – all classes and grades together - and praying in smaller groups divided by age cohort.
Praying together during Sunday School fills a number of important educational goals.
1. We celebrate as a community.
2. Praying every week helps students learn and remember the prayers.
3. Each week we learn more about each prayer, the prayer service, and the concept of prayer.
4. Students become increasingly more comfortable with the choreography (the movements) and the setting of the prayer service – as well as with the siddur (prayerbook) and the various melodies and chants of each prayer.
5. We teach many kinds of learners each week. Attending services is a different kind of learning from sitting in a small group in a classroom. Hopefully, we can reach different learners or different parts of each learner by praying together.
6. Students pray with their teachers and role models. Students see that praying – just like learning – doesn’t stop after someone becomes bar or bat mitzvah. Also, students see that no one is ‘too knowledgeable’ or ‘too cool’ to pray.
7. Children are naturally ‘spiritual,’ but daily life isn’t necessarily spiritual. Tefillah during Sunday School provides the opportunity for all of us to experience spirituality.