The routine of t'filah can and should serve to make the language and movement of the service familiar (keva). In turn, this familiarity can allow the willing worshiper to access a better and ever deeper understanding of the concept of prayer itself (kavanah).
The t'filah goals for our students from their toddler year through their 9th grade year are:
To have fun, actively and spiritually, while learning and engaging in Jewish prayers and blessings through song, chanting (nusach), and customs.
To experience kavanah by understanding the meanings and intentions within the liturgy in a relatable manner.
To experience keva by gaining the knowledge necessary to navigate through and explain the order of the weekday and Shabbat service in the reform siddur as well as to create and lead their own service using the knowledge.
To understand the Jewish holidays and traditions through Jewish songs, their lyrics, and stories such that they are able to share them with family, friends, and younger children (l'dor vador).
Expose
Engage
Understand
Lead
Students will continually experience the different stages each year the progress through their religious school growth.
The student will be exposed to songs about the Jewish holidays, Shabbat, and Shabbat blessings including the candles, grape juice (kiddush), and challah (motzi).
The student will engage with Jewish prayer through song.
The student will learn customs, such as bowing and covering their eyes, associated with the liturgy.
The student will learn when to lead and when to respond, e.g., when reciting the Bar'chu (call to worship).
The student will further engage with Jewish liturgy through song and nusach with a focus on bar/bat mitzvah. The student will learn/understand the intention behind the recited blessings.
The student will learn way to find ways to make the prayers/blessings meaningful and relatable to his/her personal life.
As a bar/bat mitzvah (after reaching the age of Jewish adulthood), the student will help lead t'filah using the information, experiences and songs learned over past years in the religious school and for the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony. This is a l'dor vador (generation to generation) moment for the student to pass knowledge and traditions to the younger student.