Netivot Shalom, Rabbi Sholom Noach Berezovsky, Intro to Prayer

“‘You shall serve (va’avad’tem) Hashem your God with all your heart’ (Exod. 23:25). 

Which is the service of the heart? It must be prayer” (Mekhilta D’Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 23).
This is in the same manner that we cultivate (m’abdim) a field. First we plow, and then we sow, and then we water. And only after this does growth begin. So too in prayer, first comes the deep plowing to open the heart. After that we place the words of prayer into the heart, which is the planting. We then pour out our hearts like water in the divine Presence, which is the act of watering. And then [our prayer] grows salvation.

Day schools often teach students to recite prayers even before they can read. As students grow, schools expand the number recited and focus on the performative aspects of Jewish prayer and/or the siddur as text. While this knowledge and skill set has great value, this tendency to focus on the performative overlooks the most important landscape for a meaningful and transformative tefillah experience—the student’s inner life as the field for deepening a connection to God as a source of transcendent love and guidance. Such a relationship with a transcendent power has been shown to significantly reduce risk for substance abuse and depression in adolescents (L. Miller, The Spiritual Child, pp. 71-72).   

The Hasidic text above suggests that for prayer to be successful, we must first till the soil of the heart. If we have fertile seeds but throw them on concrete, it’s unlikely that they’ll take root, let alone grow fruit. The same is true for the words of the siddur. They are rich seeds, “repositories of the spirit” brimming with heartfelt devotion (A.J. Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, pp. 259-260). If we ask our students to engage with our inherited prayers without supporting them to prepare the soil of the heart, it’s unlikely that the prayers will take root and nurture our students’ spiritual growth. Supporting students in developing the inner capacity to pray is an essential first step, and a great potential gift of tefillah education in school. 

So how do we till the soil of the heart? 

The Institute for Jewish Spirituality Educating for a Jewish Spiritual Life Program (EJSL) does so by teaching day school educators an array of kavvanah or mindfulness skills, grounded in Hasidic teachings and practices. After deepening their own prayer lives, educators then teach the same practices to their students in a developmentally appropriate, engaging manner, weaving them into the daily practice of tefillah. 

Some kavvanah skills we teach include: 

  • Cultivating Silence and Stillness to help us turn inward and observe subtle inner phenomena that we often overlook amidst the tumult, noise and distraction of our modern world. Children today rarely take time to hear their own thoughts and be aware of their feelings and yearnings; this needs to be taught.

  • Strengthening Attention and Deepening Presence With some basic mindfulness training, students can learn to observe distracting thoughts instead of getting swept into them and to redirect the wandering mind—in prayer. 

  • Developing Body Awareness and Emotional Sensitivity Much of school life engages the intellect, sometimes at the expense of attending to our bodies and emotions. Students can learn to sense, observe, name, track and befriend emotions in the body and notice the subtle ways in which praying impacts them emotionally on a somatic level. They can also learn how to  generate “sacred” emotions—like awe, gratitude and yearning—that open the heart and nurture feelings of transcendence (J. Kress, Growing Jewish Minds, Growing Jewish Souls: Promoting Spiritual, Social, and Emotional Growth in Jewish Education).    

  • Cultivating Transcendence/D’vekut By learning how to listen deeply for the kol d’mamah dakah (still small voice) inside, students can begin to develop a sense of loving connection with a divine Presence that provides unconditional love, guidance and support. This personal connection is essential to meaningful prayer, to spiritual practice and to student wellbeing. 

  • Sympathetic Resonance Rather than just studying the siddur or reciting its words, students can grow their ability to feel into an inherited prayer and discover the emotional undercurrent flowing therein. They begin to feel a kind of sympathetic resonance between the emotional tenor of a prayer and their own inner life, inviting them to appreciate the potential of tefillah to be a soulful personal expression. 

  • Spontaneous, Unrehearsed Prayer With a little guidance, students can develop confidence and skill at going off script and praying spontaneously and sincerely from the heart. 

  • Belonging Students long to feel a part of something larger than themselves, and a valued part of the Jewish community. Communal prayer and the language of the siddur both assume and foster this mindset, which can be addressed and cultivated.

It is our prayer that nurturing the inner lives of both teachers and students will become a central focus of tefillah education in day schools, tilling fertile ground and sowing seeds for a lifelong commitment to prayer as a practice in cultivating the heart and sensing God’s loving presence in our lives.     

Sam Feinsmith, Program Director, IJS

Sam directs the Educating for a Jewish Spiritual Life and Clergy Leadership Programs at IJS, and writes the weekly Hasidic Text Study track. He has been immersed in the world of Jewish contemplative living, learning, and teaching for over fifteen years, conducting Jewish meditation workshops and retreats for young children, teens, and Jewish educators and community leaders. Sam lives outside of Chicago with his wife and daughter, where he delights in the daily miracles of early childhood.

Michal Fox Smart, Chief Program Officer, IJS

Michal is responsible for all of IJS’s programs, guiding the work of the Institute’s faculty while envisioning ways to grow and deepen our offerings. Michal has crafted ground-breaking programs in personal and spiritual development for over 30 years, often in partnership with JEIC. She previously served as Director of Ayeka North America, Associate Principal of Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy, Executive Director of the Isabella Freedman retreat center, and co-founder of the Teva Outdoor Learning Center. She co-authored Spirit in Nature and Kaddish: Women’s Voices. Michal lives in CT and is the proud “Ema” of five emerging adults.