Q&A: Shortening Prayer for Students
Shortening Prayer for Students
Question
Rabbi Michi, hello and blessings.
I am a homeroom teacher for a 7th-grade class in a high school in central Israel.
I am unsure about the structure of the morning prayer service—what to skip, what to shorten, what to lengthen, and so on. My main question is about the Amidah.
The students do not respond to the cantor’s repetition. It’s simply not on their radar, even though we ask them to.
On the one hand, if we do a shortened repetition, it will prevent blessings from being said in vain, and they will get less tired and less alienated from the prayer service.
On the other hand, if we do not do the cantor’s repetition, certain educational messages are conveyed—that we are cutting things short, not doing things fully, and so on. They also will not become familiar with the full prayer service.
On the other hand, there is also an educational advantage in having a prayer service that is not burdensome, and there are no blessings said in vain. I would be happy to hear your opinion. Thank you.
Answer
I am in favor of shortening as much as possible, and it is worthwhile to involve them in the considerations. You can also explain to them that this is a step being taken after the fact, and that you would be happy if they themselves would cooperate in restoring the former glory. That way, the educational damage will be greatly reduced.
My late father became principal of the technological high school (which was then at Bar-Ilan University), and before he started working there he told me that, in his impression, the level of Jewish religious life there was lacking. I asked what he planned to do. He answered: first of all, reduce the number of Talmud hours. To my surprise, he explained that if they hate Talmud, then the more hours there are, the more the hatred grows. If there are fewer hours, there is a chance to improve their attitude toward the subject. In my opinion, the same applies to prayer.
As for what to cut, I suggest reading and choosing to implement what is written here (especially from page 151 onward):
http://www.dnoam.022.co.il/BRPortal/br/P102.jsp?arc=913719