Like many community day schools that are committed to pluralism and a pluralist expression of Judaism, the San Diego Jewish Academy has historically struggled with tefillah. For some, tefillah should be an intrinsically Jewish activity that contributes to the Jewish vibrancy on campus. For others, tefillah is an intrinsically alienating activity that only contributes to the inherent discomfort with things that are “too Jewish.” In truth, many students were turned off from tefillah as it had been run. Opinions were divided among administrators and faculty; meetings at all levels of the school, including the board, exposed disagreements over how to handle this issue. Parents generally supported conducting tefillah in the school, but were troubled by negative reports from their children. The tension had become so palpable that there was discussion of getting rid of the two day per week tefillot sessions at our school.
This past year our administration returned to Jewish sources and tried to determine the reason for tefillah, for prayer, not only for a community but for an individual. Looking at teachings from Heschel, Steinsaltz, and the Baal Shem Tov, we reached a more spiritual understanding of tefillah that offered a starting point for a new approach in our school. Rather than speaking about and teaching tefillah as a chiyuv (obligation) and an intrinsic Jewish activity in which Jewish students should engage, we examined tefillah as one type of Jewish reflective activity. By finding a common language, “reflective time for the soul,” our administration realized that there is an inherent good for both faculty and student to learn to set aside time for Cheshbon HaNefesh. Now our task was to teach and sell this to the student body while maintaining our commitment to a pluralist community.
In a desire to stress the importance of communal reflective time, we created an environment conducive to that goal. Students made a choice to commit to a specific Cheshbon HaNefesh community. Middle school students chose from four communities reflective of our pluralistic community: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Learner. High School students could choose from those four communities and three others: fine art, music and poetry. These communities now meet twice per week, Monday and Thursday, and students not only look forward to this time but generally participate.
The three high school-only Cheshbon HaNefesh communities investigate and discuss a piece of liturgy on Mondays. Thursdays are set aside for students to express their understanding and connection to the liturgical piece via the chosen medium: art, music, or poetry. Over the course of semester or a year, the students accumulate a portfolio of artistic work that reflects their ownership to the liturgy.
This Cheshbon HaNefesh program does not permit students to drop out of the tefillah activity. Rather, each student becomes part of a smaller community that relies upon each individual. Each individual contributes to the community’s ability to engage in the reflective process and examine the Jewish component of the individual and communal soul, all the while recognizing that each communal expression of the soul must be validated and recognized. ♦
Rabbi Leslie Lipson is the Dean of Judaic Studies of San Diego Jewish Academy in San Diego, CA.
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