Opening Minds, Bridging Differences, Living Jewish Values.

Tefillah

One of the places where we live our commitment to Pluralism is through our Tefillah program. We begin each day with tefillah. All students participate in a shacharit minyan (morning-prayer service) of their choice.

The minyanim include but are not limited to:

  1. The Egalitarian Minyan - An egalitarian traditional minyan that is committed to creating a warm, embracing, welcoming community where tefillah is taken seriously both by the tzibur as well as the yachid. We spend most of our time engaged in reciting, singing and finding meaning in the words of tefillah. This minyan offers many opportunities for student leadership.
  2. The Orthodox Minyan - This minyan consists of a community of praying individuals. Virtually all of our time is spent in tefillah, bonding through singing, davening, and striving for meaningful moments. This minyan has a mechitza, and counts every person in the room as vital to the overall experience. The minyan is run by students, with leading and leadership opportunities available to all.
  3. Tefillah Exploration - A discussion based minyan where students explore their relationship to Jewish ideas and values as they are reflected in the world around us.
  4. Creative Expression Minyan - A minyan where creative, personal expression is nurtured, welcomed, and developed through visual arts, writing, movement, and music.
  5. Mindfulness & Meditation Minyan - A minyan that works to develop mindfulness skills in the context of Jewish tradition and tefillah.
  6. Social Justice Minyan - A minyan that works to explore the need for social justice through media and discussion and explore the connection between our traditional liturgy and contemporary issues of social justice.
  7. The Women's Minyan - The Women's Minyan works to create an open, safe community in order to explore ritual and spiritual practices and dilemmas facing women in the world today.
  8. On Being a Person - Tefillah is a time to explore our inner selves by considering our relationships with people, environment and faith. This minyan will provide opportunity to talk about the relationships we have with people and with the world at large, and how our personality effects and is affected by these relationships.
  9. Israel MinyanThis minyan recites a short morning service, leaving time for participants to engage in Israel-oriented discussion. We aim to gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with Israel, as well as our identity as Diaspora Jews, through exploration of many dimensions of ancient and modern Israel - history, religion, culture, and current events. This minyan seeks to conduct discussions in an open, respectful atmosphere, where students will feel comfortable expressing a range of different perspectives on Israel and will listen thoughtfully to other views.