The second part of a learner centered course on structuring prayer learning experiences for a variety of ages and diversity of learners helping them to make personal meaning and develop literacy and competency in Jewish liturgy. Professor Steven M. Brown is Dean of The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education and Director of the Melton Center for Jewish Education. He was the first Dean of Distance Learning at JTS and is also an Assistant Professor of Jewish Education, specializing in curriculum development and instruction. Dr. Brown's career is distinguished by his rigorous examination of the facets of both Jewish and secular education.

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The Languages of
Prayer
Dr. Steven Brown

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Siddur Treasure Hunt
Sound of horse hooves ‫אחלק‬ ,‫אשיג‬ ,‫ארדוף‬ ‫אויב‬ ‫אמר‬
,‫חרבי‬ ‫אריק‬ ,‫נפשי‬ ‫תמלאמו‬ ,‫שלל‬
‫ידי‬ ‫תורישמו‬(‫הים‬ ‫)שירת‬
Thunderstorm (‫שבת‬ ‫)קבלת‬ ‫כ"ט‬ ‫תהילים‬
A feeling (‫אהבה‬ ‫)ברכת‬ ‫במצוותך‬ ‫ליבנו‬ ‫דבק‬
Whole bodily feeling ‫קדושה‬ ,‫עמידה‬ ,‫עלינו‬
Whole language stirring ‫אשרי‬,‫הוא‬ ‫אדיר‬,‫חיל‬ ‫אשת‬

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• Doubt Box
• Faith Interview
• God Talk

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The Need for a Doubt Box
• To encourage questioning, struggle with faith, and to
depersonalize students’ possible reluctance to challenge
teacher authority or standing, create a doubt box into which
students can deposit questions and concerns about God, faith,
textual authority, etc.
• From time to time review questions, and seek the help of a
Rabbi, educator, or fellow teacher who can help you in
responding.
• It is important to confirm the idea that in regard to belief in
God, doubt is legitimate. Faith and doubt are in tension with
one another but need not eliminate each other. To give doubt
legitimacy we will use a “Doubt Box.”

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Making a Doubt Box
• Get a shoe box. Wrap it. Write “DOUBT BOX” on its side. Put a slit
on the top.
• Hand out “doubt slips”.
• Every student should be encouraged to fill out as many slips as
he/she wants. They can be left unsigned.
• “Doubt slips” should be deposited in the box.
• In order to share the doubts of the students, the leader should read
out loud the “doubt slips”. There should be no attempt to give
answers as they are read.
• The “Doubt Box” should be available at every class. Students
should be encouraged to contribute their doubts. From time to time
they should be read to the class.

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Doubt Slips (sample(
Check off
Most of the time I doubt ....
Sometimes I doubt ...
Most of the time I am not sure...
Sometimes I am not sure ...
I really think that...
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________

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Faith Interview
• If there is a God, how do you picture God?
• Do you talk to God yourself?
• Have you ever felt God talking to you, or have you
ever felt God’s presence?
• What are some of your doubts about God?
• If God is good, how can God permit evil in the
world?
• Do you know any differences between Jewish
conceptions of God and Christian conceptions of
God?
• Is there anything that makes you angry about God?

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Faith Interview
• Has God ever answered any of your prayers?
• Why don’t you think or talk about God more than
you do?
• Does God still function in the world as described in
the Bible?
• What is a miracle? Do you believe in miracles?
• Do you believe in life after death? What form does it
take?
• Do you believe God punishes the sinners and rewards
the righteous?

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Sample Names/Metaphors of God
Av Harachaman (Merciful Father)
Rofeh Cholim (Healer of the Sick)
El Nora (Awesome God)
Avinu Malkenu (Our Father, Our King)
Pachad Yitzhak (Isaac’s Fear)
Tzur (Rock)
A partial list of names of God in the siddur can be found in Higher and Higher: Making Jewish
Prayer Part of Us by Steven Brown. Published by United Synagogue of America, 1980.

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Two Names of God you really love
Two Names of that put you off or
puzzle you

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History of Prayer

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1. What does the prayer say?
2. Can it be divided into units of thought or style? This can
be determined by tense, person, form of address, mood
style, literacy device, poetic structure, or ideas.
3. Are there any striking grammatical forms?
4. When was the prayer written?
5. For whom was the prayer intended?
6. What kind of experience might have stimulated the
writing of such a prayer? Can we have a similar
experience today?
Questions for Analyzing Prayers

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7. What related experiences (both positive and negative) do
we have that the author did not have?
8. What questions is the prayer attempting to answer?
9. When is it recited?
10.Where is there prayer located in the Siddur?
11.What ideas are in the prayer? Most important? Next?
12. How does the writer feel about these ideas?

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13. What has happened to these ideas in Judaism?
14. What role has this prayer played among Jews?
15. What role has this prayer played in your life?
16. How do you feel about this prayer?
17. If a person took this prayer seriously, how might it affect his
behavior?
18. What senses, abilities, or processes are involved in making
this prayer a real part of one’s life (aside from saying it)?

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Structure of Siddur

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How is it Organized?

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By what logic is the classical
Siddur organized?
• Jew’s daily routine
• Frequency of use
• Yearly calendar

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Bracha Structure

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Bookends

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CORE
CONCEPT
Are central
to domain
of
knowledge
Are widely
used even if
some disagree
with them
Are likely to
stand the test
of time
Are
generative

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The 4MAT Model
Needs to
Apply
4
Needs
Personal
Meaning
1
Needs to
Practice
3 Needs to
Understand
Conceptuality
2
If? Why?
What?
How?

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Left Mode
Analysis
Re-forming
Probing
Breaking down
Right Mode
Synthesis
Forming
Generating
Integrating

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A Cycle of
Learning
Connect:
Engage in
experience
Examine:
Reflect, analyze
experience
Image:
“Picture” the
concept
Define:
Learn
concepts and
skills
Try:
Practice
with
content
Extend: Explore,
develop original
applications
Refine: Analyze
application for
relevance,
usefulness
Integrate:
Share and
celebrate
learning
L
R
L L
R
L
RR

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