10 Years of Believing in Jewish Day School Education

In another essay, Heschel challenges us on a central curricular element, prayer:
Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the
pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehood. The liturgical movement must
become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to
destroy the promise, the hope, the vision.
(Please note the inter-related themes to the above teachings in these seemingly unrelated realms.) Virtually
all Jewish schools report a struggle to make prayer a meaningful and spiritually enriching experience.
Are there any schools that can boast of a prayer curriculum that is even remotely informed by Heschel’s
words? Heschel challenges us to recognize the social role played by prayer and the need to link tefillah to
the fundamental values we seek to imbue and embody. Skills are critical, conformity is important, but for
Heschel intention and depth are at the core of the prayer experience.
Heschel’s focus on prayer leads logically to a third and final challenge (final for this small essay yet not
remotely exhaustive of Heschel’s thought in this arena).
Our goal must be to enable the pupil to participate and share in the spiritual experience
of Jewish living; to explain to him what it means to live like a likeness of God. For what is
involved in being a Jew? Duties of the heart, not only external performance; the ability to
experience the suffering of others, compassion and acts of kindness; sanctification of time,
not the mere observance of customs and ceremonies; the joy of discipline, not the pleasures
of conceit; sacrifice, not casual celebrations, contrition rather than national pride.
A school that seeks to learn from Heschel will struggle to articulate a serious vision for its educational
program, creating a powerful mission statement and educational and religious policy characterized by
intense purpose and sharp focus. It will recognize that educational institutions must continually deepen the
40 partnership for excellence in Jewish education