Praying for...#BlogElul #8

I have been thinking about prayer a lot lately. We have made a lot of changes in the religious school curriculum at Temple Judea for the upcoming school year. One significant change was separating our Hebrew curriculum from the Tefillah curriculum. As a result we will be having more frequent prayer services (since most of us learn prayer through recitation and repetition) and we will be teaching about prayer in a meaningful way.

To do this I have adapted a curriculum a friend wrote about becoming a sheliach tzibur (prayer leader). There are four lessons that focus on some of the values of prayer, in addition to communicating with the Divine. The students will explore prayer as a link to our ancestors, as a way of saying thank you, as an expression of love, and as a teaching method. I think too often we focus on one purpose of prayer - and if we aren't finding that meaningful, we give up. By remembering all these different roles we can come to prayer open for whatever purpose is appropriate for that moment in time.

I have also been thinking about prayer on a more personal level. This past January my mom was diagnosed with cancer of unknown primary. We knew it was very aggressive and we knew that my mom was going to have to put up a really good fight! Without thinking about it too much I added her name to the Mi Shebeirach list at temple (a list of people in need of healing). I am thrilled that the beginning of August brought amazing news as the chemo was doing an unbelievable (bordering on miraculous) job of defeating the cancer.

When my mom shared this news with me she commented that, "maybe it was all of the love and prayers that were being sent her way." I know I don't believe that prayer can really bring healing, but at the same time, I say my mom's name and frequently pray for her continued health, because...well...what if the prayers do make a difference...

The High Holy Day prayer service can be inaccessible to many of us...but instead of getting frustrated if we are not able to connect with the Divine, think of prayer as a link, a teaching, an act of love, a way of expressing thanks...and if none of those work, consider prayer as a way of expressing our hopes for the year ahead.