Between Ritual and Spiritual: Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices Regarding Prayer Education in TALI Day Schools in Israel

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study is to describe teachers’ perceptions and roles in prayer education in TALI day schools in Israel, using in-depth oral Interviews, written questionnaires and written materials of the schools’ network. Two educational ideologies were identified: Belonging to the Jewish collective and Personal-spiritual ideology. While participants perceive the aim of Jewish education as enhancing students’ belonging to the Jewish collective, prayer education introduces a personal-spiritual aspect that was not typically a part of teachers’ discourse on Jewish education.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Lisa Grant, Michael Marmur, and Mark Rosenstein for their thorough reading of the early versions of this work.

Notes

¹ The Tarbut Yisrael official state secular curriculum (2010) integrated introduction to the Siddur (the Jewish prayer book) and to the concept of praying (for seventh graders) and yet this component does not include the practice of praying. See, for example Yaegar and Cohen (2010).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michal Muszkat-Barkan

Michal Muszkat-Barkan, Ph.D., is Parallel Associate Professor of Jewish Education and Director of the Department of Education and Professional Development at Hebrew Union College-Jerusalem. She heads a specialization in Pluralistic Jewish Education as part of an MA program at the Melton Center of the Hebrew University.