Sunday, September 19, 2004
Ideas for teaching liturgy
I realized during Rosh Hashana services last week that Aviad doesn't know half as much as I had assumed that he did about the structure of the Mahzor. The middle of the silent Amida wasn't a very helpful time to realize this, but I gave him a whispered overview of Malchuyot Zichronot and Shofarot before the repetition while resolving to do the job properly in the time remaining before his Bar Mitzvah.
So … I have been trying to think up a lesson plan, and had the idea of approaching it as a system of cycles, something like this:
- Three times a day: the Amidah
- Sources: the patriarchs vs. the Temple services
- Structure and content
- First three blessings
- Middle thirteen blessings
- Last three blessings
- Live example: Minha
- Parshat haTamid and Pitum haKetoret
- Ashrei
- Kaddish as liturgical punctuation
- Amida
- Tahanun
- Alenu
- Twice a day: the Shema
- Sources
- Structure and content
- Live example: Arvit
- Blessings before the Shema
- Shema
- Blessings after the Shema
- Amida
- Alenu
- Every Monday and Thursday: weekday Torah reading
- Sources
- Live example: Shahrit
- Morning blessings and readings
- Pesukei deZimra
- Blessings before the Shema
- Shema
- Blessings after the Shema
- Amida
- Tahanun
- Torah reading
- Alenu
- Once a week: Shabbat
- Shabbat forms of the Amida, including Musaf
- First three blessings
- Middle blessing
- Last three blessings
- Other extras
- Kabbalat Shabbat
- Expanded Pesukei deZimra
- Minha Torah reading
- Havdala
- Shabbat forms of the Amida, including Musaf
- Once a month: Rosh Hodesh
- Ya'ale veyavo
- Hallel
- Torah reading
- Musaf
- Birkat haLevana and Kiddush Levana
- Four times a year: public fast days
- Selihot
- Anenu and Nahem
- Torah reading
- Three times a year: Pilgrim Festivals
- Festival forms of the Amida, including Musaf
- First three blessings
- Middle blessing
- Last three blessings
- Other extras
- Hallel
- Torah reading
- Hosha'anot
- Special festival services
- Seder
- Tikkun Leil Shavu'ot
- Tikkun Hosha'ana Rabba
- Festival forms of the Amida, including Musaf
- Once a year: High Holidays
- Selihot
- Shofar
- Rosh haShana Musaf
- Yom Kippur Amidot
- Ne'ila
- Once a year: Minor Festivals
- Purim and Hanukka
- Al haNissim
- Hallel
- Megillat Esther
- Others
- Tu biShvat
- Lag Ba'omer
- Tu beAv
- Purim and Hanukka
- Every now and then: life-cycle events
I don't know if this approach would work for everybody, but I'm sure it would have worked for me when I was a kid, and I suspect it will work for Aviad too.