By Dylan Singer
While on our Shabbaton in Jerusalem, we had many incredible speakers about a variety of topics and one of those people was Rabbi Ma’ayan Turner. She talked to us about her experience with editing the Israeli Reform movements’ siddur. She talked about the struggles with including women in prayers and making these prayers include both the patriarchs and the matriarchs. She also talked about the importance that one word can have on a prayer and how changing just one word or sentence can alter how people connect with a prayer. She gave the example of the phrase “Thank you for not making me a man” in the N’sim B’chol Yom. The Reform siddur did not like the wording of that and has therefore changed it to “Thank you for making me in the image of G-d.” I like this wording much better because I think that it is more inclusive of people and has a better relevance to today’s world.
I think that her session, and particularly the part about changing just a word or two to change the meaning of a prayer, really struck a chord with me. I began to think about how important small changes can be in the way that we are perceived by others. Just saying one word differently or having a different facial expression can be incredibly important in the way others understand what we are presenting. This made me think of the intentionality in what I say and do each and every day. I never know what sentence will impact someone and this is the same thing in education. There is no exact science as to what can impact someone in a given lesson, but being intentional in each part of this lesson is vital because as an educator, you never know which part of the lesson will be internalized. It could be the part that you intend for them to internalize, or it could be something else. I doubt that everyone got the same lesson out of Rabbi Ma’ayan Turner’s session and I doubt that she could articulate what everyone internalized.
This session came at a great time for me because we are in the middle of planning our camp programs. I have begun to think about the words that I should use in my program because certain words have connotations attached to them. Choosing what words I use and how I present them can impact someone’s experience with my program greatly and I do not know which word or topic will be the part of my program that is impactful to each camper. I had not thought about how much detail should be put into the smallest part of each and every program before, and I think that by using an example of prayer, Rabbi Turner really opened my eyes.
