Artwork Contest Divrei Torah

In addition to our naming contest, we also held an artwork contest focusing on the brachot of the Amidah.

Here are the submissions and their associated divrei Torah.

Participants

Gabi G.

For the drawing I chose to draw about peace. In the Shemona Esreh we say שים שלום - Put pease. The dove with an olive branch resembles peace, the world behind it represents the world. Peace to the world. I think that especially now, with whats going on around the world, we need to think of peace.

Ellie D.

I drew this picture to represent the amidah in Tefila because the amidah is one of the main parts of the Tefila. I drew some things related to the topic. The 18 is representing the shemonah esrei, the other name for the amidah.

Third Place

Aden D. & Eliana H.

We think adding the verse "Shema Kolenu" is very important because the biggest part of Tefilla is praying to HaShem. It defines who we are, and the fact that it is 45 minutes in the day where the whole 7th and 8th grade comes together adds to the fact that it is very important. "Shema Kolenu" literally means, "listen to our voices." Many times when people need or want something, like for someone to heal, or what they will get for Chanukah, they pray to HaShem. We take comfort in knowing that HaShem is listening when we pray, even if it doesn't seem like it.

Second Place

Sophie S.

"Shema Kolenu, Hashem Elokeinu"
"Listen to our voices, HaShem, our G-d"
I drew the picture like this because I wanted to show that our prayers are a lot stronger than we think they are. All of our prayers go to Shaarei Shamaim, if we truly mean them. The light is symbolizing the holiness that is going between the brachot, and HaShem. The darkness represents that when we pray, we should be separated from everyone else and let your prayers be just to you and HaShem. This is very meaningful to me, because it is good to know that HaShem is always with you and listens to your needs and thoughts.

First Place Winner

Annie I.

שים שלום טובה וברכה חן ובחסד ורחמים means establish peace, goodness, blessing, graciousness, kindness and compassion. I chose this line in the Shemoneh Esrei because I felt like our Beit Knesset should be filled with peace, blessings, and kindness just like this portion states. Every morning during Tefilla this one line stands out. It stands out to me because I am praying to Hashem to make Israel a peaceful place. I really understand what I am reading and I feel a bigger connection to HaShem just by reciting these few words.

Shul Naming Divrei Torah

We held a contest to decide on a new name for our בית כנסת over Chanukah. We were awed by the divrei Torah that accompanied these and we wanted to share them with the AJA community. Our winning name will be used for communications and will have a banner with the name posted at the entrance.

Participants

Aidyn L.

אהבת  שלום

Tefillah is about finding peace with ourselves, our classmates, and most importantly, Hashem. Our Beit Knesset should represent our growth from people mumbling words to people finding peace with themselves. It is a truly wonderful thing when you can look around you and see people who love davening and whose goal is not to mumble fast enough to get to the next  class, but to find peace with Hashem.

Jaren L.

מקום של מסע

The name I chose for the new Tefillah space is מקום של מסע. (Makom Shel Maseh). This mean a place of journey. A place of carrying. What I intended for the name was that we were in a place of journey. A place that you can explore and follow the path, like a journey. Find your own way to connect to yourself and Hashem. A journey is a big event of you seeking things. Seeking Tefillah, Torah, Hashem, and most importantly your Jewish self and identity. The other meaning of  מסע, like I said earlier, is to carry. Instead of thinking as carry in a physical context think of it in a mental context. You are carrying down tradition. Tefillah helps people know what they’re supposed to say when praying to God. Overtime you start to know the prayers very well. You start to understand them. Then when you become an adult you have children. You want to carry on the tradition of saying the prayers you said, and maybe even the tune you sang. This journey of learning Tefillah, doing Tefillah, and experiencing Tefillah, helps us carry on the tradition of praying and being Jewish. Carry on the customs we learn in Tefillah. Make new traditions in your family from the journey you had. In a place of journey you experience new and amazing things. All of this is why I want our Beit HaMikdash to be named מקום של מסע. This is just the beginning of our overall journey of Judaism throughout life.

I came up with this when I thought to go to the Parsha Beshalach. Beshalach is my Bar Mitzvah Parsha. The Parsha is the journey of the Jews and the splitting of the seas. I knew that there are tons of amazing words in Beshalach that would be great names for a Synagogue. I thought of words like miracle, freedom, religion, and etc. But what stood out the most was the word “Journey”. I knew that it would be a great name. So I saw the hebrew word in the text. The word “Journey” appears twice in the Parsha, or “Journeyed”. 

Exodus 16:1 “They journeyed from Elim, and the entire community of the children of Israel came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 17:1 “The entire community of the children of Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin to their travels by the mandate of the Lord. They encamped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.”

Nicknames for Makom Shel Maseh are “Maseh”, “The Place”, “The Makom”, “Shel Maseh”, and other ones people think of.

Eliana G.

Or Kadosh

Nickname: O’k (Not O-K)

The phrase, “Or Chadash all tzion tair vinezke coolano mihaira lioro,” or “May you shine a new light on Zion, and may we all speedily merit its light,” is said every morning during Shachris. We say this phrase asking God to “shine a new light” on Yerushalaim. Being in Atlanta, its hard to connect to what is going on in Israel. In the past, we had a davening spot where we couldn’t really connect-considering we were in the teacher’s lounge. But due to some quick thinking by our teachers Mrs.Bornstein, Mr. Forbus, and Rabbi Karp, we have settled in a new “makom kodesh.” We have sparked a Holy Light from inside ourselves and have come together to create a community in our school. In the Or Kadosh we can focus on our Tefillah and not on school. 

Ruthie S.

קהל ה׳

We want קהל ה׳ as the sanctuary name because we feel that togetherness is very important as we get older and throughout our lives. It is comforting to know that the 7th and 8th grade join together every morning to daven. It is important that we are together and davening together helps us bond. This is certain. Being together is an absolute gain for everyone. קהל ה׳ in English means congregation of God. That pretty sums up what the Jewish nation is. We are just a small part of the Jewish nation and yet we have an impact. When we work together we can accomplish anything. :)

Evan E.

Beit Kesher Torah

I believe this would be a good name with much meaning since the seventh graders are putting on tefilin for the first time, and they are being bar mitzvah'd. So they are connecting themselves to the Torah, as well as the kesher tefilin. I believe this is a worthy name, acknowledging  the seventh graders responsibilities of this year, and years to come 

Ari F. & Eitan L.

Beit Avraham

We want to call our shul Beit Avraham, Why is it called Beit Avraham? We thought that we should name it this for two reasons. First of all, we thought that we should name it after one of our forefathers, because they began our nation. Great. Now we have narrowed it down to three men. We decided that we should take the one of them that has the best lesson for us. We chose Avraham because of his mitzvah of hachnassat orchim. Welcoming the guests. We want our Beit Knesset to be known as a place where people can come if they are in need of a place to daven. Everyone can come, if they are mourners, or just in need of a place to pray to G-d.

Ellie D.

בית תפילתי

I chose this name because Beit means house or home and Tefilati refers to the Tefila that we pray. As students, and as young Jews, we need a place other than a shul to daven and be close to HaShem.

Third Place

Zach M.

המקום קודש

The name I thought of for our shul is “HaMakom Kodesh,”  meaning “the Holy place.”I chose this name because in the book of Yehoshua in Perek ה Pasuk ט’’ו, which is right before Bnai Yisrael takes over Yericho, and an angel appears before Yehoshua, and this angel tells Yehoshua that, “המקום אשר אתה עמד עליו קדש הוא.” This means, the ground you stand upon is a holy place. But, HaMakom Kodesh has another meaning.

המקום is also one of God’s names, and המקום קדש also means, “God is holy.” That is the goal of the tefillah, to try and find the holiness in God in our davening, and trying to make ourselves holy by connecting to God. 

Second Place

Micah F.

בית אחדות - The House of Unison

Unison, or togetherness, is what keeps the Jewish people resilient. Unison is what makes Judaism unlike any other religion. When Jewish people all over the world are murdered or mistreated, we all feel the pain, we all feel as if we have lost a brother or sister. Jewish people have been together and will stick together forever. The true definition of unison is having each others back and loving the people around you. This name sums up the secret of the Jewish people. So if anyone ever says, “so, after all these years, how are the Jewish people still around?”, do not overthink this question, just say the answer, unison.

First Place Winner

Ari S.

בני ציון

My name for the new shul is B’nei Tzion.  This can mean multiple things.  The most obvious is children of Jerusalem and Israel / children for Jerusalem and Israel.  But Tzion does not have to mean Israel.  When Tzion is first mentioned in history, it refers to a fortress:  Fortress of Tzion.  This does not refer to a war fortress; it is more of a safe environment where you feel protected and peaceful.   Also, in masechet brachot 64a, Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Hanina, “scholars increased peace throughout the world, for it is said (in Isaiah 54:13):  ‘all your children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children.’”  Rabbi Elazar says:”read not here banayikh [your children], but bonayikh [your builders - scholars are the true builders of peace].  You can apply the same principle by thinking of bnei tzion as if it were bonei tzion.  This name represents not only supporting Israel, rebuilding Jerusalem with our prayer, and being the children of this new safe environment, but also, it shows that we are the true builders of this new environment and it is our new home / “fortress” of peace and prayer.

להתפלל- What does this mean?

Hi all!

Today we continued in our Tefillah discovery lessons with a Dvar about the word used for Prayer services... להתפלל.

We have discovered that when breaking down the word and understanding it's meaning we can better come to an understanding as to what is the purpose of Tefillah services...

להת- do something for yourself
פלל- Learned from Yaakov's feelings when blessing Yoseph's sons that "he would have never thought that he would see Yoseph again or his children"... implies something that you would never have thought to get out of it.

When breaking this word down we come to see how Tefillah gives us the opportunity to do something that would effect us in a way that we never would have thought was possible... and it is something for ourselves, not for Hashem.

What do you think that means in our Tefillah? What can you get from our services that you would not think was possible to get? if any?

Have a great one!

Rabbi Ari Karp

Bold as a leopard...

Hey,

The code of Jewish law teaches us to be bold as a leopard in Tefillah. We learned that it means not to let outside influences disturb our focus during Tefillah and Avodat Hashem. A student asked why leopard, maybe the same applies to a tiger or lion?

Maybe one of you can answer that question.

Netilat Yadayim

Hi all,

We learned 2 reasons why we wash our hands for Netilat Yadayim in the morning...

1) Because our bodies become impure due to when we sleep we are not fully alive and a dead body is considered impure.

2) One may have touched a part of their body while asleep that is usually covered making their hands impure.

Which one do you think applies more?

Tefillin before Bar Mitzvah

Today in the boys' Tefila we spoke about why we put on Tefillin for the first time before our actual Bar Mitzvah. Some people as much as a month before.

Kody said that it was so we could get practice for when we have to do it for real. Ari F. said that it was so we could become more connected to the Tefillin and understand more about it.

I also added that I felt that it was to help us get into a routine so that when we become Bar Mitzvah it takes us less time and we can concentrate more on the mitzvah rather than the mechanics of putting on the Tefillin.

Does anyone else have any ideas on why we might do it this way?

Scott

אל תפרוש מין הציבור

The Pirkei Avot teaches us that one should not separate themselves from the community. The Pirkei Avot is the ethics of our fathers which means that it is meant for those who wish to go "beyond the letter of the law". I believe that this teaching of not separating yourself from the community applies even to those who don't go beyond the letter of the law but who wish to go by the law.

Welcome to the AJA תפילה blog!

Welcome to our new blog for our Tefila. We will be posting our Divrei Halacha for each day here. At the end of the year, we will be having a חידון (quiz) on them with some serious prizes! (To be announced later)

We will also share important announcements and information here!