Machon Tefilla: Say it Aloud Sunday

Our Rosh Beit Midrash Dr. Josh Kulp gave a D’var Tefillah to our Machon chanichim (campers) this morning, and reviewed the importance of Hebrew tefillah.  He referred to Rabbi Zechariah Frankel, one of our Movement’s earliest thinkers.  Josh also emphasized the importance of understanding our tefillot.  This is not an easy endeavor, but a very important one nonetheless.  He asked the chanichim for reasons why it is so important that Hebrew be our language of Tefilla.  Some answers included: so that we may enter any synagogue in the world and join in the prayer, and that this common language for our communal prayer sustains and reinforces our continuity as a people.  This was the perfect D’var Tefilla for the Say it Aloud Sunday, when our chanichim recite many of the key prayers (Shema, Amida, Aleinu, etc.) in full, outloud, in order to ensure that they are learning the words.