With a new school year beginning, we are likely once again, to see many questions about prayer in public school raised. This one, asked by a listener who heard me on NPR, struck me as particularly worthy of sharing.
Hello Rabbi Hirschfield, I just heard you on Chicago Public Radio. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom and openness. I definitely will be getting your book! I was wondering what your whole take on the case of keeping moments of silence or reflection out of the schools - something that can be practiced by a kid of any religion or no religion. But some say it's a slippery slope where teachers may innocently talk about their own religion if a child asks what it means to reflect. Even though my siblings and cousins were all raised Hindu, we still exchanged x-mas gifts with our family, had a Christmas tree, sang carols around the neighborhood! We enjoyed the good cheer and charity that the Christmas spirit was about and I never thought of myself as Christian practicing these traditions. I guess it's all a slippery slope and we can't possibly have every religion represented in the school programs, right? Thank you!
Dear A,
First, in principle I long for a time when spiritual development is part of public education. I believe that without it, we mis-serve our youth. Second, for a moment of silence to work in that direction, let alone shared prayer to which I would object, we would need to prepare a generation of teachers and school administrators to guide that moment of silence so that it was about spiriutal development and not religious indoctrination. Third, we would need a national conversation on the importance of spiritual growth that was not predicated on a particular faith or some homogenized one-faith-fits-all hodge-podge. And fourth, we would need to nurture that process for a great deal more time than I suspect either those who opposes such moments of silence, or those who welcome them as the first step toward getting our kids to pray "the right way", could tolerate before jumping to the implementation phase of such moments in to the daily curriculum.
The slippery slope argument doesn't bother me at all. in fact, WE ALL NEED TO STOP BEING SO AFRAID OF SLIPPERY SLOPES. As I see it, healthy legal and religious systems are meant to equip us to scale the slippery slopes to new heights, not provide us with excuses for avoiding those very slopes. But again, for this to work, we need to share a common understanding of what those heights to which we ascend look like. Will Jesus be sitting there? Will Muhammad? How about Moses or Vishnu?
Could it be that it doesn't matter? Is it possible that the heights to which we aspire have nothing to do with any of these figures but have everything to do with how will look when our ascent is successful? Will we know that we have achieved a level of success based not upon whose teacher is sitting at the next plateau, but based on our own heightened ability to love, nurture, and care for on another? Will success be a generation of students who better appreciate their own worth and dignity? Will they be calmer, more focused and better prepared to face a day of studies because of this moment of silence?
I yearn for a national curriculum that includes in our schools, the spiritual reelection about which you ask. But before that is possible, a nation of parents and educators must address these and related questions. I hope that we do, and I think that forums like this help us to do so. So, thanks for your question.
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
Of course there will always be prayer in school, as long as there are pop quizzes.
Marian stole my line - I got to this column too late...
;-)
I can't see the use of a "moment of silence" in pubic schools, honestly. A young child would typically have no idea on what to "reflect", and an older child is more likely to typically be annoyed or just ready for the "moment" to be over so she/he can start the day or continue chatting with friends or cram in another minute of studying or do homework.
A parent should try to instill a sense of right/wrong/focus/etc everything else that a moment of silence is theoreticaly supposed to instill. At least, this is true in "normal" situations, unlike the sad scenario presented by Lucy. However I do agree with her assesment of difficulties faced by school teachers.
At the local school district here, each time there was a school board meeting, the chairperson would start the meeting by saying, "And now a moment of silence for the children of xxxxxxx." It sounded ridiculous, served no purpose, and all anyone did was continue to breathe for 10 seconds until the meeting resumed. It seemed put-on and pretentious. What purpose was it supposed to serve? No one ever knew.
Public schools are just that...public. Children from all religions or no religion attend them. If indeed parents want their children to have prayer, or even a moment of silence, they should be sending their children to a religious based school.
We had prayer in the publis schools when I was a child, and we said the pledge of allegiance everyday before the flag as well. I wish that was still true of today! However I am not upset that it is not. Why because in raising my children I was faced with a reality that needs to be realized quickly in our day! As a phrase translated from Hebrew is like this "The significant education in life begins at the table!" Toomany families Jewish and Non-Jewish rely on the school, house keepers and religious institutes to educate their children. This is the real problem, not the prayer in schools! My children don't take a sip of water without saying the proper blessing. But they didn't get that in a religious institution, they got it at home. Our society is too busy with the things of less importance and this is the fruit that it bears. Bring the proper education back to the table! I see and comprehend of most americans it will be a major task just to get everyone at the table and for the father to have a relevant word to say anymore! Where have we drifted to and who is really responsible?
HEY CAN SOMEONE POSSIBLY EXPLAIN TO ME A BETTER HELP THEN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? AND RABBI WHAT HAS MADE YOU AFRAID OF USING THE COMPLETE WORD GOD INSTEAD OF G-D? THIS IS TROUBLING AND AT LEAST CONFUSING ABOUT YOUR VIEWS, EITHER HE IS GOD OR NOT! SHAME
PRAYING IN SCHOOL WAS STOPPED BY A VERY MISS QUIDED WOMEN WHO TRAVELS THE WORLD LECTURING ON HER ERROR IN JUDGEMENT WHEN MOVED BY GOD IN REPENTANCE, AND NOW SERVES THE VERY GOD SHE CONDEMED. NOW THAT IS COURAGE, AND I FIND IT FASCINATING HOW WE AS A NATION ARE SOOO AFRAID OF EVEN MENTIONING THEIR OWN BELIVES. CHRISTIAN WAY OUT STAND AND OUT NUMBER ANY OTHER GROUPS AND THEY SHOULD NEVER BE ASHAMED TO BE "A LIGHT UPON A SHINING HILL! NOT HIDE BEHIND THE TOLERANCE QUOTA, I AS AN EDUCATOR FIND THIS DEPLOYING AND WILL LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SAKE OF STANDING FOR THE KING OF KINGS AND WE ALL WILL BOW AT HIS FEET ONE DAY AND MANY WILL BE ASHAMED AT DENYING OUR CHILDREN TO KNOW HIM,"TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO AND WHEN THEY ARE OLD THEY WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT", SO TORLENCE OR TRUTH, I CHOSE THE TRUTH! ANY TAKERS, AN UNSHAMED SERVER OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE END, AND LOOK UP FOR YOUR REDEEMPTION DRAWTH NIGH PRAY I SEE YOU THERE
JOYCE
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