It's All in the Question
We came back from winter break excited to expand and deepen our work with the Movement Minyan. In our initial session with Ebn we reviewed what we learned from our work with the Minyan first semester. One primary learning was the value of asking a question that can only be answered through the body. From being in school all day engaged in intellectual matters, our tendency was towards brain-centered questions. With Ebn's help we were working to shift these questions so that the body could provide the answers. Ebn was also helping us to break down a complicated question to its essence in order to make it answerable. For instance, there are so many nuances that could be focused on in the flow of prayer from the Shema to the Amidah. Ebn's questions and direction helped us narrow and simplify so that we could focus on one dynamic: the interplay between oneness and freedom.
Facilitation
Not only were we learning what questions to ask, but how to effectively facilitate an experience to
answer those questions. We were becoming more aware of factors like how to create a movement space, how to use text to inform our work, and how to utilize a particular physical space. We had also come to realize that in general participants were more open than we thought they would be so we didn't need to be quite as protective or cautious, perhaps, as we had been first semester. This this sense of group openness was accomplished, in part, by our very intentionally setting up a safe space. We emphasized how important it was to continue creating this sort of safe, open environment second semester. One other aspect of facilitation that we found to be really important from first semester was group reflection. We decided it would be valuable to have a set time at the end of each session to reflect on the experience and to circle back to the initial questions we started the session with.
Where Have We Come From, Where Are We Going?
Ebn had us ask ourselves a number of powerful questions to help us lay the foundation for second semester. The first thing he asked: what did we come into this experience with? I answered that I came in with the goal of wanting to use a deep and prayerful movement practice to interact with prayer and the fear of facilitation. He asked challenged us to stay with the challenge and difficulty and to drop preconceived notions so we could better respond to the present moment. The second thing Ebn asked: what makes this a success? Adam and I answered that a success would be using the body to pray. To that Ebn asked his third question: What would it take to meet G-d, not with the liturgy?
Beginnings of a Theme
This last question of Ebn's prompted a discussion of the various ways we set up through traditional Jewish prayer to meet G-d, namely: tefilah yacchid and tefilat tzibbur, or prayer that we do alone and prayer that we do together within community. To flesh this out a little more we asked what does "together" mean? We talked about the two types of "togetherness": a horizontal "togetherness" between us and other members of the community, and a vertical "togetherness" between us and G-d. Another dynamic that fit within this category was the question of what it is to be shaliach tzibbur (one leading prayer) and what is it to be part of the tzibbur (community)?
Alone and Together
After sitting with the siddur and looking at the various contexts in which we prayer we articulated four main forms: 1) follow the leader 2) all together 3) call and response 4) alone together. Examples of these in the siddur are: 1) most of p'sueki d'zimra where the kahal follows the leaders pacing 2) the Shema 3) the Kedusha 4) the silent Amidah. Setting it out in these four categories lead us to reflect on first semester, in particular on the mirroring exercises we did as an example of follow the leader. Usually we did this in dyads, how would we create this dynamic in a room of 15 people? Ebn encouraged us to increase skills of forms of what "together" means in order to create different kinds of tefilah experiences. Our main interest is in group/dynamic forms of leading and following. Guiding questions for the experience would include asking in what way these modes function in tefilah, why they are a part of tefilah, and what each mode might express theologically. Another important question for these sessions would be whether or not we meet G-d as an individual or as part of a group.
Model
1. Lay out theme for the session with guiding questions
2. Warm up in a mode that relates to theme for the session
3. Do a piece of tefliah in mode of session
4. Lead physical practice
5. Regroup and discuss guiding questions as they relate to movement experience
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