When a teacher left mid-year, the Ozrim (helpers) in Derekh T’filah Zman Kodesh (ZK) were left temporarily in charge with rotating subs, leading prayer services and running activities for the seventh grade students most days for two weeks. In order to ensure the students were learning, but also having fun at the same time, sophomore Ozer Shia Messler helped run a pictionary game where students had to draw scenes from the parsha, while other students guessed.
ZK, or “holy time,” is a 25-50 minute period each morning for students to connect with their Judaism. In addition to the nine ZK options all high school students have, including four prayer options and five non-prayer options, 20 high school students choose to have a leadership position in a middle school minyan.
“For a lot of the JDS high schoolers who have grown up around a minyan, [they] experience [tefillah] their whole lives, and it becomes a little bland,” Jewish Life Chair Robbie Shorr said. “But they have way more enthusiasm when they introduce it to younger kids for the first time.”
Middle school students have the choice between joining a high school traditional prayer ZK or attending a Derekh T’filah ZK which includes a mix of prayer and learning. Ozrim help these students learn the practical skills of being involved in prayer services and create parsha related programming. Beyond planning and teaching, Ozrim play a large role in shaping the atmosphere of the classroom and setting a good example of how to be a leader for the younger students.
“I think the most important thing [is] not planning, but it’s just being a role model, showing how to positively be involved in the discussions, how to show the proper respect for the teacher and for the time and to help them get something out of it,” Shorr said.
Each middle school classroom ZK has around 20 students with one teacher and two to four Ozrim. Ozrim initially could be sophomores or older, but due to the number of senior Ozrim this year, when the seniors graduated, positions opened up to freshmen as well.
While high school students are allowed to return to their ZK if they don’t like being an Ozer, Shorr emphasizes that students should only volunteer if they are willing to commit to a full year of the program. This helps give consistency to the students and cement the relationship between Ozrim and middle school students.
“It kind of gives them someone to look up to,” Messler said. “Sometimes [middle schoolers] see [their Ozrim] in the hallways and be like, ‘That’s gonna be me in a couple years’.”
While Ozrim programs have been a long-standing tradition in middle school ZKs, the Masorti and Partnership minyans, which consist of both middle school and high school students, have only recently added Ozrim programs. While these are more recent, the goal is to continue the programs long term.
In Partnership Minyan ZK, middle school students are taken out of the minyan by Ozrot on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to learn how to lead services. Once they have successfully learned and led a service, they move into a different group that discusses different parts of the Tanakh.
Similarly, in the Masorti ZK, sixth and seventh grade students are taught different prayers and aspects of Judaism by their Ozrim.
“It’s nice to have someone that’s not from seventh grade and you can talk to them,” seventh grade student Abby Adler said. “I like the relationship that you can build with people you don’t normally see.”
Ozrim not only teach middle school students how to pray, but also emphasize the importance of respectful behavior in tefillah. Shorr hopes that this will help middle school students become respectful and helpful members of whichever high school ZK they choose in the coming years.
“You can’t just throw kids in ZK and expect them to know what to do,” Shorr said. “… It’s import- ant for them to know not just the how, but the why and the bigger questions also. We really have tried to make sure there’s a good dynamic, having responsible high schoolers who know what they’re doing and who can not just teach, but also be role models.”
