Davening with a minyan is a very community-based part of a Jew’s daily life. People can build strong relationships with the people they pray with, and for college students home for Shabbat, it can be difficult to find a place to daven with others their own age. Enter Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, which recently launched a monthly minyan for college students looking for just that. Created in a joint effort by Rabbi Andrew Israeli, Rabbi Avraham Wein and Rabbi Shalom Baum, the minyan is intended to give these students a place to pray among their peers and gain confidence to lead their own minyanim.
The new minyan was launched earlier this year, and meets on a monthly basis. The college students manage all aspects of the davening, giving leining opportunities and assigning minyan roles such as Hagbah and Gelilah. Though the minyan is still fairly new, it has already been gaining traction within the community.
“We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback from those who came and participated,” Rabbi Israeli shared with The Jewish Link. “It’s filling exactly the need that we saw. These college students come home for the weekend, and they’re looking for somewhere that they can pray with others their own age and get that sense of community that comes from davening with their peers. We’re so happy to see how well it’s been received so far.”
For Rabbi Israeli, who also teaches at Frisch, creating the minyan with Rabbi Wein and Rabbi Baum was about giving the students more agency and ownership of the minyanim. As a result, he’s found that attendees are able to get more into the prayer, and feel more connected to the group’s energy.
“It’s really a small community that we aspire to create.” Rabbi Israeli went on. “The value of davening with a similar group cannot be undersold. These college students want a minyan where they can do more singing, feel more involved, and here they are able to do that.”
The minyan was created after a sit-down between Rabbi Israeli and Rabbi Baum of Keter Torah. They were discussing different ways to bring more college students together when they started talking about a minyan specifically for the group.
“Rabbi Baum said there was a lot of potential in the idea, and we decided to take it from there,” Rabbi Israeli continued. “We didn’t really know what was out there, and if there would even be any interest, but we’ve been really pleased with how it’s been embraced so far. We’re definitely still growing and trying to bring more students in, but so far we’ve led with our best foot forward.”
Rabbi Israeli handles all scheduling for the minyan, and coordinates with the other rabbis to work out the logistics. After a date has been selected, they advertise the minyan over email.
“We hope to continue growing in the coming months,” Rabbi Israeli said. “With us being so new, we really want people to know we’re here, and that if you’re a college student looking for somewhere to daven with other college students, we’re here for you.”
As for those considering attending the college minyan but who are perhaps a little nervous to do so, Rabbi Israeli has the following words to say: “We would love to have you come and join us, and take part in the minyan. The minyan is all about bringing us together, and the door is always open for those who are interested.”
If you are interested in attending the college minyan, or would simply like to learn more about it, you can contact Rabbi Israeli at [email protected].
Adam Samuel is a journalist from Teaneck. He blogs at www.adamssoapbox.com.
