Led by Beth Tfiloh teens, Teen Minyan at Beth Tfiloh provides a unique davening experience for students. One of the adult leaders of teen minyan, Matan Shefler, Beth Tfiloh High School Hebrew teacher, explained that “once the students wanted to have the minyan, I immediately knew I wanted to be involved in this.” Every Shabbat, Teen Minyan begins at approximately 10:15 in the Schwartz Beit Midrash, with donuts to enjoy set out at approximately 10:00. Each Shabbat, there are about 20-30 teens and four adult leaders: Coach Ari Braun, Matan and Shani Shefler, and Eitan Murinson ’19.  

    One of the Teen Minyan regulars, Yoni Bresler ’24, revealed, “The main reason I go to shul is because of teen minyan. It combines being with your friends and davening in a great way…. I feel that going to shul and davening alone is pretty boring, so it’s nice having your friends / people your age there too.”  

     Bresler echoes the same unique feature that appealed to Shefler: “In teen minyan the teens control everything. We can request certain lunches / food and we lead everything within the service. It doesn’t matter if you are good at it or not, no one is judging you or laughing at you. You have the freedom to try new things without the fear or backlash / judgment.”  

     Shefler explained that his focus on teen self-leadership in davening came from his own experience as a teen. “The shul I used to go to as a teenager was very welcoming for kids, so I had a lot of opportunities to be involved in the davening in the main Minyan of the shul.” Though it is not the main adult service, Shefler sees Teen Minyan at BT as an opportunity to have great involvement with synagogue. This separate davening opportunity is what is appealing to some Teen Minyan attendees. Eliezer Schwartz ’24 notes that Teen Minyan “allows me to be involved in the davening whereas in the main sanctuary I wouldn’t be able to.”  

     One of Beth Tfiloh’s main values of helping teens connect to Judaism is fulfilled through the Teen Minyan program. Shefler describes teen minyan as having, “amazing student leadership that really cares about the minyan.”  

     Teen Minyan is a very fun and fulfilling way to daven on Shabbat.