Prayer Lessons

In 1948, the city of Jerusalem was divided for the first time in its 4000 year history. The Kingdom of [...]

One of the first prayers we recite in the core of the morning service praises G-d as the Creator. It [...]

In the period between Passover and Shavuot, we “count the omer.” An “omer” is a dry weight measure—slightly less than 4 [...]

Between Passover and Shavuot, we count the omer. “Omer” refers to a quantity of grain (slightly less than 4 lbs) [...]

On Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, we Conservative Jews recite a special Al hanisim (“For the miracles”) prayer, thanking Hashem for His  miraculous [...]

The Kel Maley Rachamim, “G-d Who is Full of Mercy” is a gut wrenching prayer where we ask that the soul [...]

In the Marx Brothers Classic A Night at the Opera, Groucho asks Chico about “the sanity clause” in a [...]

One of the most peculiar ideas to ever come down the road is the assertion that Zionism and Judaism [...]

Ma nishtanah is one of the best known phrases in Judaism. Nearly every single one of us prepared to recite it [...]

The Passover seder is all about the telling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah really means [...]

No Passover seder is complete without the singing of Chad Gadya. Technically it is called a cumulative song, with each [...]

The Book of Esther, otherwise known as the megillah (“the scroll”) tells a great story of intrigue, courage, violence, and triumph. It [...]

On Saturday night, we mark the end of Shabbat with the lovely and bittersweet havdalah (separation/distinction) ceremony. We introduce the [...]

This verse comes from the berachah immediately following the Shema. And at first glance, it seems to simply repeat a well recognized assertion: [...]

Most of our prayers are found in a fixed liturgy, a collection of psalms, quotes, poems, and meditations forged in [...]

I recently read of the passing of Rabbi Jules Harlow, z”l, my teacher and the editor of our Sim Shalom [...]

The first blessing before the Shema, both morning and evening, deals with nature and creation. At maariv, the emphasis is [...]

As previously noted, the thrust of the first blessing before the Shema—the blessing that deals with creation—is that everything [...]

During the war in Gaza following the October 7 massacre (a day, citing FDR, that will live in infamy) I [...]

There are a lot of different ways to daven. Some people are perfectly happy starting on page one and finishing [...]

On Chanukah and Purim, a special prayer (al hanissim) is added to the Amidah, thanking G-d for the miracles performed [...]

It’s hard to imagine Chanukah (no matter how you spell it) without thinking of Ma’oz tzur (no matter how you spell that [...]

Out of the depths of our despair we called on you, o G-d, and out of the depths of Your [...]