Prayer Lessons

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 [...]

Much of Pesukei d’Zimra is composed of psalms, the “official” prayers of ancient Israel. But there are exceptions, and the first passage [...]

Of all the prayers in the siddur, there is probably no prayer that packs as strong a punch in as short [...]

Right after baruch sheamar, when we are called upon to offer praise to G-d, we recite a long passage from the [...]

In the lead up to the shacharit Amidah, the final prayer after the Shema describes Hashem’s redemptive powers. Among others, we find the expression Matir [...]

The blessings of the Shema come to a crescendo just before the silent Amidah begins. (For the music lovers among us, think of the [...]

In the evening service, we add a prayer—Hashkeveynu—for a safe night. It includes the following verse (translated literally): “Remove from [...]

The Song of the Sea is probably the oldest poem in continual liturgical use on the planet. Newly liberated from [...]

There is something quite odd about Simchat Torah. It makes sense to celebrate reaching the end of the Torah, and [...]

During Sukkot, we circle the sanctuary in a processional, carrying the lulav and etrog, while reciting a prayer with the [...]

The Yom Kippur liturgy is intentionally repetitive. In compelling us to confess our sins, over and over again, the rabbis [...]

A casual observer of a High Holy Day service (indeed, of any morning service) would note that Kaddish in one form or [...]

On the High Holy Days we add certain phrases to the Amidah that reflect the themes and aspirations of this [...]

Every evening and morning throughout the fall holiday season we recite Psalm 27. It is, as one would rightfully imagine, [...]

When we put the Torah away, we sing “etz chayim he”—“[The Torah] is a tree of life to those who [...]

Psalm 29, the song we sing as we return the Torah to the ark, is a psalm of triumph. The [...]

The prayer for the new month includes a long wish list. Curiously, though, there is one desideratum mentioned twice—and only [...]

As is well known, the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar. On the most basic level, the lunar calendar is [...]

The rabbis teach that if you recite the Ashrei prayer three times a day, you are guaranteed a place in the world [...]

The world works in mysterious ways. I recently wrote about the Prayer for our Country. There, I emphasized the importance [...]

Politics and religion actually do mix, sort of. The prophet Jeremiah, knowing full well that our people were going to [...]

At the beginning of all our morning services, we recite a series of blessings. These blessings respond to our growing [...]

As noted, Amidah literally means “standing.” But why do we stand? Note, in contrast, that we sit during the Shema [...]