Prayer Lessons

When we are called to prayer with the Barchu, a small but meaningful  ritual dance takes place. The ark is opened, the shaliach tzibbur (prayer [...]

Just before we call to prayer in the evening service, with the Barchu prayer, we recite a short verse. This verse marks [...]

Ad-n Olam has got to be the most underrated prayer in the siddur. For many, it is merely the “tallit-taking-off-song” at [...]

One of Judaism’s earliest and most provocative concepts of the relationship of human beings with G-d has to do with [...]

“Rabbi, what was there before the Big Bang? My father told me there was a Cosmic Egg, but what’s a [...]

With the exception of the Shma, there is probably no prayer as well known as the Kaddish, in particular the [...]

In “Silver Blaze,” a Sherlock Holmes story, the decisive clue is the fact that a dog didn’t bark when it [...]

On ordinary weekdays, a private meditation called Tachanun is added to the service. It is meant to guide us in offering our [...]

When we open the ark, we sing, “vayehi binsoah haaron…” “With the moving of the ark, Moses would say, ‘Arise, [...]

It is fitting that the last blessing of the Amidah (whether on weekdays, number 19, or on Shabbat , number [...]

The Amidah is written entirely in the plural—“…our G-d and G-d of our ancestors…,” “Heal us G-d and we will be healed…,” “We gratefully acknowledge…”. The collective emphasis during the quintessential Jewish [...]

We begin Shabbat morning on the inspiring note Ma Tovu: “How wonderful are your tents, Jacob, your abodes, Israel.” In [...]

On Israel Independence Day, Yom Haatzmaut, Conservative Jews add a special prayer to the Amidah. It is an Al hanisim [...]

There is a common fantasy that the secret to our survival as a people has been rigidity. But at least [...]

There is probably no rabbinic phrase better known than Hillel’s comment, “If I am not for myself, who will be [...]

The holiday of Purim is all about surprises, all about reversals of fortune. As the Yiddish expression goes, “Der mentsh [...]

When we do the blessing after meals (birkat hamazon) on Shabbat, we begin with a joyous singing of shir hamalot: [...]

  This blessing begins in a most interesting fashion: “Let Your tender mercies be stirred for the righteous, the pious, [...]

Another name for the Amidah is Shemoneh Esrei (= 18), a reference to the 18 blessings of the Amidah. But in typically delightful and maddening Jewish [...]

Here’s a thought experiment. The 10th blessing of the Amidah is the blessing of redemption, the call for freedom in our own land. [...]

This blessing is the purest expression of the millennial yearning of the Jewish people for a return home to Israel. [...]

The 9th blessing of the weekday Amidah asks Hashem to bless the year, and in particular, the yearly produce, by blessing the earth [...]

The blessing for healing (number 8) follows immediately after the blessing for redemption (number 7). This is not at all [...]

In the weekday Amidah, there are 13 intermediate blessings. They are found between the introductory 3 blessings of praise and [...]