Prayer Lessons

Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is considered one of the greatest and most influential recordings of all time. What made [...]

The second (middle) paragraph of the Shema is based on a deep and surprising theology. Here’s a thought exercise: imagine [...]

Last week, I wrote about how peculiar the shma is. In its original context, it’s a declaration by Moses to [...]

What kind of prayer is the Sh’ma? Normally, when we think of prayers, they're something we say to G-d. But [...]

The second blessing immediately preceding the Sh’ma tells the story of love between G-d and the people of Israel. This [...]

The first blessing before the Shma concludes with a cascade of descriptions of G-d. “…worker of wonder, creator of innovation, [...]

The first blessing before the shma begins with the words, “Blessed are Lord our G-d, King of the Universe, who [...]

We are all familiar with the concept of sacred space. Everybody knows that there are physical spaces that stand out [...]

Ps. 150 is the last of the psalms, and it is therefore fitting that it appears near the end of [...]

Ashrei is an alphabetic acrostic, a fancy way of saying that each verse begins with letters of the Hebrew alphabet [...]

A truly remarkable prayer in pesukei d’zimra is Ps. 136, referred to as hallel hagadol, the “great praise.” It lists [...]

After the morning blessings (Birkot Hashachar), we begin a series of introductory biblical passages, pesukei d’zimra (verses of song). Sometimes [...]

As previously discussed, there is a different psalm recited every day of the week. But it is not perfectly clear [...]

Birkot Hashachar reflects the process of awakening, both in terms of a realization of our identity, and also in terms [...]

Last week, I talked about the controversial blessings in the traditional birkot hashachar (“…Who has not made me a woman,” [...]

Before we dive into our text, allow me to note that we are doing what Jews always do—going to the [...]

If an award were given out for the most underestimated prayer in our prayer book, it would surely go to [...]

Few songs are as well known and beloved as Ein Kel-heinu. It is often sung to a simple, joyous tune, [...]

To understand the musaf kedushah, we have to compare it to the shacharit kedushah. Every kedushah is an attempt to [...]

This week, we are going out of our usual order. Under other circumstances, we would be discussing the unique kedushah [...]

After the Torah is returned to the ark, we continue with an “additional” service, musaf, which basically consists of another [...]

The prayer we recite as the Torah is placed back in the ark after the Torah reading is a remarkable [...]

Before we conclude our study of the Torah service, we would be remiss if we didn’t address the issue of [...]

Tu B’shvat is called “the New Year of the Trees.” Although its origin was anything but romantic (Tu B’shvat marked [...]