Prayer Lessons

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 [...]

As one might expect, the return of the Torah to the ark shares the same sense of pomp and circumstance [...]

The return of the Torah to the ark evokes the same “pomp and circumstance” as the Torah’s presentation when first [...]

Prayers are not just a jumble of words with "G-d" and "Lord" thrown in a few times. They are meticulously [...]

Last week, we discussed the first blessing after the haftarah, the focus of which was the trustworthiness of the Divine [...]

The first blessing after the reading from the Prophets is marked by two themes: the faithfulness of G-d; and G-d’s [...]

After the Torah reading, we recite a passage from the Prophets. This is called the haftarah, meaning “completion,” implying that [...]

When a person has been through a dangerous and traumatic experience, they have the opportunity to give expression to their [...]