Each week, Rabbi Wolkoff shares a prayer lesson with us. You can find them all below.
Prayer Lesson 12 – Akdamut
Before reciting the Ten Commandments, I first ask permission and approval To start with two or three stanzas in fear [...]
Prayer lesson 11 – from the Shema to the Amidah – Redemption and Prayer
After introducing G-d as the Creator, and then the Revealer, the last blessing after the Shema goes on to talk [...]
Prayer Lesson 10 – The Psalms of Pesukei D’zimrah
Our recent prayer lessons have dealt with the Shema and its attendant blessings. But at a recent question and answer [...]
Prayer Lesson 9 – True and certain…
Immediately following the Shema, we read the blessing of redemption. This serves as the concluding crescendo of the series of [...]
Prayer Lesson 8 – The Choreography of the Shema
Before we begin the Shema, we gather the four tzitzit of our tallit. The point at which we gather them [...]
Prayer Lesson 7 – The Shema (Kel Melech Ne’eman)
When reciting the Shema without a minyan, we introduce the prayer with the words Kel melech ne’eman, “G-d is a [...]
Prayer Lesson 6 – Havdalah
The havdalah ceremony marks the transition from a sacred day (most often, Shabbat) to a less sacred day (most often, [...]
Prayer Lesson 5 – Hear, O Israel
There’s something very peculiar about the fact that the single most important statement in all of Judaism begins with the [...]
Prayer Lesson 4 – After the Call to Prayer
After the call to prayer (barchu), the prayer about creation, and the prayer about revelation, comes the Shema, which opens [...]
Prayer Lesson 3 – Ahavah Rabba
As mentioned last week, the core of the service consists of two parts, the Shema (and its accompanying blessings) and [...]
Prayer Lesson 2 – Core of the Service
After the Barchu, the call to prayer, we begin the core of the service. It consists of two parts: a) [...]
Prayer Lesson 1 – Berachah
The basis of all Jewish prayer is the berachah, the blessing. In fact, there is a tradition that we should [...]