THE FAST DAYS I was thinking about the rituals commemorating the humiliating defeat of Israel/Judea culminating with the destruction of the first and second Temples first by the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and later the Roman Empire in 70 CE. Our rituals concerning national calamity involve scriptural readings, changes to the prayer Continue Reading »
KABBALAT SHABBAT One of the most beautiful moments in the week is the time, late Friday afternoon, when the work week is finally ending and Shabbat is about to begin. It is, for those of us who take Shabbat at all seriously, a special, spiritual mystical time. It is a moment when we can Continue Reading »
APPLYING SPIRITUAL GROWTH TO LIVING ONE’S LIFE LIFE Recently, a friend who had read most of my posts asked how my spirituality and my relationship to the prayers and the texts affects my day-to-day life. How does this change my life, my behavior, my relationship with the world? I have paraphrased his question a bit, Continue Reading »
THOUGHTS ON CONGREGATONAL “PARTICIPATION” IN THE REPETITION OF THE AMIDAH The Amidah is the central section of the traditional prayer service. It consists of 19 separate prayers or B’rachot on ordinary weekdays, seven on Shabbat or a Holiday and what feels like 15 or 20 million on the High Holidays, especially Rosh Hashana Musaf. The Continue Reading »
THE SPIRITUAL AND COMMUNAL IMPORTANCE OF THE DAILY MINYAN The daily minyan, morning and evening, is one of the most important services (pun intended) a synagogue can provide its community. The synagogue is, by definition fact, a faith-based community organization. Certainly, one of the ways of expressing that faith is by daily prayer. Jewish Continue Reading »
Al HaNissim (for the miracles) is passage added to the Amidah and the Grace After Meals (Bentching) on ChanukahPurim and Israel Independence Day. In it we offer thanks and credit God with the miraculous event being celebrated on those holidays. On Chanukah the prayer refers to two different miracles. First it discusses the military victory Continue Reading »
THE SHEMA – PART 3 The third major theme that I see in the first two passages of the Shema and in virtually all of the third passage (Num 15:37-41) is that we should provide ourselves with virtually constant reminders of our connection to God and God’s laws. These reminders are set forth in three Continue Reading »
THE SHEMA PART 2 The Shema, as I noted earlier, is an integral part of our statement of faith and of our prayer services. It consists of three passages from the Torah, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deut. 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41. Part one dealt with the first verse (Deut 6:4), the definitive statement of monotheistic connection to Continue Reading »
THE SHEMA Part 1 The unit of biblical passages that we know as The Shema is essential to our out liturgy. It is part of our morning (Shacharit) and evening (Ma’ariv) services on weekdays, Shabbat and on holidays. It is also recited when retiring for the night. It has been referred to as “the watchword Continue Reading »
MAKING OUR SENSES PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE – PART 2 I have written before about connecting our senses and our spirituality. The earlier essay focused on the senses of hearing and sight. But what about our other, perhaps more earthly, senses, smell, touch and taste. How can these be part of our spiritual lives? Continue Reading »
