Author Topic: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah  (Read 27822 times)

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Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #50 on: July 17, 2013, 01:50:33 AM »
The Amidah/Standing prayer...




You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #51 on: July 17, 2013, 01:56:42 AM »
Another video on the basics of Kaddish (The mourners prayer)...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #52 on: July 17, 2013, 02:02:04 AM »
It is a custom to bless Hashem 100 times a day. So a frum yid says blessings on the most basic things, from eating a fruit, to going to the bathroom...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #53 on: July 17, 2013, 02:07:07 AM »
The prayer Yigdal is based on Rambams 13 principles of faith...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #54 on: July 17, 2013, 02:15:13 AM »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline Sveta

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #55 on: July 17, 2013, 02:18:06 AM »
thank you Muman. I know there is no such thing as "coincidence" int his world but just today I was thinking and said "I don't know how to pray, no one ever taught me". Fast forward a few hours later and I see this! :)

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #56 on: July 17, 2013, 02:19:25 AM »
thank you Muman. I know there is no such thing as "coincidence" int his world but just today I was thinking and said "I don't know how to pray, no one ever taught me". Fast forward a few hours later and I see this! :)

Shalom IsraeliHeart... I am so happy to be a part of this great big world of Hashems, at the end of days we will really understand exactly why everything happened exactly when it did...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #57 on: July 17, 2013, 02:25:55 AM »
The Sabbath Candle Lighting prayer and ritual...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #58 on: July 17, 2013, 02:29:57 AM »
There are many readings of Kaddish when davening in a minyan. One variety of Kaddish is sthe Rabbis Kaddish which is depicted in this video:



http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/371110/jewish/Text-of-the-Mourners-Kaddish.htm

Exalted and hallowed be His great Name. (Congregation responds: "Amen.")

Throughout the world which He has created according to His Will. May He establish His kingship, bring forth His redemption and hasten the coming of His Moshiach. (Cong: "Amen.")

In your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the entire House of Israel, sword, famine and death shall cease from us and from the entire Jewish nation, speedily and soon, and say, Amen.

(Cong: "Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity, blessed.")

May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified, exalted and extolled, honored, adored and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cong: "Amen.")

Beyond all the blessings, hymns, praises and consolations that are uttered in the world; and say, Amen. (Cong: "Amen.")

Upon Israel, and upon our sages, and upon their disciples, and upon all the disciples of their disciples, and upon all those who occupy themselves with the Torah, here or in any other place, upon them and upon you, may there be abundant peace, grace, kindness, compassion, long life, ample sustenance and deliverance, from their Father in heaven; and say, Amen. (Cong: Amen.)

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and a good life for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Cong: "Amen.")

He Who makes peace (Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur substitute: "the peace") in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Cong: "Amen.")
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #59 on: July 18, 2013, 01:09:34 AM »
Here are three prayers which were set to music by a performer I have seen and met, Saul Kaye. His last album Tefillah contains the following songs:

Aleinu:


Adon Olam


Al TIra
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #60 on: July 18, 2013, 01:24:14 AM »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #61 on: July 18, 2013, 01:30:38 AM »
A long discussion of how prayer is important for Jews and for the entire world..

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #62 on: July 18, 2013, 02:10:03 AM »
Rabbi Eli Mansour talks at the Tefillah symposium..

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #63 on: July 21, 2013, 10:01:28 PM »
I just uploaded a video for a song about Shema...



A video about some laws and meditations on Shema...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #64 on: July 21, 2013, 10:05:14 PM »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #65 on: July 21, 2013, 10:09:17 PM »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #66 on: July 21, 2013, 10:21:32 PM »
Saying the Third paragraph of Shema... (Vayomer...)...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #67 on: July 21, 2013, 10:39:53 PM »
Mechon Mamre has a lot of great information including the JewFaq.... Here is what they say about Tefillah...

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/prayer.htm

Prayers and Blessings
Level:  Intermediate
Tefillah:  Prayer

The Hebrew word for prayer is tefillah.  It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpallel, meaning to judge oneself.  This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer.  The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God.

For an observant Jew, prayer is not simply something that happens in synagogue once a week (or even three times a day).  Prayer is an integral part of everyday life.  In fact, one of the most important prayers, the Birkat Ha-Mazon, is never recited in synagogue services!

Observant Jews are constantly reminded of God's presence and of our relationship with God, because we are continually praying to Him.  Our first thoughts and words in the morning, even before we get out of bed, is a prayer thanking God for returning our souls to us.  There are prayers to be recited just before enjoying a material pleasure, such as eating or drinking, or just after them, such as after eating or drinking or after buying new clothes or ordinary household items; prayers to recite before performing any mitzvah (commandment), such as washing hands or lighting candles; prayers to recite upon seeing anything unusual, such as a king, a rainbow, or the site of a great tragedy; prayers to recite whenever some good or bad thing happens; and prayers to recite before going to bed at night.  All of these prayers are in addition to formal prayer services, which are performed three times a day every weekday and additional times on sabbaths and festivals.  See Jewish Liturgy.

The Need for Prayer

Many people today do not see the need for regular, formal prayer.  "I pray when I feel inspired to, when it is meaningful to me", they say.  This attitude overlooks two important things:  the purpose of prayer, and the need for practice.

One purpose of prayer is to increase your awareness of God in your life and the role that God plays in your life.  If you only pray when you feel inspired (that is, when you are already aware of God), then you will not increase your awareness of God.

In addition, if you want to do something well, you have to practice it continually, even when you do not feel like doing it.  This is as true of prayer as it is of playing a sport, playing a musical instrument, or writing.  The sense of humility and awe of God that is essential to proper prayer does not come easily to modern man, and will not simply come to you when you feel the need to pray.  If you wait until inspiration strikes, you will not have the skills you need to pray effectively.  Before starting to pray regularly, many find that when they want to pray, they do not know how.  They do not know what to say, or how to say it, or how to establish the proper frame of mind.  If you pray regularly, you will learn how to express yourself in prayer.

Kavanah:  The Mindset for Prayer

When you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become routine and would begin to lose meaning.  While this may be true for some people, this is not the intention of Jewish prayer.  As said at the beginning of this discussion, the most important part of prayer is the introspection it provides.  Accordingly, the proper frame of mind is vital to prayer.

The mindset for prayer is referred to as kavanah, which is generally translated as "concentration" or "intent".  The minimum level of kavanah is an awareness that one is speaking to God and an intention to fulfill the obligation to pray.  If you do not have this minimal level of kavanah, then you are not praying; you are merely reading.  In addition, it is preferred that you have a mind free from other thoughts, that you know and understand what you are praying about and that you think about the meaning of the prayer.

Liturgical melodies are often used as an aid to forming the proper mindset.  Many prayers and prayer services have traditional melodies associated with them.  These can increase your focus on what you are doing and block out extraneous thoughts.

Hebrew:  The Language for Prayer

The Talmud states that it is permissible to pray in any language that you can understand; however, traditional Judaism has always stressed the importance of praying in Hebrew.  A traditional Chasidic story speaks glowingly of the prayer of an uneducated Jew who wanted to pray but did not speak Hebrew.  The man began to recite the only Hebrew he knew:  the alphabet.  He recited it over and over again, until a rabbi asked what he was doing.  The man told the rabbi, "The Holy One, Blessed is He, knows what is in my heart.  I will give Him the letters, and He can put the words together".

Even liberal Judaism is increasingly recognizing the value of Hebrew prayer.  It seems that fifty years ago, you never heard a word of Hebrew in a Reform synagogue.  Today, the standard Reform prayer book contains the text of many prayers in Hebrew, and many of the standard prayers are recited in Hebrew, generally followed by transliteration and an English translation.  Some Reform rabbis read from the Torah in Hebrew, also generally followed by an English translation or explanation.

There are many good reasons for praying in Hebrew:  it gives you an incentive for learning Hebrew, which might otherwise be forgotten; it provides a link to Jews all over the world; it is the language in which the covenant with God was made, etc.  For us, however, the most important reason to pray in Hebrew is that Hebrew is the language of Jewish thought.

Any language other than Hebrew is laden down with the connotations of that language's culture and religion.  When you translate a Hebrew word, you lose subtle shadings of Jewish ideas and add ideas that are foreign to Judaism.  Only in Hebrew can the pure essence of Jewish thought be preserved and properly understood.  For example, the English word "commandment" connotes an order imposed upon us by a stern and punishing God, while the Hebrew word "mitzvah" implies an honor and privilege given to us, a responsibility that we undertook as part of the covenant we made with God, a good deed that we are eager to perform.

This is not to suggest that praying in Hebrew is more important than understanding what you are praying about.  If you are in synagogue and you do not know Hebrew well enough, you can listen to the Hebrew while looking at the translation.  If you are reciting a prayer or blessing alone, you should get a general idea of its meaning from the translation before attempting to recite it in Hebrew.  But even if you do not fully understand Hebrew at this time, you should try to hear the prayer, experience the prayer, in Hebrew.

Group Prayer

Most of our prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me", and are recited on behalf of all of the Jewish people.  This form of prayer emphasizes our responsibility for one another and our interlinked fates.

Formal prayer services are largely a group activity rather than an individual activity.  Although it is permissible to pray alone and it fulfills the obligation to pray, you should generally make every effort to pray with a group, short of violating a commandment to do so.

A complete formal prayer service cannot be conducted without a quorum of at least 10 adult Jewish men; that is, at least 10 people who are obligated to fulfill the commandment to recite the prayers.  This prayer quorum is referred to as a minyan (from a Hebrew root meaning to count or to number).  Certain prayers and religious activities cannot be performed without a minyan.  This need for a minyan has often helped to keep the Jewish community together in isolated areas.

Berakhot:  Blessings

A berakhah (blessing) is a special kind of prayer that is very common in Judaism.  Berakhot are recited both as part of the synagogue services and as a response or prerequisite to a wide variety of daily occurrences.  Berakhot are easy to recognize:  they all start with the word barukh (blessed or praised).

The words barukh and berakhah are both derived from the Hebrew root Bet-Resh-Kaf, meaning knee, and refer to the practice of showing respect by bending the knee and bowing, getting down on the knees and prostrating on the ground.  There are several places in Jewish liturgy where bowing is performed, most of them at a time when a berakhah is being recited.  At the end of the formal standing prayer, one is required to at least get down on his knees, if not to prostrate himself altogether on the ground; this requirement is commonly ignored by most Jews today, but continues to be the practice among Muslims all over the world, who learned this from the Jews, who still did it at the time Islaam was founded.

According to Jewish Law, a person must recite at least 100 berakhot each day!  This is not as difficult as it sounds.  Repeating the Shemoneh Esrei three times a day (as all observant Jews do) covers 57 berakhot all by itself, and there are dozens of everyday occurrences that require berakhot.

Who Blesses Whom?

Many English-speaking people find the idea of berakhot very confusing.  To them, the word "blessing" seems to imply that the person saying the blessing is conferring some benefit on the person he is speaking to.  For example, in Catholic tradition, a person making a confession begins by asking the priest to bless him.  Yet in a berakhah, the person saying the blessing is speaking to God.  How can the creation confer a benefit upon the Creator?

This confusion stems largely from difficulties in the translation.  The Hebrew word "barukh" is not a verb describing what we do to God; it is an adjective describing God as the source of all blessings.  When we recite a berakhah, we are not blessing God; we are expressing wonder at how blessed God is.

Content of a Berakhah

There are basically three types of berakhot:  ones recited before enjoying a material pleasure (birkhot ha-na'ah), ones recited before performing a mitzvah (commandment) (birkhot ha-mitzvot) and ones recited at special times and events (birkhot hoda'ah).

Berakhot recited before enjoying a material pleasure, such as eating and drinking, acknowledge God as the creator of the thing that we are about to enjoy.  The berakhah for bread praises God as the one "who brings forth bread from the earth".  The berakhah when putting on our clothing every morning praises God as the one "who clothes the naked".  By reciting these berakhot, we acknowledge that God is the Creator of all things, and that we have no right to use things until we recognize what He has done.  The berakhah essentially gains permission to use the thing.

Berakhot recited before performing a mitzvah (commandment), such as washing hands or lighting candles, praise God as the one "who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us" to do whatever it is we are about to do.  Reciting such a blessing is an essential element of the performance of a mitzvah.  In Jewish tradition, a person who performs a mitzvah with a sense of obligation is considered more meritorious than a person who performs the same mitzvah because he feels like it.  Recitation of the berakhah focuses our attention on the idea that we are performing a religious duty with a sense of obligation.  It is worth noting that we recite such berakhot over both biblical and rabbinical commandments.  In the latter case, the berakhah can be understood as "who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to obey the rabbis, who commanded us to" do whatever it is we are about to do.  See Halakhah:  Jewish Law for an explanation of the distinction between biblical and rabbinical commandments.

Berakhot recited at special times and events, such as when seeing a rainbow or a king or hearing good or bad news, acknowledge God as the ultimate source of all good and evil in the universe.  It is important to note that such berakhot are recited for both good things and things that appear to us to be bad.  When we see or hear something bad, we praise God as "the true Judge", underscoring the idea that things that appear to be bad happen for a reason that is ultimately just, even if we in our limited understanding cannot always see the reason.

Form of a Berakhah

Many of the berakhot that we recite today were composed by Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly nearly 2500 years ago, and they continue to be recited in the same form.

All berakhot use the phrase "Barukh atah Hashem, Eloheynu, melekh ha-olam", Blessed art thou LORD, our God, King of the Universe.  This is sometimes referred to as shem umalkhut (the name and the sovereignty), the affirmation of God as king.

The use of the word "thou" is worth discussing:  in modern English, many people think of the word "thou" as being formal and respectful, but in fact the opposite is true.  Thou (like the Hebrew atah) is the informal, familiar second person pronoun, used for friends and relatives.  This word expresses our close and intimate relationship with God.

Immediately after this phrase, the berakhah abruptly shifts into the third person; for example, in the birkhot ha-mitzvot, the first two phrases are blessed art thou, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and has commanded us to . . .  This grammatical faux pas is intentional.  The use of the third person pronoun while speaking to a person in Hebrew is a way of expressing extreme respect and deference.  This shift in perspective is a deliberately jarring way of expressing the idea that God is simultaneously close to us and yet far above us, intimately related to us and yet transcendent.  This paradox is at the heart of the Jewish relationship with God.

Birkat Ha-Mazon:  Grace After Meals

One of the most important prayers, one of the very few that the Bible commands us to recite, is never recited in synagogue.  That prayer is birkat ha-mazon, grace after meals.

In Deuteronomy 8,10, we are commanded that when we eat and are satisfied, we must bless the LORD, our God.  This commandment is fulfilled by reciting the birkat ha-mazon (blessing of the food) after each meal.  Reciting birkat ha-mazon is commonly referred to as bentsching, from the Yiddish word meaning to bless.  Although the word "bentsch" can refer to the recitation of any berakhah, it is almost always used to refer to reciting birkat ha-mazon.

The grace after meals is recited in addition to the various berakhot over food recited before meals.

Birkat ha-mazon actually consists of four blessings, three of which were composed around the time of Ezra and the Great Assembly and a fourth which was added after the destruction of the Temple.  These blessings are:

1 Birkat Hazan (the blessing for providing food), which thanks God for giving food to the world,
2 Birkat Ha-Aretz (the blessing for the land), which thanks God for bringing us forth from the land of Egypt, for making His covenant with us, and for giving us the Land of Israel as an inheritance,
3 Birkat Yerushalayim (the blessing for Jerusalem), which prays for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of the Mashiach; and
4 Birkat Ha-Tov v'Ha-Maytiv (the blessing for being good and doing good), was added after the destruction of the Temple, although it existed before that time.  It emphasizes the goodness of God's work, that God is good and does good.

In addition to these four blessings, the full birkat ha-mazon incorporates some psalms and additional blessings for various special occasions (holidays, guests, etc.)
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #68 on: July 21, 2013, 10:50:38 PM »
This should also be interesting, an explanation of how the Jewish siddur (order of prayers) was developed...


http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/liturgy.htm

Jewish Liturgy
Level:  Intermediate

Observant Jews pray in formal worship services three times a day, every day:  at evening (Ma'ariv), in the morning (Shacharit), and in the afternoon (Minchah).  Daily prayers are collected in a book called a siddur, which derives from the Hebrew root meaning order, because the siddur shows the order of prayers.  It is the same root as the word seder, which refers to the Passover home service.

Undoubtedly our oldest fixed daily prayer is the Shema.  This consists of Deuteronomy 6,4-9, Deuteronomy 11,13-21, and Numbers 15,37-41.  Note that the first paragraph commands us to speak of these matters "when you retire and when you arise".  From ancient times, this commandment was fulfilled by reciting the Shema twice a day:  morning and night.

The next major development in Jewish prayer occurred during the Babylonian Exile, 6th century B.C.E. People were not able to sacrifice in the Temple at that time, so they used prayer as a substitute for sacrifice.  "The offerings of our lips instead of bulls", as Hosea said.  People got together to pray three times a day, corresponding to the two daily sacrifices morning and afternoon and the burning of what was left over of the sacrifices at night.  There was an additional prayer service on Sabbaths and certain holidays, to correspond to the additional sacrifices of those days.  Some suggest that this may already have been a common practice among the pious before the Exile.

After the Exile, these daily prayer services continued.  In the 5th century B.C.E., the Men of the Great Assembly composed a basic prayer, covering just about everything you could want to pray about.  This is the "Shemoneh Esrei", which means 18 and refers to the 18 blessings originally contained within the prayer.  It is also referred to as the Amidah (standing, because we stand while we recite it), or Tefillah (prayer, as in The Prayer, because it is the essence of all Jewish prayer).  This prayer is the cornerstone of every Jewish service.

The blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei can be broken down into 3 groups:  three blessings praising God, thirteen making requests (forgiveness, redemption, health, prosperity, rain in its season, ingathering of exiles, etc.), and three expressing gratitude and taking leave.  But wait!  That is 19!  And did we not just say that this prayer is called 18?

One of the thirteen requests (the one against heretics) was added around the 2nd century C.E., in response to the growing threat of heresy (primarily Christianity), but at that time, the prayer was already commonly known as the Shemoneh Esrei, and the name stuck, even though there were now 19 blessings.

Another important part of certain prayer services is a reading from the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and the Prophets.  The Torah has been divided into sections, so that if each of these sections is read and studied for a week, we can cover the entire Torah in a year every year (this works nicely in 13-month leap years, but in 12-month regular years we double up shorter portions on a few weeks).  At various times in our history, our oppressors did not permit us to have public readings of the Torah, so we read a roughly corresponding section from the Prophets (referred to as a Haftarah).  Today, we read both the Torah portion and the Haftarah portion.  The Torah is read on Mondays, Thursdays, Sabbaths, and some "holidays" (including fasts).  The Haftarah is read on Sabbaths and some holidays.  The Torah and haftarah readings are performed with great ceremony:  the Torah is paraded around the room before it is brought to rest on the bimah (podium), and it is considered an honor to have the opportunity to recite a blessing and do the reading (this honor is called an aliyah).  For more information, see Weekly Torah Readings.

That is the heart of the Jewish prayer service.  There are a few other matters that should be mentioned, though.  There is a long series of morning blessings at the beginning of the morning service.  Some people recite these at home.  They deal with a lot of concerns with getting up in the morning, and things we are obligated to do daily.  There is a section called Pesukei d'Zemira (verses of song), which includes a lot of Psalms and hymns.  Some like to think of it as a warm-up, getting you in the mood for prayer in the morning.

There are also a few particularly significant prayers.  The most important in the popular mind is the Kaddish, the only major prayer in Aramaic, which praises God.  Here is a small piece of it, in English:

May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified in the world that He created as He willed.  May He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your days, and in the lifetimes of the entire family of Israel, swiftly and soon.  May His great Name be blessed forever and ever.  Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, extolled, mighty . . .
There are several variations on it for different times in the service.  One variation is set aside for mourners to recite, the congregation only providing the required responses.  Many people think of the Kaddish as a mourner's prayer, because the oldest son customarily recites it for a certain period after a parent's death, but in fact it is much broader than that.  It seems that originally it separated each portion of the service, and a quick glance at any prayer book or our outline below shows that it is recited between each section; in recent generations, it has become to be used as a mourner's prayer, even outside the context of formal prayer services or Torah study.

Another popular prayer is Aleinu, which most people recite at or near the end of every service, though it is required only within Musaf on Rosh Hashanah.  It also praises God.  Here is a little of it in English, to give you an idea:

It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to ascribe greatness to the Molder of primeval creation, for He has not made us like the nations of the lands . . .  Therefore, we put our hope in you, Adonai our God, that we may soon see Your mighty splendor . . .  On that day, Adonai will be One and His Name will be One.
On certain holidays, we also recite Hallel, which consists of Psalms 113-118.

Many holidays have special additions to the liturgy.  See Yom Kippur Liturgy for additions related to that holiday.
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #69 on: July 21, 2013, 11:01:00 PM »
Some ideas to internalize when concentrating during prayer. Often beginners have a hard time comprehending what it is we are doing when we are davening. Many ask how can we actually speak to the Infinite Creator of All because they don't understand what is called the 'nature of G-d' (this is an analogy because of course Hashem is beyond any comprehension). But it is helpful to remember these things:



http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/god.htm

The Nature of God

Level:  Intermediate

The nature of God is one of the few areas of abstract Jewish belief where there are a number of clear-cut ideas about which there is little dispute or disagreement.

God Exists

The fact of God's existence is accepted almost without question.  Proof is not needed, and is rarely offered.  The Torah begins by stating "In the beginning, God created . . .".  It does not tell who God is or how He came to be.

In general, Judaism views the existence of God as a necessary prerequisite for the existence of the universe.  The existence of the universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God.

God is One

One of the primary expressions of Jewish faith, recited twice daily in prayer, is the Shema, which begins "Hear, Israel:  the LORD is our God, the LORD is one".  This simple statement encompasses several different ideas:

There is only one God.

No other being participated in the work of creation.

God is a unity.  He is a single, whole, complete indivisible entity.  He cannot be divided into parts or described by attributes.

Any attempt to ascribe attributes to God is merely man's imperfect attempt to understand the infinite.

God is the only being to whom we should offer praise.  The Shema can also be translated as "the LORD is our God, the LORD alone", meaning that no other is our God, and we should not pray to any other.

God is the Creator of Everything

Everything in the universe was created by God, and only by God.  Judaism completely rejects the dualistic notion that evil was created by a Satan or some other deity.  All comes from God.  As Isaiah said, "I am the LORD, and there is none else.  I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil.  I am the LORD, that does all these things" (Isaiah 45,6-7).

God is Incorporeal

Although many places in scripture and Talmud speak of various parts of God's body (the Hand of God, God's wings, etc.) or speak of God in anthropomorphic terms (God walking in the garden of Eden, God laying tefillin, etc.), Judaism firmly maintains that God has no body.  Any reference to God's body is simply a figure of speech, a means of making God's actions more comprehensible to beings living in a material world.  Much of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed is devoted to explaining each of these anthropomorphic references and proving that they should be understood figuratively.

We are forbidden to represent God in a physical form.  That is considered idolatry.  The sin of the Golden Calf incident was not that the people chose another deity, but that they tried to represent God in a physical form.

God is Neither Male nor Female

This followed directly from the idea that God has no physical form.  God has, of course, no body; therefore, the very idea that God is male or female is patently absurd.  We refer to God using masculine terms simply for convenience's sake, because Hebrew has no neutral gender; God is no more male than a table is.

Although we usually speak of God in masculine terms, there are times when we refer to God using feminine terms.  The Shechinah, the manifestation of God's presence that fills the universe, is conceived of in feminine terms, and the word Shechinah is a feminine word.

God is Omnipresent

God is always near for us to call upon and He sees all that we do, wherever we are. Closely tied in with this is the idea that God is universal:  He is not just the God of the Jews, but the God of all nations.

God is Omnipotent

God can do anything.  It is said that the only thing that is beyond His control is the fear of Him; that is, He has given us free will, and He does not compel us to do His will.  This belief in God's omnipotence has been sorely tested during the many persecutions of Jews, but we have always maintained that God has a reason for allowing these things, even if we in our limited perception and understanding cannot see the reason.

God is Omniscient

God knows all things, past, present, and future.  He knows our thoughts.

God is Eternal

God transcends time.  He has no beginning and no end.  He will always be there to fulfill His promises.  When Moses asked for God's name, He replied, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh".  That phrase is generally translated as, "I am that I am", but the word "ehyeh" can be present or future tense, meaning "I am what I will be" or "I will be what I will be".  The ambiguity of the phrase is often interpreted as a reference to God's eternal nature.

God is Both Just and Merciful

We have often heard Christians speak of Judaism as the religion of the strict Law, which no human being is good enough to fulfill (hence the need for the so-called sacrifice of Jesus).  This is a gross mischaracterization of Jewish belief.  Judaism has always maintained that God's justice is tempered by mercy, the two qualities perfectly balanced.  Of the two Names of God most commonly used in scripture, one refers to his quality of justice and the other to his quality of mercy.  The two names were used together in the story of Creation, showing that the world was created with both justice and mercy.

God is Holy and Perfect

One of the most common names applied to God in the post-Biblical period is "Ha-Kadosh, Barukh Hu", The Holy One, Blessed be He.

God is our Father

Christianity maintains that God has one son; Judaism maintains that God has billions of sons and daughters.  We are all God's children, and the people of Israel are His firstborn (Exodus 4,22).  The Talmud teaches that there are three participants in the formation of every human being:  the mother and father, who provide the physical form, and God, who provides the soul, the personality, and the intelligence.  It is said that one of God's greatest gifts to humanity is the knowledge that we are His children and created in His image.



See Rambams 13 principles for a concise list of Jewish principles of faith @ http://jtf.org/forum/index.php/topic,61921.0.html

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #70 on: July 23, 2013, 01:34:09 AM »
We need to pray, do acts of goodness and righteousness, learn from everyone and teach everyone.

This video gives some insight into Breslov kevanah during prayer.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #71 on: July 23, 2013, 01:39:48 AM »
If you liked that short talk you may like this long one. Here is an in-depth look at the Breslev wisdom concerning the Reading of Torah on Shabbat.



Glossary of Hebrew terms (for those not up to speed):

Rachmanus - Mercy
Din - Judgment/Justice
Sitrah Achra - The 'Other' side (The Evil Side)
Klippah - Peel/Outer layer/Skin layer which conceals the truth.
Ta'avah - Lust
Geivah - Arrogance
Daat - Knowledge
Chesed - Kindness
Yetzer Hara - Each persons Evil Inclination
Seichal - Intellect/Intelligence
Gevurah - Strength/Restraint/Might
« Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 02:33:47 AM by muman613 »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #72 on: July 24, 2013, 02:04:15 AM »
Following up on last nights post, here is a quick davening by some Breslover Hassids...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #73 on: July 24, 2013, 02:11:14 AM »
Now for the Aleinu melody...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Jewish Prayer : Tefillah
« Reply #74 on: July 24, 2013, 02:20:36 AM »
A short talk about the importance of Jewish prayer:

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14