א’להינו ואלהי אבותינו /Eloheinu v’Elohei avoteinu. Praying Jews seek God both as individual souls and as children bearing זכות אבות/zekhut avot, the “merit of the ancestors.” We are not alone. When we daven, Abraham & Sarah are shuckeling right beside us, their virtues and good deeds supporting us. I groove when davening as I imagine… Read more »

הא’ל הגדול הגבור והנורא/ Ha’El HaGadol HaGibor ve’HaNorah As we’ve seen many times, our prayer book is built upon a pastiche of Biblical allusions and citations. The composers of our prayers, and presumably the davening communities they lived among, knew the Bible thoroughly. For those clued into the code, these allusions bestow tremendous richness to… Read more »

אדנ’י שפתי תפתח ופי יגיד תהלתך/Adonay sefatai tiftach, u’fi yagid tehilatekha. “My Lord, open my lips and let my mouth declare Your praise.” [Psalm 51.17] The Amidah is preceded by this quotation from Psalms that amounts to a prayer for the power to pray. I will sing God’s praises, sure, but I need God to… Read more »

Last week I posted about standing physically still during the Amidah, as a technique for spiritual focus. As everyone knows, however, there is a long tradition of swaying back and forth – in Yiddish to shuckel – in prayer and study. Do these two techniques go together? To illustrate the tension, check out this Talmudic… Read more »