The Amidah’s final petition, in the 16th paragraph, concludes שומע תפילה/shome’a tefillah, “Blessed is God who hears prayer.” Oh, really now? How fortunate. In subsequent posts I will take up the language of this paragraph and try to explain it in ways that I hope enhance davvening. For this post, I want to consider the… Read more »

Our long-awaited construction project at Ansche Chesed is about to begin. Off in the distance we can glimpse our expanded lobby with improved safety and disability access, our renewed social hall, and our comfortable and professional offices. Before we can build, we must demolish. For a century-old building with poor storage space, that means clearing… Read more »

Rabbinic lore says that when you pass into the next world, before you can enter paradise, you’re interrogated over a series of questions about your life on earth [Shabbat 31b]. Among them are: Were you honest in business? Did you fix regular times for Torah study? Also on the list is Did you anticipate salvation?… Read more »

Jewish prayer is simultaneously intensely private and richly public. Wonderful davvening can happen by yourself. One of the major Hebrew words for meditation is hitbodedut, or “cultivating aloneness.” Even when standing in a crowded shul, you need some sense of solitude to filter out distractions, master your stream of consciousness (not easy) and reach deep… Read more »

The Talmud refers to the Amidah as the Shemonah Esreh, or “Eighteen” Blessings. That name works because the prayer has, of course, 19 blessings. What?! My post two weeks ago related the Talmud’s account of Samuel the Humble’s reluctant composition of a curse against heretics. People commonly interpret that story to mean Birkat HaMinim was… Read more »