For today’s Tefillah Tuesday, let’s take a short break from what – the text of the prayers – to why. What should prayer accomplish? I said last week (and often) that I do not really expect prayer to change the world beyond me, but I hope it transforms the world within me. Davvening should reshape… Read more »

Like any well-organized text, the Amidah comprises three sections: a beginning, middle and end. The first three blessings, considered as expressions of praise, and the final three, expressing gratitude, are the same every single day (besides some small variations around the High Holidays). The middle section varies. On Shabbat and holidays the center of the… Read more »

Davvening is not only the words we recite. It is also the dance we do. Our swaying motions, and the regimen of when we stand, sit or bow, how we hold our hands, where we look – all these non-verbal elements contribute to our experience of prayer. Ideally, worship should be a whole-body experience, as… Read more »

ברוך כבוד ה’ ממקומו/ Barukh Kevod Adonai Mimekomo. “Blessed is the divine Glory, from Its place.” The second phrase in the call-and-response Kedushah comes from Ezekiel 3:12, drawn from the prophet’s vision of God riding a chariot drawn by four-faced glowing angels, with the most awesome visual and auditory pyrotechnics an ancient mind could have… Read more »

קדוש קדוש קדוש/Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh. “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the entire world is filled with God’s glory.” This verse, Isaiah 6.3, appears multiple times in the liturgy, forming the core of the Kedushah, the Amidah’s sanctification of the Divine name. In its biblical context, the neophyte prophet Isaiah is graced with… Read more »