The central element of worship in any service is the Amidah, literally “the standing,” which the Sages simply called “prayer,” par excellence. All other elements of a morning service up until the Amidah – “dawn blessings,” “verses of song,” the ritual recitation of biblical passages in the Shema and blessings that accompany them – these… Read more »

ברום עולם מושביך ומשפטיך וצדקתך עד אפסי ארץ/ B’rum olam moshavekha, u’mishpatekha v’tzidkat’kha ad afsei aretz. “Your abode is the heights of the cosmos, and Your statutes and righteousness reach the ends of the earth.” When I daven this phrase from the blessing following the Shema, I find myself meditating on natural law. Philosophers of… Read more »

As I discussed two weeks ago here on Tefillah Tuesdays, the blessing following Shema is devoted to the theme of the redemption – paradigmatically, the liberation of Israelite slaves from Egypt. The blessing concludes with two key lines from the song upon crossing the Red Sea: מי כמוך/mi kamokha, “who is like You,” and ה’… Read more »

Let’s digress from our relentless march through the morning prayer book. This week let’s visit a well-known Jewish custom for Havdalah, the ritual that ends Shabbat, the most beautiful moment in Jewish practice. Let’s look at our fingernails. At Havdalah we light candles and recite four blessings, including בורא מאורי האש/borei me’orei ha’esh, “Blessed are… Read more »

אמת ויציב/Emet V’yatziv [“true and enduring”], the blessing following the Shema is very ancient. According to Mishna Tamid 5.1, this prayer – or at least the kernel that developed into our version – was part of the very brief liturgy the priests recited each morning during Temple times, long before our prayer book evolved. The… Read more »