This is an archive of diverse thoughts on the significance and practice of Jewish prayer as a spiritual practice in general but also as expressed in certain specific contexts. ☞ Have you written an essay which adds to this discourse, or which concisely outlines the range of ideas and opinions? Upload it here. Filter resources by Name Filter resources by Tag Filter resources by Category
A short discourse on the necessity for prayer by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. . . .
A few select source texts on prayer and davvenen of importance to Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman. . . .
“Thoughts on Family Prayer,” an essay by Grace Aguilar, was published posthumously by her mother Sarah Aguilar in Essays and Miscellanies (1853), in the section “Sacred Communings,” pp. 131-150. In the UK edition of Sacred Communings (1853) the prayer appears with small variations of spelling and punctuation on pages 143-163. . . .
Thoughts on petitionary prayer literature (teḥinot) and Jewish women’s prayer literature in the mid-19th century United States of America. . . .
A teachable moment in the life of Emma Goldman to reflect upon whether our practice is liberating or in need of liberation. . . .
A brief explanation of the role of prayer in the Jewish Science movement of Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein and his wife Tehilla Lichtenstein, co-founders of the Society of Jewish Science, in Yiddish with an English translation. . . .
Rabbi Leo Baeck’s essay on prayer “Gebet im Judentum,” was published in the “Judentum und Gebet” issue of Bne Briss (September/October 1935), top of page 82. . . .
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s essay “Das Gebet Als Äußerung Und Einfühlung” published in Monatsschrift Für Geschichte Und Wissenschaft Des Judenthums, vol. 83 (1939). . . .
An essay on the praxis of prayer as contained in “Club Letter №3” (March 1939) written by the Hon. Lily H. Montagu (1873-1963) and found in the Private Collection of Hannah Feldman, London. The essay was published in, Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers (ed. Ellen M. Umansky, 1985), pp. 51-54. . . .
The essay, “Prayer,” by Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, then Associate Professor of Jewish Philosophy at Hebrew Union College, published in Review of Religion vol. 9 no. 2, January 1945. . . .
“The Spirit of Jewish Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel was a speech given at the Fifty-Third Annual Convention of the Rabbinical Assembly of America which took place at the Breakers Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey from Tammuz 9 to Tammuz 14, 5713 (June 22 To June 27, 1953). The speech was subsequently published in the Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly of America v.17. . . .
An introduction to the Siddur, by scholar and translator Israel Wolf Slotki (1884–1973). . . .
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel’s speech, “On Prayer,” delivered at an inter-religious convocation held under the auspices of the U.S. Liturgical Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 28, 1969. His talk was printed in the journal Conservative Judaism v.25:1 Fall 1970, p.1-12. . . .
Suggestions for chaplains on offering public prayers in interfaith settings. . . .
A discussion of the nature of truth and belief in Jewish liturgical prayer, suggesting that fixed liturgy is less a vehicle for conveying theological or philosophical outcomes than a practice for developing an emotionally religious personality. Shabbat musaf is used as an example. “Meaning What We Pray, Praying What We Mean: The Otherness of the Liturgy” by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Gutoff was first published in Conservative Judaism, Vol. 42(2), Winter 1989-90, pp. 12-20. . . .
A comprehensive treatment on the praxis of Jewish prayer. . . .
An article looking at the questions of why there aren’t brakhot for ethical mitsvot, in which an approach to the function brakhot as part of a spiritual and imaginative discipline is proposed. At the same time, it is argued that all ethical practices are first exercises in listening. . . .
A meditation on a unique prayer heard by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni at the Rosh Hashanah services at the Wolfsberg Labor Camp in 1944. . . .
I wanted my students to start thinking of prayers as expressions of an interior world, rather than as descriptions of the exterior one. I suggested to them that they think of a prayer as a kind of mask, much like the ones worn in religious rituals by many peoples. The job of the mask-wearer is to discover the reality on the “inside” of the mask and bring it to life. . . .
Some rabbinic sourcetexts related to the topic of how to write in your siddur, shared with translations by Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner. . . .
Some thoughts on the ineffable divine name. . . .
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