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Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

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.

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Resources filtered by TAG: “58th century A.M.” (clear filter)

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“Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1945)

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.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Essays on Prayer as Praxis, North America, why prayer

Contributor(s):

Abraham Joshua Heschel

“The Spirit of Jewish Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1953)

“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.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., American Judaism, communal prayer, Essays on Prayer as Praxis, דע לפני מי אתה עומד Know Before Whom You Stand, North America, Private Prayer

Contributor(s):

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Introduction [to the Siddur], by Rabbi Dr. Israel Wolf Slotki (1964)

An introduction to the Siddur, by scholar and translator Israel Wolf Slotki (1884–1973).

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., introducing Jewish prayer, introducing the Siddur

Contributor(s):

Israel Wolf Slotki and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

“On Prayer,” by Abraham Joshua Heschel (1969)

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.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Essays on Prayer as Praxis, North America, personal prayer, Private Prayer, private worship, why prayer

Contributor(s):

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Prayers that Hurt: Public Prayer in Interfaith Settings, by Rabbi Chaplain (Captain) Arnold E. Resnicoff, USN, Ret. (1987, 2009)

Suggestions for chaplains on offering public prayers in interfaith settings.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., interfaith prayer, prayers of military chaplains

Contributor(s):

Arnold E. Resnicoff

Meaning What We Pray, Praying What We Mean: The Otherness of the Liturgy, by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Gutoff (1989)

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.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer, Davvening

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Conservative Judaism, Essays on Prayer as Praxis, liturgical theory, why prayer

Contributor(s):

Joshua Gutoff

Kavvana: Directing the Heart in Jewish Prayer, by Rabbi Dr. Seth Kadish (1997)

A comprehensive treatment on the praxis of Jewish prayer.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer, Davvening

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., English Translation, reference works

Contributor(s):

Seth (Avi) Kadish

Blessings and Ethics: The Spiritual Life of Justice, a dvar tefillah on berakhot by Rabbi Dr. Joshua Gutoff (1997)

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.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., ברכות brakhot, Essays on Prayer as Praxis, liturgical theory, liturgy and ethics, צדקה tsedaqah

Contributor(s):

Joshua Gutoff

על השואה ועל התפלתה | Prayer in the Shoah, an essay and a prayer by Rabbi Dr. David Weiss Halivni (2000)

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.

Categories:

Holocaust & Genocide Memorial Day Readings, 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan), 🌐 Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th), Kristallnacht (9-10 November, 16 Marḥeshvan), Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer, Davvening, 🇺🇸 Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (28-29 April)

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., non-dual theology, the Holocaust

Contributor(s):

Peter W. Ochs (translation), David Weiss Halivni and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Some thoughts on God’s proper, ineffable name — a d’var tefillah by Shoshana Michael Zucker

Some thoughts on the ineffable divine name.

Categories:

Pedagogical Essays on Jewish Prayer

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., Divine Names, Ineffable Name, דע לפני מי אתה עומד Know Before Whom You Stand, Rashbam, Shem Havaya, Tetragrammaton

Contributor(s):

Shoshana Michael Zucker

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To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain the sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments. Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. It is all we can offer in return for the mystery by which we live. Who is worthy to be present at the constant unfolding of time? Amid the meditation of mountains, the humility of flowers—wiser than all alphabets—clouds that die constantly for the sake of beauty, we are hating, hunting, hurting. Suddenly we feel ashamed of our clashes and complaints in the face of the tacit greatness in nature. It is so embarrassing to live! How strange we are in the world, and how presumptuous our doings! Only one response can maintain us: gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great. --R' Abraham Joshua Heschel, "The Holy Dimension" in Moral Audacity and Spiritual Grandeur, p.341

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Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

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