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Behar 5765Volume 1 · Issue 11
Counting the Omer
…eator will increase it. And although the harvest already exists, it is not a prayer in vain (cf. Berachos 54a). True, He does not necessarily answer every prayer immediately, but it is a strong possibility, and apparently, one…
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Ki Sisa 5760Volume 20 · Issue 23
Governance of Unity
This is the concept of the Afternoon Prayer, also called minchah. Its time begins as soon as it becomes clear that time strides and strives toward darkness. And it was instituted by the one in whose home Esav was born and raised (Berachos 26b). The aim of this
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Behaaloscha 5760Volume 20 · Issue 33
Fearsome Journey
Moshe Rabbeinu had established three praises of God—the Great One, the Mighty One, and the Fearsome One. And the Men of the Great Assembly established them in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer. The Talmud states that even these praises are permissible only because Moshe Rabbeinu had said them in the Torah (Berachos 33b).
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Toldos 5761Volume 21 · Issue 10
Jokers of the Generation
In the words instituted for us by the Men of the Great Assembly, “The Good One created glory for His Name.” In other words, His goodness can only be revealed by way of His glory (Morning Prayer, first blessing before Shema; cf. Berachos 33a).
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Yisro 5761Volume 21 · Issue 20
The Voice of Sinai
In many verses and passages of the sages, prayer is called voice. We indeed pray, “Hear our voice, God our Lord.”
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Shoftim 5761Volume 22 · Issue 1
Beyond Death
The Rambam cites this ordinance in these words (Hilchos Tefillah 7:14). “It is incumbent upon a person to recite one hundred blessings between the day and the night.
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Miketz-Chanukah 5762Volume 22 · Issue 12
Temple of Beauty
Now, wherever we find hode, we find prostration. This includes the law of bowing in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer by the Blessing of Modim—related to hode.
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Bamidbar 5762Volume 22 · Issue 28
Mystery of One
The attribute of God that we are focused on or involved in during the last week of the Omer is kingship. This is well known from prayer books and calendars.
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Shelach 5762Volume 22 · Issue 29
Linked to the Source
wall and prayed. “Please God, remember now how I walked before You honestly and wholeheartedly, and did what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept a great weeping.
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Chukas 5762Volume 22 · Issue 31
Avenging the Insult
Consequently, he will be part of the rebuilding. As we say in the prayer of Nacheim, “For You, God, have ignited it with fire, and with fire You will ultimately build it….” From the very ashes of the Holy Temples, He will rebuild it.
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Devarim 5762Volume 22 · Issue 34
Vision of Peace
Houses of prayer and houses of study also bear the designation of house because they too are minor Sanctuaries. “‘I have become for them a minor Sanctuary,’ this refers to synagogues and study halls” (Yechezkel 11:16; Megillah 29a).
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Nitzavim 5761Volume 22 · Issue 4
Exalted Exclusively
This verse prefaces our prayers of forgiveness whose central prayer is the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Levush 581:1). With these attributes, the Creator accepts the penitent.
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Lech Lecha 5762Volume 22 · Issue 5
Transition to Blessing
Corresponding to each of these three promises, we say in the first blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, Lord of Avraham, Lord of Yitzchak, and Lord of Yaakov.
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Ki Savo 5762Volume 23 · Issue 3
Sinless Makeover
Ezra. In the ordinance of the weekly Torah Reading, it could be completed in three years (Megillah 29b).
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Haazinu 5763Volume 23 · Issue 6
Dominance of Evil
party as he is commonly known—is called in the language of the Torah the old and foolish king (Koheles 4:13; Nedarim 32b). And he is granted dominance as well. This is what is called in the aforementioned prayer the dominance of evil.
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Toldos 5766Volume 2 · Issue 10
Focus of Action
Although no longer customary (R’ Akiva Eiger to Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 89:1), in its time, prayer involved lifting the hands, as stated clearly throughout the Torah and the Prophets. When Moshe Rabbeinu responded to Pharaoh’s request to pray for him, he said, “As I leave the city, I will spread my palms to God (Shemos
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Bo 5766Volume 2 · Issue 18
The Power of Rebirth
In the Musaf Prayer of Rosh Chodesh, in the blessing that pertains to the sanctity of the day, which ends, “Who sanctifies Israel and the Beginnings of Months,” we pray, “Let this month be the culmination and end of all our suffering, the beginning
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Balak 5766Volume 2 · Issue 33
Dimensions of the Future
The significance of synagogues and study halls, as the Talmud implies, is our status as a community. The Talmud states (ibid.), “From where do we learn that the Holy One Who is Blessed never despises the prayer of the multitudes?—for it says, “Indeed, the Lord is mighty, and He will not despise (Iyov 36:5).” “Despise” is an expression of the general term “hate,” and never does it apply towards the Jewish People as a whole
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Mattos-Masei 5766Volume 2 · Issue 34
Guardian of Israel
glory, it was necessary to create beings with freewill that can choose to accept upon themselves His Kingship and glorify Him or not to accept His Kingship and rebel. Of this, we say in the Morning Prayer, “Blessed is our Lord Who created us for His glory.”
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Toldos 5767Volume 3 · Issue 11
A Touch of Laughter
…nced the resurrection another time. After he emerged unscathed from the Akeidah, he rose and said, “Blessed are You God Who resurrects the dead” (Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer chapter 30). Indeed, this blessing in the Shemoneh Esrei Prayer, corresponds to Yitzchak Avinu, as the first blessing, “Who protects Avraham,” corresponds to Avraham (cf. Bereshis 15:1), and as the third blessing, “The Holy Lord,” corresponds to Yaakov, as it says (Yeshayahu 29:23; cf. Megillah 17b), “And they
