Beyond services and synagogue, the challenge of living a prayerful life

I have to eat in holiness and purity, because I am doing God's will by eating.

The ecstatic prayer of the early Hasidim reflects the rediscovery of God's presence in the world.

Spontaneity and creativity were hallmarks of prayer in the time of the Bible.

Modernity has caused Jews of every ideology to relate differently to the content of their prayers.

The masters of Kabbalah ascribed radically new meaning and importance to traditional practices of prayer.

Selections from two tehines (women's prayers)

Not part of the fixed liturgy, women used these prayers to commemorate special holidays and special times in their lives.

Reconciling the experience of repeatedly praying from an established text with the need for prayer to come from the heart.

While the Shema has been seen as a declaration of absolute monotheism, it has other meanings in its biblical and liturgical contexts.

Music in Jewish worship can be high art or popular song, by solo expression or with group participation.

Overview of Prayer Music and Liturgy. Jewish Prayer Music. Jewish Praying.