Tag: prayer
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Praying Together or Alone?
The emphasis in Judaism tends to be on communal prayer. We need a “minyan”, a gathering of ten adults, in order to recite the mourner’s kaddish and other prayers in our liturgy. Jewish law states that one should make every attempt to pray in a synagogue with the community. The rabbis even maintain that one’s…
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Pray for Your Country
This Shabbat, as we do every Shabbat, Jewish congregations around the world will pray for the welfare of the government of their respective countries. The prayer in the congregation where I worship asks God to bless the government of the United States, its leaders and its advisors, so that they may govern wisely and bring…
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The Proper Attitude in Prayer
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the great Chasidic master, was once visiting a town. He came to the community’s synagogue but refused to enter. The townspeople were astounded. Why was he refusing to cross the threshold of their House of Prayer? they asked. “The synagogue is too crowded,” he replied. The townspeople looked at one…
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To Be Ever Fresh and Fragrant
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlov, the great-grandson of the founder of Hassidism, the Baal Shem Tov, was born in 1772 and died at the age of 38 in 1810. Rabbi Nachman is buried in Uman, in Ukraine, where he spent his final years. His grave has become a place of pilgrimage for tens of thousands who…
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The Universal Word
What word in the English language is the most understood around the world? This word appears in our Torah portion this week. When you say this word, people in Europe understand it, people in South America understand it, and in Africa, and across the Middle and the Far East all understand this word. In fact,…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 