Session+1

Session 1

Congratulations! You have made it to the first session. I want to thank you for responding to my opening question. As you can see there are many similarities as to why people have chosen to take this course and I hope that as we progress over the next several weeks together, you will find time to have individual conversations, either on line, or in person, for those of you who live locally (or on the phone) if you live long distance.

Please remember that it would be great to dialogue back and forth on the discussion part of this wiki, so don't be afraid to post multiple times during the week!

The first thing that I would like to articulate is the difference between fixed and spontaneous prayer, both of which are very important in Judaism. So in a nutshell, here is the difference:

1. There are a number of fixed prayers that Jews are obligated to pray. Traditionally Jews "daven" (pray) 3 times a day-in the morning, the afternoon, and the evening. The Rabbis give 2 reasons as to why we do it three times: One rationale is that the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) each prayed at a separate point of day and therefore we follow their lead. The second rationale is that we pray 3 times a day, corresponding to the daily sacrifices that were brought in the Temple in Jerusalem. IN EITHER CASE: it is clear that the Rabbis (when I use the phrase "the Rabbis" i am usually referring to the Rabbis who lived between the 1st-5th century of the common era, responsible for the composition of the [|mishnah] and the [|talmud] ) wanted to help themselves and other Jews at the time find a way to personally connect with God and so, they provided fixed prayers (which we will study in the coming weeks) to help Jews do so. There are certainly similarities between each of the prayer services and then some differences, especially with regard to the shabbat service. We won't be able to go into detail on all of this, but my hope is that we will examine some key prayers so that we can then get into some of the discussion questions raised.

2. Spontaneous prayer is very much allowed and encouraged within Judaism. For example, one is encouraged to say 100 blessings a day (paradoxically, there are suggestions for these 100 blessings which include prayers after going to the bathroom, seeing a rainbow, encountering a person of great wisdom, blessings over food, etc...) but the idea is that spontaneous prayer can help one sanctify a moment and in turn solidify a relationship with God.

For me, the power of a siddur (a prayerbook) is that it is a mirror into our own emotions. The Rabbis were very calculated in what they wrote. They understood human nature and our prayers, which include praise, thanks, gratitude, and needs, all reflect real human emotions. Over the next several weeks we will look at different prayers and see that fixed Jewish prayers can help us in an array of situations and at the same time, we have not only an opportunity, but i believe an obligation to begin thinking about adding some of our own words as well.

Question for discussion: Please read the following article and discuss how you might find ways to add your own prayers? Also, what surprised you about this article? What did you learn that you hadn't known before? How might this article help you as you contemplate the role of prayer in your life? [|http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Liturgy_and_Prayers/Siddur_Prayer_Book.shtml]