One of the names of the central prayer of every Jewish service is the Shmoneh Esreh.  “Shmoneh Esreh” means eighteen and refers to the...

I think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth's sweet flowing breast; A tree...

For the last couple of days I’ve had an “ear-worm,” a song running through my head endlessly wherever I go.  This is not an unusual...

Some time back we looked at the blessings that comprise the Birkat HaMazon, the blessings after meals.  Those four blessings are in...

I’ve written in earlier pieces about a number of the Zemirot, the Shabbat table songs, that customarily are sung during Shabbat meals.  I...

The main elements of our daily worship services are the recital of the Sh’ma with its surrounding blessings and the Amidah which is in...

There are only two major fast days on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av, however we do have a number of minor fast days...

We have seen in past essays piyyutim, liturgical poems, written for the various holidays of the Jewish year.  Aside from poems that have...

In the book of Isaiah the prophet proclaims, “Hoy kol tzamei l’chu la’mayim,” “All who are thirsty let them come for water.”  This might...

As Chanukah approaches next week, beginning on Sunday evening, December 18th, I thought it might be appropriate to review the traditions...

Early in this series, during the fall of 2019, we took a brief look at the prayer known from its opening word as “Ashrei.”  As explained...

Though I wrote a few paragraphs on this Psalm about a year or so ago, I did not go into much detail.  This passage is usually read very...

In our sanctuary at Temple B’nai Israel there is a piece of artwork on the right side of the bimah as you look toward it.  It comprises a...

Some time back I wrote about the havdalah paragraph inserted into the opening weekday blessing of the Saturday night Amidah, the one that...

A couple of months back we looked at one of the traditional zemirot, the table songs for Shabbat, Yah Ribon Olam by Rabbi Yisrael Najara....

There are a number of prayers that one finds in the Siddur that have been added to the traditional liturgy by the Kabbalists, Jewish...

Throughout the holiday of Sukkot and continuing on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, we add the Hallel Psalms to our holiday worship....

As soon as Yom Kippur departs, we begin getting ready to celebrate the festival of Sukkot which begins this Sunday evening.  We will be...

Before sundown on the eve of Yom Kippur, we gather in the synagogue for the Kol Nidre prayers. This formula annulling vows made between...

As we have seen in the previous two pieces that I’ve written, the Rosh Hashanah Musaf service is unique in that instead of the normal...