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<span>Tefilah: Praying With Joy</span>

Tefilah: Praying With Joy

By Rabbi Daniel Travis

Imagine the following scenario:

Your cell phone alarm rings. Six forty-five. It’s morning, but the sun is barely shining. Work beckons. Sour milk. Cluttered table. The children need to be woken, dressed, fed and rushed off to meet the big yellow bus. Is there a method to this madness? If there isn’t, should there be?

One of the most beautiful aspects of living a Jewish life is that G-d is included in every minute of every day. Tefilah: Praying with Joy offers detailed rules on how to wake up, wash up, and get out of the house in the morning. There are Halachos for every little act we do; there is spirituality all the time and not just at inspirational moments; there is a special significance to waking up to serve Hashem from the start of our day.

The purpose of this class is to explain how a Jew conducts himself or herself from the moment he wakens. We will also explore the prayer book. Navigating the prayers and understanding them will become much easier when you begin learning with Rabbi Travis!

Subscribe to Tefilah: Praying With Joy and receive this class via e-mail.



Understanding the Halachos of Getting Out of Bed

Kindness before Prayer

Unlimited Pleasure: Understanding the Blessings on Torah Study

Understanding the Morning Blessings

Understanding the Mitzva of Saying 100 Blessings Each Day

Small Sacrifices: Understanding Parshas Korbanos

Special Signs: Understanding the Symbolism of Pesukei D'zimra

Kaddish

Foreign Beliefs: Understanding the First Blessing of Shema

Eternal Love: Understanding the Second Blessing of Shema

The Blessings before Shema

Health Benefits: Understanding the Mitzva of Krias Shema

The Blessings after Shema

Shemoneh Esrei

Impossible to Praise: Understanding of the First Three Brachos of Shemoneh Esrei

Personal Needs: Understanding the Middle Blessings of Shemoneh Esrei I

Visions of Jerusalem: Understanding the Middle Blessings of Shemoneh Esrei II

Self-Sacrifice: Understanding the Last Three Blessings of Shemoneh Esrei

Understanding the Three Steps Back After Shemoneh Esrei

Finishing Touches: Understanding the End of Shemoneh Esrei

Falling Before Hashem: Understanding Tachanun

Shemoneh Esrei Revisited: Understanding Chazaras Hashatz

Leaping Souls: Understanding the Halachos and Customs of Kedusha

Blessing with Love: Understanding the Mitzva of Birkas Kohanim

Ending Well: Understanding Aleinu

The Beauty of Song: Understanding the Shir shel Yom

The Last Word: Halachos of Answering Amen

To Stand before the King: Special Garments for Tefillah

A Garment of Illumination: Wearing a Tallis for Prayer

Head Coverings

Disrespectful Clothing

Over Exposed: Modest Attire for Tefillah

Washing One's Hands

Washing before Prayer

Eating before Prayer

Speaking to the King

Defining Concentration

The Power of Pausing

Adding Concentration

It’s All in the Eyes

Sources of Distraction