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
- Burnt Offerings
- The Seventeenth Blessing: Fires of Israel
- The Seventeenth Blessing (cont.): Temple Service
- The Eighteenth Blessing: Expressing Gratitude
- The Eighteenth Blessing (cont.): For the Miracles
- The Nineteenth Blessing: Prayers of Peace
- The Nineteenth Blessing (cont.): Tranquility Through Torah