February 07, 2021

 Topic: Prayer and Praise

1 Pe 3:7

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with your of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Praise

And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb. 

The Jews and Prayer the full article can be found at:

https://www.ijs.org.au/jewish-ritual-and-prayer/

By Rabbi Raymond Apple, Senior Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney

Judaism is a way of life that applies at all times and in every place, not just on certain days and in set places. It aims to sanctify everything a person does, whether in directly serving God or in dealing with other human beings. Some Jewish duties are “between man and God”, such as prayer and religious observances governing food, clothing, Sabbaths, festivals and fasts. Others are “between man and man”, such as honesty, truth, justice and peace.

Jewish prayer is as old as history. From the time of Adam and Eve, human beings have been talking to God and God has been talking to them. At first, prayer was spontaneous and unstructured. Spontaneous prayer is still regarded highly, but Judaism has developed a prayer habit three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening. One theory attributes this pattern to the Biblical patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; another view holds that when the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed, worship services replaced the daily sacrifices.

Though prayer is possible at any time and even without words, official Jewish worship has a set structure, built around the Sh’ma (the proclamation of faith in a single God) and the Amidah (19 blessings acclaiming the attributes of God). Though any language is acceptable, Hebrew, the language of the Bible, is preferred, and prayer books will often have Hebrew and a vernacular on facing pages. The prayers are generally in the plural (“Grant us peace”, “We have sinned” etc), because we should pray for others, not just ourselves. They combine praises, petitions and passages for study through studying religious texts we understand God better and recognise our duties to Him.

Have a great day!