It’s Hard to Pray

I don’t remember whether anyone told me that it’s hard to pray when I first got involved in Torah. Over at ShulPolitics.com there’s a new post called Judaism’s Little Secret – It’s Hard to Pray. Give it a read and leave a comment over there if you’re so inclined.

Message to the World – The Power of Prayer

Imagine you’re in a room full of Jewish addicts. And you’re volunteering to lead a group on Tuesday evenings. The group is called “Spirituality.” What would you talk about? This week I decided to ask them what they would talk about. I tossed out a question that I had heard a rabbi ask at the [...]

The Book of the People – The ArtScroll Siddur at 25

Assuming I must have missed something — something that would be hard to miss, but stranger things have happened — I did a Google search before I wrote this article: ARTSCROLL SIDDUR ANNIVERSARY — nope. Too narrow? ARTSCROLL ANNIVERSARY … Nope. For all practical purposes, at least as far as I can tell, the 25th [...]

Powerless

What would you do if you were one of the world’s greatest magicians? No, not like David Blaine and slight of hand type magic, but real magic. Would you sell your abilities to become wealthy? If you knew God blessed you with these abilities would you use them to do something He didn’t want you [...]

Every Today is Another Chance to Get Things Right

I saw this slogan on a bus while walking to work. Often, you don’t find interesting slogans like this on a bus. Where did the quote come from? You might be surprised if I tell you it’s from a TV show. The TV show is called ‘Daybreak’ and recently premiered on. The premise of the [...]

A Miss is a Mile – Old Tehillim Found Open to Psalm 83 (or perhaps 84)

By Chaim Grossferstant Let me begin by making an admission. I am not a card carrying member of the “alert Hanoch Teller immediately” crowd and am somewhat skeptical of “visionaries” who sense Hashgacha Pratis everywhere. It’s not that I don’t believe that Hashgacha Pratis exists everywhere; it’s just that I think that the maintenance of [...]

Starting Off on the Right Foot

It seems to me that Borchi Nofshi, Psalm 104, which is said on Rosh Chodesh mornings might just be the most overlooked section of our prayers. By the time we finish Hallel, leining and mussaf (if you are davening ashkenaz) you are probably already late for your train/bus/car pool and Borchi Nofshi often gets short [...]

Getting the Proper Focus

The Abuhav Synagogue in Tzefas, Israel is one of the most beautiful shuls I’ve been in. It is ornately painted and was constructed along the theme of the Pesach song Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One?) . On top of the bima where the shaliach tzibur (prayer leader) stands is a dome, with many paintings [...]

Remedies for Spiritual Freeze

Dear Rabbi Brody, I don’t feel any kind of emotion when I go to synagogue. Praying seems to be a drag, and I feel nothing. I want to be a proper BT, but I just can’t seem to pray. What should I do? Thanks, FR from New Jersey Dear FR, The old Novardok Yeshiva remedy [...]

Popular Posts

• The Book of the People - The ArtScroll Siddur at 25
• A Miss is a Mile - Old Tehillim Found Open to Psalm 83 (or perhaps 84)
• Every Today is Another Chance to Get Things Right
• Starting Off on the Right Foot
• Remedies for Spiritual Freeze
• Getting the Proper Focus
• Powerless
• Message to the World - The Power of Prayer