Dear Friends,
Prayer is a wondrous practice.
It has been with us since the dawn of mankind.
It is the simple act of us human beings, tiny as we are within the broad cosmos, reaching out across the chasm to communicate with the Universal Consciousness that ties together all of life. It is an incredible idea that God is even interested in hearing from us.
Prayer is at the center of our faith -- as it is of every religion.
Jewish prayer is made up of blessings, poems, contemplations, and statements - from the Torah to the rest of the Tanakh, from the words of the rabbis to the poems and masterpieces of Jews from Morocco to Germany - all tied together in our services and siddur (prayerbook).
Our prayerbooks have many experiences and blessings to impart and yet they are difficult to access.
This year, Temple Har Zion is inviting all of you (and your friends and family members) to delve into the world of Jewish prayer, to learn more about our services, to bring new energy into your prayer life, to discuss the challenges of Jewish prayer and find solutions, and to discover new inspiration and insight – a piece of the Eternal to take back with you into the days, weeks, and years of our lives.
Every month we will have four components to our course:
- I will teach the big ideas, such as group prayer versus individual prayer, what to do when you have trouble with the contents of a prayer.
- Cantor Figa will teach how to participate in Jewish prayer, from our services to our cherished lifecycle events.
- David Schwartz will teach in detail about some of the individual prayers that are the core of our services.
- Our member and educator Courtenay Harris-Black will be teaching Prayerbook Hebrew 2.0. to help those who can already decipher the Hebrew but would like to be able to begin to understand what they are chanting.
There is still time to sign up for Courtenay’s Hebrew class.
My first class will be next Sunday at 11 am – in person and virtual – and we will discuss the challenges and incredible opportunities of the traditional service. Cantor Figa will be opening up the Torah service for us on Sunday, October 31st at 3:30 pm. David Schwartz will be teaching Ashrei at 8 pm on Monday, October 25th.
Here is a link to my Rosh Hashanah Day 2 sermon where I introduce many of the core ideas and concepts of this course.
Please click here to join (contact the Har Zion office if you need the password) the class virtually.
Don't miss this unique opportunity to expand your prayer life. It is going to be quite a journey.
I urge you to join us as we explore the world of Jewish prayer.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Adir Glick
