Enhancing Prayer – and Thereby Faith and Spirituality – in the Modern Orthodox World by Yaakov Bieler

                 At the recent ChampionsGate V national leadership conference sponsored by Yeshiva University,   the “Leadership Track” in which I participated, was dedicated to grappling with contemporary challenges to faith and spirituality in the Modern Orthodox Community. Aside from my professional interest in the topic concerning whether qualities so seemingly personal and idiosyncratic can be successfully [...]

Books of Interest: Rav Soloveitchik Kinot and Other Books About Prayer

The hottest new publication in the Orthodox book world (I admit we’re not exactly talking about a NYTimes best seller, but nonetheless…) is clearly the Koren Mesorat Ha-Rav Kinot published by Koren and OU Press and edited by Rabbi Simon Posner.  It features a running commentary of the kinot based on the teachings of Rav [...]

Partnership Minyanim by Aryeh A. Frimer and Dov I. Frimer

Below is the edited text of a teleconferenced lecture delivered by Rabbis Aryeh and Dov Frimer to participants at the 51st Annual Convention of the Rabbinical Council of America on April 27, 2010. These comments are based on a very lengthy and heavily documented article which will be completed shortly; with a few exceptions, only [...]

Praying for One to Die: Philosophical Considerations

Praying for One to Die: Philosophical Considerations by Ezra Schwartz There is a great deal of literature about treating a terminally ill patient.  However, the question most relevant for family members, namely how they should pray, remains mired in obscurity.  Although Ran in Nedarim 40a, basing himself of Ketubot 104a, teaches that one should pray [...]

What Are the Halachot of Switching One’s Pronunciation of Hebrew?

More on שאל אביך and a First Example of אל תטוש: What Are the Halachot of Switching One’s Pronunciation of Hebrew? by Gidon Rothstein In my most recent post in this venue, I noted the Rov, z”l’s, recollection of the interaction between the Beit haLevi and the Radzhyner Rebber.  While others record the incident differently, [...]

The Book, the Prayer, and the Heart in Tension

The Book, the Prayer, and the Heart in Tension by Nathaniel Helfgot It has become a widespread phenomenon in many Modern-Orthodox asheknazi kehillot (as well as a number of haredi ones as well) to experience Tisha Be-Av morning (and its mourning) in a different fashion than had been practiced for decades and centuries.  I refer [...]

Prayer and Consciousness

Prayer and Consciousness Guest Post by Yakov Nagen (Genack) Each day we repeat our daily prayers and say more than a hundred blessings. This repetition of the same words day in and day out can be viewed as a tedious routine. However, there is another way to relate to this reality. What we are sorely [...]

Was Talking in Shul De Rigueur During the Mishnaic Period?

Was Talking in Shul De Rigueur During the Mishnaic Period? by Jack Bieler             A well-known Mishna in Berachot presents a disagreement regarding the permutations of what to do when the fulfillment of a Commandment between man and God, i.e., the recitation of the three paragraphs of Shema, comes into conflict with the etiquette and [...]

For the Sin of Hillul Hashem…

For the Sin of Hillul Hashem… by Erica Brown              Reflecting on Yom Kippur just days ago, it strikes me that the language of our al chet list can seem alien, foreign, stiff and archaic. We wonder what it means that we have removed a yoke from us or scoffed or hardened our hearts. We [...]

Theological Truths vs. Spiritual Vibes: Nigunim, Heresy, and Machnisei Rachamim

Theological Truths vs. Spiritual Vibes:   Nigunim, Heresy, and Machnisei Rachamim By Shlomo Brody I would like to write about the latest development in a long-standing debate over the propriety of asking angels to bring one’s prayers to God, known as intercessory prayers.  In particular, I refer to popularization of singing machnisei rachamim to the tune of [...]

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