The TY Prayer Project
"Sh'ma" by Diane Fredgant.
Our Torat Yisrael community comes together to pray more often than for any other community experience.
The TY Prayer Project represents our congregation's effort to stand before God as a community saying what we mean and meaning what we say. The readings referenced on this page inform our conversation as we seek to bring spiritual depth and understanding to our prayer experience.
Any TY member is invited to participate in the TY Prayer Project at any time.
Every TY member is encouraged to read the material available from this page and to share your thoughts with Rabbi Levin.
We thank artist Diane Fredgant for her permission to display her beautiful painting "Sh'ma" as a graphic expression of our hopes for our TY Prayer Project. You can visit Ms. Fredgant's website at: http://northwestjewishartists.org/diane.html
The TY Prayer Project represents our congregation's effort to stand before God as a community saying what we mean and meaning what we say. The readings referenced on this page inform our conversation as we seek to bring spiritual depth and understanding to our prayer experience.
Any TY member is invited to participate in the TY Prayer Project at any time.
Every TY member is encouraged to read the material available from this page and to share your thoughts with Rabbi Levin.
We thank artist Diane Fredgant for her permission to display her beautiful painting "Sh'ma" as a graphic expression of our hopes for our TY Prayer Project. You can visit Ms. Fredgant's website at: http://northwestjewishartists.org/diane.html
Reading Package #1: Exploring the Phenomenon of Prayer
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man
/ pg. 49
“FOR THY CONTINUAL MARVELS” The profound and perpetual awareness of the wonder of being has become a part of the religious consciousness of the Jews. Three times a day we pray: We thank You . . . For Your miracles which are daily with us, For Your continual marvels. . . . Rabbi Amy Levin, Rosh Hashanah 5769/2010 Sermon on Prayer
Before I stopped watching Mel Gibson movies, I laughed and winced my way through the film “What Women Want.” The movie itself is really just another romantic comedy, but part of the premise that was so entertaining was an ability that Mel Gibson’s character acquired to be able to hear the “script” that ran through the heads of the women he met. It was quite an education for the guy Gibson portrayed. I wish that, for a moment, there would be some way for us to replay the scripts, the running streams of words and thoughts that were playing through each of our heads the last hour or so. What a cacophony that would be!
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Rabbi Daniel Gordis, God Was Not in the Fire
/pg. 184
Jewish prayer is not catechism. Judaism is too respectful of our individuality, our minds, and our personal struggle to demand that prayer become a recitation of a series of “I believe” statements. Nor is Jewish prayer about asking for a variety of tangible goods or outcomes. Rabbi Mike Comins, Making Prayer Real: Leading Spiritual Voices on Why Prayer is Difficult and What to Do About It
Rabbi Mike Comins interviewed a number of Jewish spiritual leaders for his book, Making Prayer Real. Here are a few excerpts on prayer from Rabbi Comins' book.
Share your reactions to this package of readings, comments and ideas with Rabbi Levin and the TY Prayer Project team |