#davening

[snissel613]

Davening is a lot like driving I think. Everyone going faster than you is a shkutz and everyone going slower than you is an overcompensating flip-out

[girlactionfigure]

All the nations of the world will see that G-d’s Name is associated with you, and they will be in awe of you. (Devarim 28:10).

[greco-roman-jewess]

Everyday I am sad that I cannot read hebrew

[challahbeloved]

“Prayer is wider than the earth and deeper than the seas.

It hovers over the pages of the prayer book

Whispered from one person to the next

Given over through the beats of the heart.

It is revealed through the flow of life

In a state of consciousness, in the quality of speech.

Often we direct our prayer

Toward our God in Heaven

Or perhaps to the God who fills all worlds.

Prayer invites us to direct it internally, Inward.

From my flesh I saw God

To speak to the body

With enormous mercy

To uncover the light within it

To turn to it, to thank it, to request of it, to entreat it,

To pray through it.”

— Dov Singer, Prepare My Prayer, Page 98-99.

[sidewalkgotme]

Ben Platt sings like the Really Spiritual Guy in your Trad Egal Minyan davens. Is this anything??

[outreach-by-adellah]

Kavanah & Tefillah - Don’t Use Your Phone as a Siddur!

In our modern world, we use our phones for just about everything. From work to entertainment to shopping to dating, and much more, our phones are capable of just about anything, and Judaism is no exception to this! There exist many amazing Jewish apps online, including apps for checking Kashrut, counting the Omer, and even Jewish radio stations! However, the focus of this article will be on one particular type of Jewish app: the electronic siddur.

Siddur apps are amazing! They contain every single part of davening and often much more, such as translations in multiple languages, prayer times, and real-time updates with what to include or not in your prayers (e.g. seasonal blessings). These are an amazing resource for new learners or for people who forgot their siddur at home and didn’t memorize shakharit (I can’t blame you!). In fact, there is really only one place where I would encourage people not to use a siddur app. Unfortunately, this seems to be the one place they are used the most!

Don’t use your phone as a siddur in shul, where you have a choice between a physical prayerbook and your phone. Phones are distracting and known to impair reading comprehension, whereas the stimulus of touching a physical book is shown to improve concentration and understanding, making your davening better!

According to a 2016 study by Lauren Trakhman and Patricia Alexander, although people read faster when reading electronically (which isn’t a positive while davening. It’s better to take your time), their reading comprehension is much shallower. In an area like davening where understanding the deeper meaning behind the plain text is crucial, shallow reading comprehension is a huge detriment! Additionally, regardless of the task at hand, the mere presence of phones has been proven to reduce concentration and performance! Therefore, if you can, putting your phone out of sight while davening can help you put everything aside from Hashem out of mind, just as you should be aiming to do!

` Sometimes, siddur apps are the only option. In these cases, they are a fantastic resource for those who rely on them. Any davening is good davening, especially when the alternative is “leaving Hashem on read”. However, when you do have the choice, try to reach for a paper siddur instead of your phone. You never know how much your kavanah might increase!

Tell me in the tags: Do you usually use an electronic siddur or a paper siddur and why?

Jew joke: Rabbi, I can't turn my phone off during davening! I'm the 10th man in the Whatsapp group!

[i-chew-on-pushpins]

A database of Jewish liturgical nusach melodies and songs, with sheet music and links to audio on the internet.

just found THE most amazing resource?? so many different nusach melodies, from all over the world and from all sorts of traditions

[adamavshamayim]

I made a scene that I shouldn't have in shul yesterday, second day of Rosh Hashana.

I was sitting in the back row, near the door, second seat in so that that first seat could be saved for someone who needed it.

A couple who look out of their element walk in. The guy hangs around for a bit longer until he realizes he should leave. The girl sits next to me. A minute later, she sees a friend a few rows up. She drops her big black purse on the seat next to me and walks a few rows up to be with her friend and sits there for a bit.

An older woman walks in looking for a seat. I move the purse onto the floor in front of me and explain that the person who was sitting there has moved.

The young woman who looks like she's never walked into shul before comes back expecting the bag to still be there. I hand her her bag back and say "next time when you're choosing a seat, please bring your bag with you. Someone else might want to sit there, and the seat next to the door is a popular seat."

She looks kind of stunned and then leaves. She was in shul for a total of ten minutes tops.

After I'm sure she's gone, I leave the room to calm myself down. I'm steaming.

After davening ends, another woman asks me what the deal was with the purse. I tell her that the other woman was acting like the world was her living room - which I should not have said. She calms me down and humbles me by giving me a lot of brachos that I don't deserve.

I should have been more welcoming to the newcomer with the purse. While bringing your boyfriend in is understandable if you're not used to orthodox spaces, I would think that it's common sense in any space, that when you see a full room without many seats left, that you don't leave your bag on one chair and go sit in another.

Anyway I know what I did wasn't right and there must have been a more mature way to handle this communication