Shema Yisrael, or the Shema, is the central affirmation of Judaism. The prayer expresses belief in the singularity of God, that is, in God's oneness and incomparability. Though this opening verse is ...

Jewish liturgy can feel archaic or demanding, but its oldest words still have something to say to our most contemporary struggles, writes the host of the “Thoughts and Prayers” podcast. Several years ...

Almost immediately after the horrific Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, most Orthodox Jewish congregations began the practice of saying additional Tehillim (Psalms), usually chapters 121 and 130, after ...

I grew up praying to a god in a language I did not understand. In particular, as an observant Conservative Jewish American (that is, “Conservative Jewish, not “conservative, Jewish”), I grew up ...

I have produced a recognizable body of scholarship on ancient Jewish and Christian prayers and hymns. During the formative period of biblical scholarship in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth ...

When the Hebrew words felt empty, a rabbi suggested thinking of it as “Wow! Please? Thank you." By Jodi Rudoren As part of “Believing,” The New York Times asked several writers to explore a ...