| The Beurei Hatefila Institute was established in order to encourage the study of the words of the Siddur as a Jewish text in Jewish schools. To assist educators develop courses on Tefila, the Institute publishes a weekly e-mail newsletter in which it traces the sources for the words and structure of the prayers within the Siddur. To date, newsletters covering Birchos Haschachar, Pseukei D'Zimra, Birchot Kriyat Shema and Kriyat Shema, Shemona Esrei, Tachanun and Kriyas Ha'Torah have been published. The individual newsletters and compilations of the newsletters as e-books are available to be downloaded at no charge. |
| The Beurei Hatefila Institute |
| Understanding The Words, Structure, and Development of the Siddur |
| Please note that the Executive Director of the Beurei Hatefila Institute and the publisher of the weekly newsletter, Abe Katz, is available to meet with school administrators to assist them in establishing a course in Beurei Hatefila at their schools and to train teachers on using Hebrew-English word processing and Judaic libraries on CD-ROM. Mr. Katz is also available to teach courses on Tefila at your synagogue or Jewish Community Center and as a scholar-in-residence |
| Recommended Reading List To gain a greater understanding of Tefila, you may want to consider creating a Tefila library |
| Allen Friedman, a subscriber to our weekly newsletter, recently published an article in which he suggests an explanation for why the language of the first Bracha of Kriyas Shema is modified only on Shabbat. The article was published in Alei Etzion Vol 15 (5767) a publication of Yeshiva Har Etzion. Allen has graciously given the Institute permission to make the article available at this website. I would like to quote one line from the article in which Allen captures the mission of the Beurei Hatefila Institute: "a careful study of the origins and history of tefilla, of a comparison of different nuscha’ot, and of the period in which a given tefilla was composed can shed a new light – an or chadash – on prayers we recite on a regular basis." |
Study Shemona Esrei At Your Own Pace
| Learn About the Birth of the Beurei Hatefila Course at Maimonides School, Brookline, MA From Rabbi Wohlgemuth's Own Words |
Download Individual Newsletters
| The Beurei Hatefila Institute mourns the loss of Rabbi Isaiah Wohlgemuth, creator of the Beurei Hatefila course of study. By continuing our study of the סידור, we perserve his legacy. יהיה זכרו ברוך |
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| The Beurei Hatefila Institute is pleased to announce that it has obtained permission from Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx and her publisher, World Union of Jewish Studies, to present the following article published in the Journal: מדעי היהדות, כרך מד', תשס"ז Jewish Studies, 44, 2007 Pages 105-136 Rabbi Dr. Marx is a professor at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. |
| הנכנס לכרך- תפילות על הסף מאת דליה מרקס הברכות הבאות בפרק 'הרואה', הפרק התשיעי והאחרון במסכת ברכות במשנה ובעקבותיו בתלמודים ובפרק האחרון במסכת ברכות בתוספתא, שונות במהותן מן הברכות המרכיבות את תפילת העמידה ומן הברכות העוטפות את קריאת שמע המרכיבים הליטורגיים העיקריים והקדומים בתפילת ישראל. ברכות אלו לא נועדו להיאמר בזמנים קבועים (ביום או במעגל השנה) או במסגרת תפילות הקבע והחובה של בית הכנסת, אלא כמענה לראייה, שמיעה, הרחה, טעימה או חוויה של מה שמזמן אותן. הן מכונות בהתאמה ברכות הראייה, השמיעה, הריח וכו'. כקבוצה הן יכונו להלן ברכות לעת מצוא Continued . . . |
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| TISHA B’AV 2008 ENRICHING THE KINOT SERVICE The Beurei Hatefila Institute Urges All Synagogues To Institute a Simple But Meaningful Program This Tisha B’Av Reduce The Number of Kinot That Are Recited to a Maximum of 20. Have Congregants Read Each One Aloud Line By Line With One Congregant Reading the Hebrew Line And Another Reading The English Translation |