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
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


Links
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 . . .
.


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