A survey of the history of Jewish prayer reveals that from the earliest eras of Jewish history to the First Temple Era there did not exist a universally rigid prayer formula in content or in practice. Steinsaltz (2000:47) notes, “Since earliest times there have been individuals who set aside regular periods of the day for offering God this service of the heart [prayer], which the Zohar calls ‘the service of Love.’” He says, “But the maintaining of fixed hours for worship was the custom of only a few individuals, who felt an inner need to address themselves to their creator at regular intervals. The majority of people prayed whenever the need arose, whether in response to their inner emotions, or in times of distress, or when they had some special …show more content…
Often the term for this experience is Kavvanah, which according to Enelow (1935:252-88) means “concentration,” “devotion,” and “inwardness.” Most obvious to the reviewer of the biblical account, it seems, is the personal nature of prayer in the Hebrew Scriptures, which, by necessity, focused on relationship rather than religious rigidity. Hammer (1994:47) remarks further that in many instances throughout the OT era there was “no need for a cultic figure—priest, Levite, or prophet—to speak for others. There is no person, priest or otherwise, who alone can pray. No offering is made. The person does not have to go to a special shrine to pray to God. God is frequently addressed directly. He can be spoken to or appealed to without special formulas, without fixed prayers, at any time that the person wished to do so.” Thus, the concept of paressia, or boldness of speech, was part and parcel of this sort of prayerful dialogue. The worshipper could approach God directly and honestly without resorting to formalities and/or
Odysseus on the other hand was a different story, he did not pray or just did not mention praying during his time of trouble. Why would he not pray?
the act of prayer. Stump points out since this is the definition of petitionary prayer, prayers of
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
Coming close to God through prayer soon became very important because everyone feared his wrath. It was said:
What is Christianity and why has it been able to develop into a continuously growing and evolving religion?
The background of Orthodox Judaism traces back to towards the end of the eighteenth century as a reaction to the events that were taking place around this time. The age of Enlightenment was one of these events, followed by Jewish emancipation. The results of these events were a society reformed by the use of reasoning and the rights of the European Jews being expanded in many nations. Orthodox Judaism was produced as an outcome of the many upcoming branches of Judaism. “Orthodox Judaism views itself as the continuation of the beliefs and practices of normative Judaism, as accepted by the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai and codified in successive generations in an ongoing process that continues to this day. While all orthodox movements are similar in their beliefs and observance, they differ in the details that are emphasized and in their attitudes toward modern culture and the State of Israel. Modern Orthodox tend to be a bit more liberal and more Zionistic” (Katz). The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, and the oral Torah hold authority in the Jewish honor. Rambam’s thirteen Principles of Faith are the major beliefs of Orthodox Judaism in a nutshell.
In the Jewish faith, death is seen as a natural process. Jewish rituals surrounding death focus on showing respect for the deceased and consolation for the living. After death, the body is never left alone. The body is laid on the floor, covered, and candles are lit with the “shomerim” meaning “guards” watching over the body. Many Jewish communities have a burial society, called the chevra kaddisha (holy society), that clean the body and wrap the body in a plain linen shroud. The body can not be cremated or embalmed and autopsies are discouraged. Coffins are not required according to Jewish customs, but if one is used, there must be holes drilled into them, so they come in contact with the ground. The dead are placed in a plain casket and buried within 24 hours, before sunset, on the day of death. Jewish mourning traditions begin grief with the tearing of one’s clothing (Rich, 1996). Mourners “cut their clothing with a razor- on the left for a parent; on the right for a spouse, child, or sibling- to symbolize the tear in life that death has produced (cite textbook, pg 358).” After burial of the deceased, a healing meal is made for the family, which is followed by the next phase of mourning, known as shiva. Shiva is a seven day ritual in where mourners sit on low stools or on the floor, do not wear shoes, do not shave, do not work, do not bathe, have sex, or eat meat, and remain in the same clothes they tore at the time of death. Following shiva, mourners do not attend social gathering for 30 days, this is known as shloshim. If someone is mourning a parents death, the “shloshim” is expanded to one year (Rich, 1996).
However, I feel that the Lord's prayer is essentially a Jewish prayer, exhibiting the form and function of contemporary Jewish prayers. As with many other studies of any writings in the Gospels, it is important to discuss how these traditions have been brought to us, and what, if any modifications were made to the original text. Therefore it would be prudent, for the purpose of this paper to first look at the literary elements of the Lord's Prayer. To illustrate why the Lord's Prayer is essentially a Jewish prayer, we must first define and explore what Jewish prayers were like during the time of Jesus.
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
“For the past 24 years on the first day of every Hebrew month, a group that calls themselves “women of the wall”, have gathered here at the western wall, for a prayer service. But in Israeli law, and a 2003 supreme court ruling prevent them from wearing prayer shawls, or praying with the torah as they would like to. Because it is said that it would provoke outrage among the ultra-orthodox who dominate” (Elterman, 0:23).
Through the various calls for response made by the priests, “let us be attentive”, “let us pray to the Lord”, “peace be with you” and “servant of God” tradition is linguistically demonstrated. Each of these and other prayers was concluded with a response or “Amen” typically by the priest or the choir. Also, we saw reminders of God’s beauty in the images of those who loved and served the Lord throughout the ages as painting on the ceilings and walls.
The following essay will evaluate the importance of the journey that takes place from Systematic to Practical theology; this view will be explored through Ronelle Sonnenberg’s research done regarding ‘being together’ in a youth setting. This essay will first build on the basis of Practical Theology; furthermore addressing the importance of the community aspect within a youth setting; this will lead to the process that takes place between a Systematic stance, leading to a Practical theological stance.
It is important for me to remember when preparing a sermon, that it is not about the preacher, but through preaching, God the Holy Spirit does the work of giving God’s
When most people pray, they just say the same prayer, like the Lord’s prayer, for example. Saying the same prayer isn’t really such a bad thing, its more about the meaning and the time that you spend praying. Prayer shouldn’t just be looked at as a routine or habit, but as more of a love poem to express oneself to God. Questions such as: why do we need to pray? What is this prayer?
It is hard to define religious experience as a large part of it is subjective. By their very nature religious experiences are incredibly personal and differ wildly from individual to individual. Everyone is going to react to a religious experience differently; some will dismiss it, others will take it to heart and it can change their lives. Religious experiences can happen from almost anywhere, from the beauty of being out in nature or in the middle of a church service. How one interprets a religious experience is largely “depends on the culture, ideas, and language of that particular time and place” (Thompson, 7).