Episode 12: Prayer is not so Linear (with Rabbi Steve Sager)
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Prayer is not so Linear
This week’s episode was a difficult one to title- throughout my interview with the wise and compassionate Rabbi Steve Sager, he brought to light so many beautiful facets of t’fillah: what t’fillah means, is, and can be; what it takes to lead t’fillah; the “joyful reunion” of prayer and liturgy; what ritual requires; and g?d as the impulse to live. Rabbi Sager is a scholar of prayer, poetry, Rabbinic literature, and the art of conversation, and this is our first of many. Take a breath, listen in, and see where it takes you.
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(1:19) Learn more about Rabbi Sager and Sicha here.
(3:57) T’fillah – תפילה – liturgy and prayer.
(4:42) Ba’alat T’fillah/Ba’al T’fillah – בעלת תפילה/בעל תפילה – literally “master of t’fillah.”
(4:47) Shaliach Tzibur – שליח ציבור – t’fillah leader, literally “emissary of the congregation.”
(5:15) Seichel – שכל – a Hebrew and Yiddish word that is a sort of sixth sense of intelligence.
(5:17) Neshama – נשמה – soul.
(5:19) Nefesh – נפש – another way to describe a soul.
(6:16) Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, was a founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. Learn more here.
(6:18) Alav hashalom – עליו השלום – may he rest in peace.
(6:48) Daven – Yiddish for the act of praying
(6:50) Minyan – מנין – prayer group.
(7:00) Learn more about Rabbi Art Green here.
(9:12) Palal pey lamed lamed – פלל – to weigh, to judge, to adjudge, to balance it out
(9:31) Rau panecha lo pilalti- רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי – I never reckoned on seeing you again. Genesis 48:11.
(10:19) Natan biflilim – וְנָתַ֖ן בִּפְלִלִֽים – judge how far along her pregnancy was. Exodus 21:22.
(11:21) Lehitpalel – להתפלל – to pray.
(11:46) Lehitlabesh – להתלבש – to dress yourself. Lehitbonen – להתבונן – to contemplate. Lehitraot – להתראות – we will see each other again. Lehitcatev – להתכתב – to correspond.
(13:07) Learn more about Polish-American poet Czeslaw Milosz here.
(14:00) Sim shalom tovah u’vracha – שים שלום טובה וברכה – Grant us peace, welfare, and blessing. Find the full prayer here.
(15:48) Mechaye – מחיה – life-giver.
(15:54) Mechayeh hameitim – מחיה המתים – resurrects the dead.
(16:25) Tefillin – תפילין – leather boxes with the Shema inside worn during morning prayers. Learn more here.
(17:08) Modeh Ani Lefanecha – מודה אני לפניך – I’m grateful to You. Learn more about this prayer in Episode 4!
(19:04) Chuppah – חופה – wedding canopy. Here is that picture from Siddur Ashurit, Asher Anshel Broyn, Shomerei Emunah, Jerusalem 1964.
(20:58) Lashon naki – לשון נקיה – clean language.
(21:07) Machloket – מחלוקת – sacred argument.
Liturgy-comes from the late latin “liturgia,” which comes from the greek “leitourgia” meaning public service.
(31:31) Unetaneh tokef – ונתנה תוקף – is a prayer poem about the day of judgment, said on the High Holidays. Learn more here.
(31:33) Learn more about the Silverman Prayerbook here.
(32:37) Tzedakah – צדקה – charity, righteousness.
(50:56) How do we know that G?d prays? Talmud Berakhot 7a.