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Rav Binny Freedman – What is Prayer

At our Inward Bound 2005 week of learning, Rav Binny presented this comprehensive introduction to concepts in prayer as well as practical in-text learning of the prayers themselves. Even those of us who have been praying for years will benefit tremendously from this series.

What is Prayer?, pt1

What exactly is prayer? What I am I trying to do in prayer? Rav Binny opens the series with all the right questions and presents three major ideas to attempt to put prayer into its proper Jewish context.
What is Prayer?, pt2

Continuing from the previous class, Rav Binny expands upon desire, will, and how prayer helps us productively struggle with our purpose.
The Siddur, pt1

How can I have a spiritual experience in such a structured prayer book? If I tap into the idea that everything is meant to be, then how can I ask G-d to change anything?
The Siddur, pt2

We continue with a discussion of Moshe, Yaakov and Esav, and the stunning conclusion to the Golden Calf episode, to lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of the four structural elements of all Jewish prayer.
Making Blessings

After an overview of the major content and blessings in the siddur, Rav Binny then explains the idea of the Hebrew word bracha and the power that has in the world.
Secrets of Shema, pt1

Why is listening (shema) the vehicle to bring Hashem into the world? This first part primarily looks at the blessings leading up to the Shema, and the concepts of darkness and light, creation and formation.
Secrets of Shema, pt2

In the Shema, what are we being asked to hear? In this second part, we reach the recitation of the Shema itself and seek to understand the relationship between the two names of G-d that appear in the verse.
The Shmoneh Esrei, pt1

Does meaning come from me, or from Hashem? Rav Binny gives us a brief history of these nineteen brachot, emphasizes the importance of iyun tefillah, of studying the prayers, and gives us some basic prayer choreography.
The Shmoneh Esrei, pt2

Here, we go in-depth into the first blessing, the bracha of the avot (the forefathers), explaining the relationships between the three and the paradigm of process that we learn from their respective strengths.
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