A Tour of the Synagogue Continued

Additions to the Tour of the Synagogue post.

Prayer

Prayer is what we offer up to G-d, our form of contact with the Divine. We stand in His presence, reaching out to Him with our words, connecting ourselves to Him. The Talmud calls prayer the ‘service of the heart’, for G-d is present to the degree that one makes space for Him in his heart. People are more inclined to relate to things that are of a physical nature. This is not due to an innate lack of spirituality. At our core we are spiritual beings. But our spiritual awareness is hindered by our bodily existence, which makes it hard to see very far beyond ourselves. Through prayer, we are lifted up from our petty self-interest to a higher perspective on life. Prayer helps to remove all of that which covers up and inhibits our soul from feeling near to G-d. Our prayers contain praise, requests, and thanks. In asking G-d for our hopes and needs and realizing that we receive everything from Him, our whole heart and everything we are can go into our words as a pure offering to G-d.

Siddur - The Prayer book

Prayer is the ladder that connects the soul and G-d. The ancient sages of Israel meticulously formulated our prayer book so as best to accomplish this lofty goal. The Morning Prayer service can be divided into sections, which act as rungs on the ladder. The bottom of the ladder, the Morning Blessings, is a collection of simple thanks for the various blessings we have been given. The middle rungs are appreciation and understanding of G-d. The Verses of Praise describe how all the world testifies to His greatness. The blessings before the Shema recount the tremendous awe that He instills in the myriads of angels. Then, in the Shema, we declare our faith that “The Lord is our G-d, the Lord is one.” The top of the ladder reaches the heavens, for by the time we reach the pinnacle of the service, the Amidah, we achieve a total loss of self-centeredness in the face of the utter awe of G-d. The Amidah is therefore recited in an undertone while standing still. The siddur contains the daily morning, afternoon, and evening services, as well as special versions for the Shabbat and holidays. It also includes the blessings said before and after eating.

Ner Tamid - The Eternal Light

There is a lamp just above the Holy Ark which is always and forever shining. The eternal light is a symbol of the "western lamp," the perpetual light which constantly burned in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. A flame constantly flickers and strives to reach higher than itself and reconnect with its source above. Every Jew is like a flame, always yearning to rise up and be closer to our Creator. No matter what influences may act to extinguish this flame, deep down the spark remains untouched, ready to be fanned into a large blaze. Like the Eternal Light, the spark in each of us will never be extinguished.