Thursday, February 19, 2015
Jewish Prayer
Being Jewish has always been a huge part of my identity. When I started middle school, I was very passionate about Jewish culture and traditions. After my Bat Mitzvah in 2009, I suddenly stopped studying and reading prayers at my synagogue, but my passion for Judaism never faded. In my opinion, a Jewish prayer is a unique piece of artwork that is appreciated around the world. People change these prayers in many different ways, but somehow its importance and beauty stays the same. Even though I participate in Jewish activities on a regular basis, I still feel that my understanding of Jewish text is not clear. I think this research paper can give me a chance to learn more about my Jewish background and open my mind to my religion. I’m hoping that researching Jewish prayer will help me appreciate the internal beauty of sacred Hebrew text and give me the opportunity to connect on a more spiritual level.
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Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good idea for you because I know how much Judaism means to you. Are there any certain prayers you're going to focus on? I don't know much about Judaism, especially Jewish prayers so I think it's a good and interesting topic!
Thank you, Alex! I don't know what specific prayers I want to do for my research paper yet, but I think I want to focus on some that connect to the Torah. I think the Torah is going to be a good starting point for some details in my research paper. I'm also going to be using my prayer book as a reference, so I should find some specific prayers soon!
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DeleteChelsea,
ReplyDeleteI think the fact you chose a topic that will help you discover more of yourself is an admirable notion. In mentioning that you are going to be researching Jewish prayer, I have to ask what perspective will you be examining it from? Will you be looking at the meanings of the prayers? The historical significance of the prayers in describing your own identity? Will you be looking at how it is read by Rabbi? And are you considering it from one branch of Judaism, or multiple branches? Also, this seems to have the potential to be a very emotion and opinion driven paper. I hope that you include enough analysis to be able to balance that aspect of it. So another question to ask is are you writing about Jewish prayer, or the effect of prayer on the mind and soul, with Judaism as the window? That said, I wish you the best of luck on your paper!
Thanks, Jacob! You have very interesting questions that I have never really thought about before. I am thinking about using the Torah and my prayer book as some references so I can connect the prayers with ancient Jewish history. I like the idea of connecting the historical significance with my own identity, but I'm not sure if I am going to use it in my research paper. I do not think I am going to be looking at how Jewish prayers are read by rabbis, but that is a really unique question. Because I'm personally part of a reconstructionist synagogue, I think I am going to keep the prayers part of that branch. My plan for this paper is to incorporate both the Jewish prayer aspect and the effects of the prayers on the mind and soul. Thanks so much for your input, it was very helpful and gave me many more ideas about what to write in my paper!
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