The Talmud writes that the Amidah was instituted in Yavneh at the end of the first century CE. Did the Jews participate in communal prayer during the Temple period? Was communal prayer always a part of Jewish tradition or was it merely a consolation prize following the destruction of the Temple? This lecture will analyze several mishnaic sources and a source from the apocrypha that address this issue.

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The synagogue became a place of Jewish prayer following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. What was the role of the synagogue prior to the destruction? What does this role teach us about communal Jewish prayer prior to the desrtuction of the Temple? This lecture will examine several sources that describe synagogues in Israel and in the diaspora and analyze the role of these synagogues in the Jewish world of the time.

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Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the rabbis in Yavneh sought to address the lack of a Temple and the service that was performed in it. This lecture will address the role of the synagogue following the destruction and the introduction of the Amidah during this period. Did the rabbis attempt to replace the Temple or did they recognize that the Temple could not be replaced and the synagogue and communal prayer were introduced as different modes of service?

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Beginning with the creation of the Reform movement at the beginning of the nineteenth century in Germany, the Siddur has been used to identify many of the ideological beliefs of each of the movements. This lecture will study the history of the Reform innovations in the Siddur and compare the modern day Conservative and Reform siddurim with a brief reference to the new Modern Orthodox Koren Siddur.

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The Enlightenment created many changes in the Reform Prayerbook. Yet, it also played a role in redefining the approaches and philosophies of prayer. This lecture will study four nineteenth and twentieth century commentators and philosophers and examine how they address the meaning of prayer in an age of rationalism that is often centered on the individual rather than God.

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