Studying Jewish Prayer

Order of Studies for Independent Students of Jewish Prayer, Part I

Most of the standard prayers in the Rabbinic Tradition contain embedded within them deep connections to the Mystic/Shamanic Wisdom Paths.  SImply by reciting or chanting these prayers (in Hebrew/Aramaic), a person can activate the energy embedded in them, and access the higher spiritual levels for which they serve as a gateway.  Today, many students of Jewish mysticism and Hebrew shamanism discount the power of the “Traditional” prayers, giving up on the potential of the Traditional liturgy because they do not see, on the surface, any relevant meaning in them.  Poor English translations of Aboriginal Hebrew words and concepts further complicate the issue, so that many contemporary spiritual seekers simply cannot find for themselves much in the Traditional liturgy that moves them or to which they can relate their lives.
This is a real tragedy for the student of Jewish prayer and spiritual seekers both.  For while it may be true that for many contemporary people the most meaningful prayers will be those spontaneously composed in their hearts, it is also true that they must first learn the basic concepts in the Jewish/Hebrew mystic/shamanic cosmology to do so, and the Roadmap or Textbook of these Indigenous Hebrew concepts is the canon of Traditional Jewish Liturgy.  Buried beneath layers of filters, beneath the filter of the rabbinic age, beneath the filter of exile and survival in foreign lands, beneath the filter of several millenia of patriarchy– beneath all of these external filters, the internal core of the Traditional liturgy contains the heart of the Hebrew mystic/shamanic tradition.
Now, for the student of the Hebrew mystic/shamanic wisdom paths, it may be enough to take isolated prayers and meditations from the Traditional liturgy, unpack the external filters of the Rabbinic Age, and study the Aboriginal Hebrew concepts buried within.  But for the student of Jewish Prayer seeking a fundamental or foundational knowledge of the Jewish liturgy and prayer cycles– for these students it is not enough to pick and choose, to only study alternative translations and simplified versions that are “more meaningful” and not study the Traditional forms.  Nor is it enough to merely study the prayer cycles.  An authentic student of Jewish prayer must also do the practice of using the prayers they are studying in the form and manner for which they are designed to be used.  Only in this way will the student of Jewish prayer embody the meditative cycles and form a relationship with the prayers themselves.  Only then will the embedded mystic/shamanic energies within the prayers open up and live in the life of the student who is “studying” them.  AND it should be emphasized that where ever possible, the prayers should be said in the original Hebrew or Aramaic that they were composed in, because it is in these forms, with the resonances of the Holy languages, that the mystic/shamanic meditations are embedded.  A potent way for the beginner student to practice these prayers is to study them in the English so that they know the content and intention and context of the prayer, but then when actually engaged in prayer to recite or chant the prayers in the Hebrew/Aramaic, calling to mind the meaning and intentions that were learned earlier.  This can be done by the most basic student, with only a fundamental ability to read Hebrew.  It is not even required to know the “nusach” or “tunes” that the prayers go with to do this, as reciting or chanting (in any melody, even spontaneous) is enough to access and open up the mystic/shamanic meditations embedded within.
In time, the student of Jewish prayer may choose to utilize alternative, non-traditional versions of the prayers and liturgy, or even to cease using the standard prayer cycles altogether.  After having practiced the Traditional meditations and prayers for a period of time, the student will have acquired a basic knowledge and experience of these prayers, and so be in a position to utilize the meditations and concepts within them without having to stick to the codified forms of the Traditional liturgy.  This is a liberty that comes with time and experience and study and practice and it is advisable for students not to skip this step.  Also, it is noted that practicing the Traditional liturgy does not mean that students may not also practice other methods of meditations, chanting and prayer, so that the one does not need exclude the other.
The next important piece for the student of Jewish prayer is to embrace the ENTIRE prayer cycle, or as much of it as possible.  It is not enough to study the liturgy of Shabbat on its own.  This is a mistake that many people make, because so much emphasis is placed in the Jewish Community on the Sabbath.  People study the prayers and liturgy of Shabbat, but fail to study and practice the weekly/daily prayers, and then wonder why the Sabbath prayers fall short for them.  Judaism is meant to be lived 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Not just on Shabbat.  A Shabbat dis-embodied from the week makes no sense.  Especially for the Hebrew mystic/shamanic practitioner.  Studying and practicing the weekly/daily prayer cycles is therefore critical.
Finally, the Jewish prayer cycles are part of a greater Indigenous, Earth-Based Hebrew Wisdom Tradition.  The prayers and liturgy cannot be separated from the seasonal liturgical and Earth cycles and must be understood within this greater context.  The student of Jewish prayer must therefore also be a student of the Jewish Calendar, the Holidays and Festivals, and where possible, the Aboriginal Hebrew Wisdom Paths from which all of this flows.
Books for reference and study of the Jewish prayer cycles:
To Pray as a Jew: A Guide to the Prayerbook and Synagogue Service, Hayim H. Donin
A Guide to Jewish Prayer, Adin Even Israel
The “My People’s Prayer Book” Series, edited by Lawrence A. Hoffman, et al
Your Word is Fire:  The Hasidic Masters on Contemplative Prayer, Arthur Green and Barry W. Holtz
Real Davening:  Jewish Prayer as a Spiritual Practice and a Form of Meditation for Beginning and Experienced Daveners, Yitzhak Buxbaum
Jewish Holidays, Michael Strassfeld
The Jewish Way:  Living the Holidays, Irving Greenberg
Sacred Seasons: A Sourcebook for the Jewish Holidays, Ronald H. Isaacs
Magic of the Ordinary, Gershon Winkler
The Complete Artscroll Orthodox Siddur, Ashkenaz or Sefard, Artscroll
Kol Haneshma, a Siddur by the Reconstructionist Movement, Shabbat V’Haggim AND Weekly/Daily
Ivdu Et HaShem B’Simcha, a Jewish Renewal Siddur edited by R’David Zaslow
A preliminary exercise for studying Jewish prayer:
Create working outlines for each of the prayer services in the Traditional Jewish Liturgy–
Daily: morning, afternoon, evening, bedtime
Weekly: Tachanun and Weektime Torah Reading Service
Hallel
Shabbat: Kabbalat Shabbat, Friday Evening, Sabbath Meal, Saturday Morning, Sabbath Lunch, Seuda Shlishit, Havdala, Melave Malka
Lunar Prayers: Rosh Chosdesh, Kiddush Levanah
Festivals and Holidays: Passover, Shavuot, Tisha B’Av, Rosh HaShanna/YK/Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat, Purim

Example:
The Morning Prayers for weekdays–
(A more complete outline of the Weekday Morning Prayers Can be Found by Clicking Here.)
I Blessings upon Awakening
II Morning Blessings
III P’Sukei D’Zimrah
IV Sh’Ma and its Blessings
V Shimoneh Esrei
VI Closing prayers (ashrei, aleinu, M. Kaddish)
VII Additional sections that depend on personal practice and day of week
(Tefillin, Torah study, Offerings, 13 Rules, Torah Reading, Tachanun, Song of the Day)

Next, expand on each of these, detailing exactly which prayers and practices are contained in each section and in what order.  List for each prayer/psalm/song/meditation/practice its purpose; meaning; background and context; relevant choreography; key Hebrew/Aramaic words and phrases; corresponding songs; differences in practice between the different movements of Judaism; mystical/shamanic implications; personal notes, etc…