prayer

• prayer is part of everyday life
• Jews can communicate with God through prayer, individually or collectively
• prayer is so important that a whole area of the Talmud, called Berakhot is based on prayer
• observant jews will pray before performing mitzvot, upon seeing unusual things like a rainbow, when good or bad things happen, and before going to bed at night
• praising God - this involves praising God for his qualities. By thinking of specific qualities of God such as justice, Jews think about the qualities they should aim for
• siddur - prayer book which contains many prayers used in daily life and festivals
• although all prayers are important in judaism, the Amidah and the Shema are considered two of the most important
• Amidah literally means 'standing' and people stand throughout the prayer to show they are in God's presence
• The Amidah consists of 18 blessings and can be divided into 3 sections
• 'May God bring peace to the universe, bring peace to us and all of the people, Israel. Amen' - concluding line of the Amidah