Why We Pray What We Pray details the various factors that influenced six important Jewish prayers and shaped how and when Jews recite them. This book shows that each prayer (Shema, Nishmat, Birkat HaHodesh, Anim Zemirot, Aleinu and Kaddish) has a complex history of which contemporary worshippers are mostly unaware. When we learn about the factors and forces that shaped these prayers and Jewish liturgy in general, our appreciation of what Jewish worship is all about becomes that much more profound. Why We Pray What We Pray also sets forth important moments in Jewish history with depth and detail.

About the Author: Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel is the author of Contemporary Orthodox Judaism’s Response to Modernity (Ktav) and the Rabbi of Congregation Kesher Israel at the Georgetown Synagogue located in downtown Washington DC. Rabbi Freundel serves as vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and chair of its Geirus Policies and Standards Committee, where he helped create and administer the RCA’s network of North American conversion courts. He is also Associate Professor of Religion at Towson University and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University. Rabbi Freundel is married to Sharon Freundel, the director of Hebrew and Judaic studies at a Jewish day school in Washington DC and a registered nurse, and they have three children.