Rabbi Yehoshua C. Grunstein

Prayer can often be superficial. It can simply be a habit we do on a regular basis, a matter of tradition and nothing more. Rabbi Grunstein wants us to go deeper into our daily prayer, to make it mean something beyond a blind recitation of words without meaning. Rabbi Grunstein wants us to stop praying like we were children, blindly following the example of our parents or elders, and learn to pray as thinking, devout adults.

This is a good look at the act of prayer from a jewish perspective. I really enjoyed it. I think those interested in bringing more soul to their everyday prayers will enjoy this book.

I had high hopes for a book about prayer, but this was not what i was hoping for. There are some useful ideas included, but on the whole, this is addressed towards someone who hasn't thought about prayer since they were young. I particularly disliked how obviously the author did not consider a female reader at all, with all defaults being about men. Also, having recaps at the end of each short chapter and at the end of the book felt like an insult to intelligence.

Most Jews learn prayers by rote, as part of Hebrew school. However, rote memorization without real understanding of what the prayers mean and how they relate to one's adult life can lead to many Jews falling away from the synagogue as they grow older. Rabbi Grunstein attempts to give understanding to the cycle of prayers, more of a "why" than a "how." I have a few quibbles with some of his interpretations, but after all, debate on esoteric matters is part of Jewish tradition.