Editing Prayer (section)

===Judaism===
{{Main|Jewish prayer}}
[[File:Muro de las Lamentaciones, Jerusalén, 2017.gif|thumb|[[Orthodox Jewish]] men praying in [[Jerusalem]]'s [[Western Wall]]]]
Observant Jews pray three times a day, [[Shacharit]], [[Mincha]], and [[Ma'ariv]] with lengthier prayers on special days, such as the [[Shabbat]] and [[Jewish holidays]] including [[Musaf]] and the reading of the [[Torah]]. The [[siddur]] is the prayerbook used by Jews all over the world, containing a set order of daily prayers. Jewish prayer is usually described as having two aspects: ''[[kavanah]]'' (intention) and ''keva'' (the ritualistic, structured elements).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nulman |first=Macy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbuPJeQyeskC |title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer: The Ashkenazic and Sephardic Rites |date=1996-02-01 |publisher=Jason Aronson, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-4616-3124-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Communal prayer is preferred over solitary prayer, and a quorum of ten adult males (a ''[[minyan]]'') is considered by [[Orthodox Judaism]] a prerequisite for several communal prayers. There are also many other ritualistic prayers a Jew performs during their day, such as washing before eating bread, washing after one wakes up in the morning, and doing grace after meals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Soloveitchik |first=Joseph Dov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S0GM6eTNRVkC |title=Worship of the Heart: Essays on Jewish Prayer |date=2003 |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |isbn=978-0-88125-771-7 |language=en}}</ref>

====Rationalist approach====
In this view, the ultimate goal of prayer is to help train a person to focus on divinity through philosophy and intellectual contemplation. This approach was taken by [[Maimonides]] and the other medieval rationalists. One example of this approach to prayer is noted by Rabbi Steven Weil, who was appointed the Orthodox Union's Executive-Vice President in 2009. He notes that the word "prayer" is a derivative of the Latin "precari", which means "to beg". The Hebrew equivalent "tefilah", however, along with its root "pelel" or its reflexive "l'hitpallel", means the act of self-analysis or self-evaluation.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.ou.org/torah/article/why_tefilah_doesn |title= Why Tefilah Doesn't Mean Prayer: Redefining our Relationship with G-d |first= Steven |last= Weil<!-- deleted page: |author-link= Steven Weil -->|date= September 14, 2010 |type= video presentation |work= ou.org |publisher= [[Orthodox Union]] }}</ref> This approach is sometimes described as the person praying having a dialogue or conversation with God.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/862508/jewish/Talking-With-Gd.htm |first= Naftali |last= Silberberg |date= n.d. |title= Jewish Practice " Mitzvahs & Traditions " Prayer " Insights – Talking With G‑d |work= [[Chabad.org]] |access-date= 2014-11-04 |archive-date= 2014-11-29 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141129222225/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/862508/jewish/Talking-With-Gd.htm |url-status= live }}</ref>

====Educational approach====
In this view, prayer is not a conversation. Rather, it is meant to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, but not to influence. This has been the approach of Rabbenu Bachya, [[Yehuda Halevy]], [[Joseph Albo]], [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]], and [[Joseph Dov Soloveitchik]]. This view is expressed by Rabbi [[Nosson Scherman]] in the overview to the [[Artscroll]] Siddur (p.&nbsp;XIII); note that Scherman goes on to also affirm the Kabbalistic view (see below).

====Kabbalistic approach====
[[Kabbalah]] uses a series of ''[[Kavanah|kavanot]]'', directions of intent, to specify the path the prayer ascends in the dialog with God, to increase its chances of being answered favorably. Kabbalists ascribe a higher meaning to the purpose of prayer, which is no less than affecting the very fabric of reality itself, restructuring and repairing the universe in a real fashion. In this view, every word of every prayer, and indeed, even every letter of every word, has a precise meaning and a precise effect. Prayers thus literally affect the mystical forces of the universe, and repair the fabric of creation.<ref>[http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/114937/jewish/The-Kabbalah.htm The Kabbalah of Prayer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317044922/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/114937/jewish/The-Kabbalah.htm |date=2011-03-17 }} on Chabad.org</ref>