The Project Begins

Welcome to The Kavana Project. Our Mission: to analyze, define, and defy the space between “knowing what the words mean” and that thing we call Kavana. Or, as we say it over here, to bridge the gap between meaning and meaningful.
To wit: Operation Birchot HaShachar. We’ve created an image for each of the fourteen Morning Brachot- a small combo of text and art to reflect and inspire what we think about (or at least, try to remember to think about) while rushing to catch up to the Chazzan. Reflecting on what we reflect on led to The Questions We Face in Our Search for Kavana.
You may not agree with some pieces. You definitely won’t sympathize with all. Hopefully, the contrast will concretize your thoughts. Please, share those thoughts with us. This is a work in, you guessed it, Project: your ideas, your comments, and your response to the images are integral. There’s a comments button for a reason. So take a leisurely scroll down and remember to ask:
"WHAT'S MY KAVANAH?"








Meaning?

When our generation appears before the Heavenly Court, let them question our Talmud Torah, our attempts at Chessed, or our Yirat Shamayim. But, O Lord, what will we answer if they ask us to explain what the words we say three times a day are all about?

People of Israel, it's time to do our homework.

For each phrase, we have to know . . .
a. What the words mean.
b. Their source in larger bodies of literature. (Tanach, Shas, Medrash, etc., if that be the case.)
c. Other tefillot in which they appear.

Once we have the words down, we direct our attention to each passage as a whole. We must discover:
a. The overall structure of the piece.
b. Who authored it, what spurred him/her to write, what they tried to accomplish in doing so.
c. Where and when the passage is placed in davening, and how that reflects upon its meaning.

Posted by Ben Greenfield

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