text: what is the hebrew word for "blessing"? professor harold bloom translated this word as "more life." i am interested as to which usage of 'blessing' means 'more life,' the noun or the verb, and what it looks like in hebrew. let me just start by saying i am a messiainc jew and find this question delightful.  the talmud states that we are to recite 613 bruchas a day.  a brucha is a blessing.  this is kind of what yeshua jesus meant by pray without ceasing.  we are to medidtate on the lord day and night, and to hide his word in our hearts.  the cheif way to do that jewishly is to hammer into the word.  the word is the most important thing that we can read, meditate on and pray for.  i will next talk about first the jewish way of praying and then will talk about blessings.  yeshua, jesus being a good jew used the blessings in the beatitudes on the mount of olives.  that is the first part of his sermon on the mount.  tefilah: prayer  the hebrew word for prayer is tefilah. it is derived from the root pe-lamed-lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning to judge oneself. this surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of jewish prayer. the most important part of any jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of god, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to god.   the yiddish word meaning "pray" is "daven," which ultimately comes from the same latin root as the english word "divine" and emphasizes the one to whom prayer is directed.   for an observant jew, prayer is not simply something that happens in synagogue once a week (or even three times a day). prayer an integral part of everyday life. in fact, one of the most important prayers in judaism, the birkat ha-mazon, is never recited in synagogue!   observant jews are constantly reminded of god's presence and of our relationship with god, because we are continually praying to him. our first thought in the morning, even before we get out of bed, is a prayer thanking god for returning our souls to us. there are prayers to be recited before enjoying any material pleasure, such as eating or wearing new clothes; prayers to recite before performing any mitzvah (commandment), such as washing hands or lighting candles; prayers to recite upon seeing anything unusual, such as a king, a rainbow, or the site of a great tragedy; prayers to recite whenever some good or bad thing happens; and prayers to recite before going to bed at night. all of these prayers are in addition to formal prayer services, which are performed three times a day every weekday and additional times on shabbat and festivals. see jewish liturgy.   the need for prayer  many people today do not see the need for regular, formal prayer. "i pray when i feel inspired to, when it is meaningful to me," they say. this attitude overlooks two important things: the purpose of prayer, and the need for practice.   one purpose of prayer is to increase your awareness of god in your life and the role that god plays in your life. if you only pray when you feel inspired (that is, when you are already aware of god), then you will not increase your awareness of god.   in addition, if you want to do something well, you have to practice it continually, even when you don't feel like doing it. this is as true of prayer as it is of playing a sport, playing a musical instrument, or writing. the sense of humility and awe of god that is essential to proper prayer does not come easily to modern man, and will not simply come to you when you feel the need to pray. if you wait until inspiration strikes, you will not have the skills you need to pray effectively. before i started praying regularly, i found that when i wanted to pray, i didn't know how. i didn't know what to say, or how to say it, or how to establish the proper frame of mind. if you pray regularly, you will learn how to express yourself in prayer.   kavanah: the mindset for prayer  when you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become rout