Does Prayer Work?

Across Time & Space

How does prayer connect us to one another when we’re divided by belief, distance, or time? In this final episode of Thoughts & Prayers, host Jessica Fisher explores how Jewish prayer can both strengthen and strain our sense of peoplehood. From the universal call of the shofar to the discomfort of praying beside those we disagree with, this episode asks what it means to belong to a people who do not always see or believe the same way. Alongside Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, Yehuda Kurtzer, Yael Splansky, and Akiva Mattenson, we trace how the sounds, words, and silences of prayer continue to bind Jews across time, space, and difference. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4720419] Learn more about Deborah's forthcoming album, Songs from the Beit Midrash [https://www.deborahsacksmintz.com/new-album], coming February 2026.

The Land of Israel is a Prayer

What happens when the Israel of our prayers looks different from the Israel of our headlines? In this episode of Thoughts & Prayers, host Jessica Fisher explores how the creation of a Jewish state has transformed Jewish prayer, and how prayer shapes Israeli life. Through stories and reflections from Na’ama Levitz Applbaum, Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, Tomer Persico, and Akiva Mattenson, the episode asks how prayer might bridge instead of fracture Israeli society and help us glimpse the Jerusalem of our dreams within the Israel of today. Episode Companion Guide [https://www.hartman.org.il/thoughts-prayers-ep-4-study-guide/] JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4720419]

When Prayer Meets Politics

What does it mean to say “God bless America” — and who are we praying to when we do? In this episode of Thoughts & Prayers, host Jessica Fisher examines how Jewish prayer and American politics intertwine, from the synagogue’s prayer for the government to benedictions on the national stage. Featuring Elie Weinstock, Annie Lewis, Lauren Holtzblatt, and Akiva Mattenson, the episode asks how prayer relates to political power and whether faith can enhance our public life without being consumed by it. Episode Companion Guide [https://www.hartman.org.il/thoughts-prayers-study-guide-episode-3/] JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4720419]   This episode of Thoughts & Prayers features music from Eliana Light of The Light Lab Podcast: [https://www.lightlab.co/podcast] Prayer & Liturgy, Illuminated.

Between Me and We

How do we balance our individual spiritual needs with our responsibilities to community? In this episode of Thoughts & Prayers, host Jessica Fisher explores the tension between private devotion and communal obligation when it comes to how we pray. Through moving stories and reflections from Yossi Klein Halevi, Maayan Statman Shaw, Elana Stein Hain, and Akiva Mattenson, the episode asks what we owe one another in prayer and what we stand to gain when we show up together, even when it’s hard. Episode Companion Guide [https://www.hartman.org.il/thoughts-prayers-between-me-and-we-companion-guide/] JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4720419]

Does Prayer Work?

In the first episode of Thoughts & Prayers, host Jessica Fisher explores one of the oldest and most unsettling questions in Jewish life: Does prayer work? Through deeply personal reflection and conversation with Sara Labaton, Josh Warshawsky, and Akiva Mattenson, the episode traces how ancient mystics, modern rationalists, and everyday seekers wrestle with the meaning and purpose of prayer — whether it changes the world, transforms us, or simply helps us keep knocking on a locked gate. Thoughtful, searching, and grounded in lived experience, this opening chapter invites listeners to reconsider what it really means to pray. Episode Companion Guide [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Thoughts-Prayers-Study-Guide-Episode-1.pdf] JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4720419]