What is prayer? The question is rather straightforward, but with a bit of consideration you might find there is no easy answer. In Why People Pray, Rabbi Mordecai Schreiber examines this elusive nature of prayer, as well as the history of formal prayer and how it has been shaped—and continues to be shaped—by an era of unprecedented globalization.

At the heart of Why People Pray is that very question: why do we pray? What is it that compels us to have faith, or to give it up? Why do we continue to believe in a higher power in spite of discrimination, conflict, illness, and loss?

Rabbi Schreiber’s book introduces a fascinating new supposition: that people of all faiths and all nationalities could conceivably find ways to pray together; using prayers that are universal to all while simultaneously preserving the integrity of each individual faith. He proposes a new approach to prayer, in which the spiritual adherents of the world’s religions come together to formulate a universal expression of prayer that does not replace existing creeds, but rather transcends all creeds and gives voice to humanity’s yearning for peace, freedom, and social justice.