I have seen some news stories that showed Jews in prayer, and they are rocking back and forth, some quite rapidly. Is there a religious reason for this? Do other religions practice this, and why?
It’s just a matter of comfort and bodily rhythms. You try standing stick-straight at attention for en extended period of time. For many, it takes more concentration away from the prayers themselves to not move at all than it does to let one’s body sway in a rhythmic manner.
I’ve got nothing more to add than that this movement has a name: davening.
No, davening is the word that means prayer. The word for swaying during davening is “shuckeling.”
Buddhists monk do something similar.
You don’t know many Lutherans, do you?
Several have been proposed, but there isn’t an official religious reason.
I do it because I can. I don’t like standing still, and it’s acceptable to sway, so I do.
Cmkeller, you have just lessened the sum total of ignorance in the world. Thanks for putting me right.
Thank you, cmkeller. Armed with the correct word, I was able to locate this explanation:
I saw some film recently of a mosque full of Muslims rocking exactly like this as they chanted the Koran. My feeling was that it helped to set a rhythm to memorise the text to.
I find that I’m praying with a certan sing-song rhythm, and the swaying puts my body and my mind in the same mode – kind of like swaying to certain songs. It should be noted to those unaware: traditional Jewish prayer is not like Christian prayer. It is a recitation of a set order of prayers, most of them very ancient, in Hebrew. Thus, when you say the same prayer repeated over many days and weeks, you develop a sort of melodic rhythm that becomes ingrained.
The real reason, of course, is that my father shuckled, and so when I went with him to the synagogue and stood beside him, I did too.
I just have to say that I’ve learned a lot of interesting things since joining the 'dope.
This is a great place! 
While praying the fixed prayers in congregation, one really isn’t supposed to be swaying, so a lot of Muslims will stand still for that, but while reading Qur’an it’s really common to see swaying going on. And I know at least one priest who will sway back and forth while serving a Divine Liturgy.
Perhaps this is just an exception to the above statement, but what about praying a Rosary? Is that not also a recitation of a set order of prayers, or does it differ in some manner from traditional Jewish prayer?
(Other than not being in Hebrew, of course…)
There’s also the Divine Office, which while not prayed so much by laypeople still bears similarities to Jewish prayer.
Can’t speak for others, but when I say the rosary, as I try to do every day, it develops a certain rhythmic repetition to it. No swaying, I admit, but there’s a semi-chant to it.
i’m a swayer. most prayers in the orthodox church are done in a tone. i really can’t think of one that would just be “said”, even if there isn’t a specified tone it is done in a sing song, usually a greek chant that has ups and downs.
i’m not in extreme motion but def. a sway, i have to have a bit of room around me in the choir.
thank you for the correct term, mr keller, now i’ll be able to pass it on.
I agree with **Bricker ** about the Rosary. It develops a certain “oral sway”. And if you’re reciting it with a congregation in church, you’re usually kneeling in pews, so there’s not a lot of room for any physical swaying.
I often sing the office in choir. There’s never any swaying, but there’s quite a lot of sitting, standing and kneeling.
Films of school boy children learning the Quran by rote show them sitting but bending forward in a rocking motion as they recite the text.
Endless repetition implants the text in memory and the rythmic rocking tamps it in place.
Just to add to the mix:
Davven, a European Jewish (i.e., Yiddish) word to connote recitation of the traditional liturgy, seems to have its root in the Latin “divine” or “divine service”.
The Hebrew word is “avodah” which means both “work” and “divine service”, the latter ranging from the offering of sacrifices in the biblical period, to the recitation of liturgical prayers.