ICJudaism: A Teacher’s Guide to Judaism

      Hosted by ICTeachers                                                                Formerly: Mike’s Rough Guide to Judaism

Disclaimer:

The contents of these pages represent the author’s personal views, experience and understanding.
There are bound to be some things here that some Jews would disagree with.

 

Prayer

For a Jew, especially an observant one, prayer does not just happen in synagogue. It happens anywhere and everywhere; it is an integral part of daily life.

Prayer Books

Most of the prayers that are used in daily and weekly services and at many festivals, such as Purim and Chanukah, together with prayers for use in the home and for special occasions such as marriages, funerals and memorial services are printed in a book called the Siddur (the name is related the word Seder, the name of the Passover Meal, and means order or sequence). A major festival, when the liturgy is significantly different (eg. High Holy Days, Sukkot, Pesach, Shavuot) will have its own special Siddur, known as a Machzor (meaning cycle or return).

Blessings

In general, Jews do not bless people or things (in the sense of saying a prayer over them in order to confer benefit on them or making them more holy - only God can bestow that kind of blessing). What Jews call blessings are short prayers called b’rachot (blessings) which acknowledge God’s importance and majesty. B’rachot always begin with the formula Baruch utah Adonai Elohenu melech ha’olam.. “Blessed are You, Lord our God, sovereign of the universe “ and then goes on to specify the subject of the blessing

There are actually three kinds of b’rachot. Some acknowledge God as the creator of all things and are requests, asking His permission to use them eg.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe :

...who creates the fruit of the vine (before drinking wine)

...who brings forth food out of the earth (before eating bread)

A second kind of b’rachah simply praises God’s creativity eg.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe :

...whose strength and power fill the world (after hearing thunder)

...who made the great sea (on seeing the sea)

The third kind of b’rachah, acknowledging that we are bidden to follow the commandments, is said before fulfilling a commandment, such as lighting Shabbat candles or fixing up a mezuzah and has an extra phrase eg.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the universe who makes us holy through doing his commands,  :

...and commands us to light the sabbath lights.

...and commands us to affix a mezuzah.

Services

Jewish custom specifies formal prayer 3 times daily. The evening service (in a Jewish day, evening comes before morning - A day begins as it gets dark) is called Ma’ariv (this is derived from the word erev, meaning evening). The morning service is Shacharit and the Afternoon service is Minchah. On Shabbat and Festivals there is an additional service called Musaf, which is recited immediately after Shacharit. On Yom Kippur there is a 5th service called Ne'ilah (closing) which follows Minchah and brings the day to an end.

Minyan

Whilst Jews can (and do) pray anywhere, we consider it a bonus, when possible, to pray together with others. For a communal service to take place there must be a quorum of 10 adults present. This is called a minyan. (For orthodox services, only men count towards a minyan). There are some prayers that cannot be said without a minyan (eg. Kaddish).

The Language of Prayer

Traditionally prayers were always said in Hebrew, the language of the Torah. However, the Talmud tells us that we can pray in any language that we understand (and many Jews do not understand Hebrew - hence the translations in most Jewish prayer books). Orthodox Jews still tend to pray exclusively in Hebrew; Progressive Jews are more likely to pray in a mixture of Hebrew and (in UK) English.

Key Prayers

Birkat HaMazon (Blessings for nourishment) is the grace which is said after meals. It is one of the few prayers which are actually commanded in the Torah. It is never said as part of a synagogue service (because synagogue services do not involve eating meals). Birkat HaMazon includes blessings thanking God for the food we have eaten and for the land, expressing hope for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and praising God for His goodness and for the goodness of His work. On Shabbat and festivals a longer version also includes some psalms and various additional prayers and some jolly songs. It can take 15 minutes or more. Ashkenazi Jews often call Birkat Ha’Mazon by the Yiddish term, Bentsching.

The Shema is the earliest of the prayers we know to have been fixed into the Hebrew litany. It consists of 3 passages from Torah (Deut. 6:4-9, Deut. 11:13-21, and Num. 15:37-41) which begins with the statement, “Hear, O Israel, the Eternal is God the Eternal is One” (ie Listen up, Jews, there’s only one God). This amounts to being the Jewish Statement of Faith (you might think of it as the Prime Directive). The Shema tells us to love God, to have God’s laws in our hearts, to teach them to our children and to discuss them frequently (when you are sitting at home and when you go on a journey, when you lie down and when you rise up). It also tells us to write them on our doorposts. It is the words of the first 2 paragraphs of the Shema which are written on the scrolls inside mezuzot (actually, the mezuzah is  the scroll inside rather than the box we see) and inside tefillin. The Shema is said during evening and morning services.

The Amidah or Sh’moneh Esre is a series of 19 blessings that is said standing. The name Sh’moneh Esre actually means “18” (an extra one was added later, after the name had already become established). The entire prayer is said standing (Amidah means Standing. In orthodox services it is read once silently, then again aloud, led by a reader, with congregational responses. The Amidah is said in every service.

Aleinu (Our duty) is said at the end of each service and praises God for allowing us to serve Him, and expressing the hope that the whole world will one day acknowledge Him as the true God. Aleinu is said standing.

Kaddish (usually pronounced kuddish) is traditionally thought of as the Jewish mourner’s prayer, and while it is recited by mourners, it is also recited at other times. The words actually make no mention of mourning, rather it is a prayer to the magnification and glorification of God’s name. Kaddish is an important prayer and versions of it are said during almost every synagogue service. Unlike most Jewish prayers, Kaddish is usually said in Aramaic, not Hebrew. (Aramaic is a language related to Hebrew, and written in the same characters. It was once the vernacular language of the Holy Land). Kaddish is said standing.

Davening

Jews (especially those with Ashkenazi backgounds) often refer to praying using the yiddish word, Davening (pronounced duvening).

It is a common, but not universal, custom for Jews, especially Charedi, when standing to pray, to rock back and forward. This movement is known as shokeling (shokel is Yiddish for shake). This custom is in line with the idea that prayer should involve the whole self and not just take place in the head or the mouth. (There are other suggestions for the origins of shokeling, such as alternately moving forwards in love of God and backwards in fear of Him).

During communal services some prayers are said standing and some sitting. Some are said aloud and some silently (or very quietly - in the spirit of praying with the whole self).

Music and Prayer

A few prayers are sung all through. Many prayers have sections (maybe a sentence or perhaps one or more phrases) which are sung, while the rest is spoken. Music in synagogue services was abandoned after the destruction of the Temple as a mark of mourning and this seems to be at least one reason why Orthodox synagogues still have no instrumental music during Shabbat or festival services (or perhaps it is connected with the idea that playing an instrument may be considered as a form of creative work that contravenes Shabbat law). Music during services is an issue which separates different Jewish movements (ie. denominations), and it is quite common for Reform and Liberal synagogues to have Shabbat and festival services accompanied by an organ, or some other instrument. Many synagogues, both orthodox and otherwise have choirs.

Rabbi and Chazan

Communal services may be led by a rabbi, a chazan (cantor) or by a lay member of the community.