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Jewish (Main source --Wikipedia, abridged and modified)

,tfile תּפֿלה tefillot; ,תְּפִלּוֹת :Hebrew plural tefillah; ,תְּפִלָּה :(Hebrew prayer the are pray’) ‘to davnen דאַוונען Yiddish from davening Yinglish: tfilles; תּפֿלות plural recitations that form part of the observance of . These , often with instructions and commentary, are found in the , the traditional Jewish prayer book. In general, observant pray three times a day within specific time ranges.

The three prayer services that are recited daily:

morning" (שַחָר) shahar or shachar Hebrew the from ,(שַחֲרִת) Shaharit or .1 light,"

that offering flour the for named prayers afternoon the ,(מִנְחָה) Minha or .2 accompanied sacrifices at the Temple in ,

"."nightfall from ,(מַעֲרִיב) or (עַרְבִית) Arvit .3

According to the , prayer is a Biblical commandment. A distinction is made between individual prayer and communal prayer, which requires a of ten Jews known as a , with communal prayer being preferable as it allows for the inclusion of prayers that should not be said without a minyan.

Over the last two thousand years variations have emerged among the traditional liturgical customs of different Jewish communities, such as Ashkenazic, Sephardic, Yemenite, Hassidic, and others, however the differences are minor compared with the commonalities. Most of the Jewish is sung or chanted with traditional melodies or trope. may designate or employ a professional or lay () for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer, especially on or holidays.

Biblical origin

According to the Oral , (Talmud tractate Taanit 2a), prayer is a Biblical command: "'You shall serve God with your whole heart.' (Deuteronomy 11:13) What service is performed with the heart? This is prayer." The prayers are referred to as Avodah sheba-Lev ("service that is in the heart"). The noted likewise categorizes prayer as a Biblical command of Written law, but believed that the number of prayers and their times are not.

Orthodox Judaism regards (the collective body of religious laws for Jews) as requiring Jewish men to pray three times daily and four times daily on the Sabbath and most , and five times on . also regards the halakhic system of multiple daily services as mandatory. Reform and Reconstructionist congregations do not regard halakha as binding and hence regard appropriate prayer times as matters of personal spiritual decision rather than a matter of religious requirement.

1 Text and language

According to halakha, all individual prayers and virtually all communal prayers may be said in any language that the person praying understands.

Nonetheless, the tradition of most Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogues is to use Hebrew (usually ) for all except a small number of prayers, including the , which had always been in , and sermons and instructions, for which the local language is used. In other streams of Judaism there is considerable variability: Sephardic communities may use Ladino or Portuguese for many prayers; Conservative synagogues tend to use the local language to a varying degree; and at some Reform synagogues almost the whole service may be in the local language.

The siddur (Jewish prayer book)

The earliest parts of Jewish prayer are the ("Hear O ") (Deuteronomy 6:4 et seq), and the (Numbers 6:24–26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the Shemoneh Esreh or the (Hebrew, "standing [prayer]"), is traditionally ascribed to the in the time of , at the end of the Biblical period.

The name Shemoneh Esreh, literally "eighteen", is an historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at that time their precise wording and order was not yet fixed, and varied from locale to locale. It was not until several centuries later that the prayers began to be formally fixed. By the the texts of the prayers were nearly fixed, and in the form in which they are still used today.

The siddur was printed in Italy as early as 1486, though a siddur was first mass-distributed only in 1865. The siddur began appearing in the vernacular as early as 1538. The first English appeared in London in 1738; a different translation was released in the United States in 1837.

Readings from the Torah (five books of ) and the Nevi'im ("Prophets") form part of the prayer services. To this framework various Jewish sages added, from time to time, various prayers, and, for festivals especially, numerous hymns.

The earliest existing codification of the prayerbook was drawn up by of Sura, Babylon, about 850 CE. Half a century later Rav , also of Sura, composed a siddur, in which the rubrical matter is in . These were the basis of Simcha ben Samuel's Vitry (11th century France), which was based on the ideas of his teacher, . Another formulation of the prayers was that appended by Maimonides to the laws of prayer in his : this forms the basis of the Yemenite liturgy, and has had some influence on other rites. From this point forward all Jewish prayerbooks had the same basic order and contents.

2 Denominational variations

Conservative services generally use the same basic format for services as in with some doctrinal leniencies and some prayers in English. In practice there is wide variation among Conservative congregations. In traditionalist congregations the liturgy can be almost identical to that of Orthodox Judaism, almost entirely in Hebrew (and Aramaic), with a few minor exceptions, including excision of a study session on Temple sacrifices, and modifications of prayers for the restoration of the sacrificial system. In more liberal Conservative synagogues there are greater changes to the service, with up to a third of the service in English; abbreviation or omission of many of the preparatory prayers; and replacement of some traditional prayers with more contemporary forms. There are some changes for doctrinal reasons, including egalitarian language, fewer references to restoring sacrifices in the , and an option to eliminate special roles for Kohanim and .

The of Reform and Reconstructionist are based on traditional elements, but contain language more reflective of liberal belief than the traditional liturgy. Revisions generally include revising or omitting references to traditional doctrines such as bodily , a personal Jewish Messiah, and other elements of traditional , Divine revelation of the Torah at , angels, conceptions of reward and punishment, and other personal miraculous and supernatural elements. Services are often from 40% to 90% in the vernacular.

Reform Judaism has made greater alterations to the traditional service in accord with its more liberal including dropping references to traditional elements of Jewish eschatology such as a personal Messiah, a bodily resurrection of the dead, and others. The Hebrew portion of the service is substantially abbreviated and modernized and modern prayers substituted for traditional ones. In addition, in keeping with their view that the laws of Shabbat (including a traditional prohibition on playing instruments) are inapplicable to modern circumstances, Reform services often play instrumental or recorded music with prayers on the Jewish Sabbath. All Reform synagogues are Egalitarian with respect to gender roles.

Philosophy of prayer

In and in , it is noted that the Hebrew verb for "pray "to Thus, judge. to ,פלל palal of form reflexive the fact in is—התפלל prayer—hitpallel is—תפלה prayer—tefilah of purpose the oneself,”ultimately, "judging of notion the conveys to transform ourselves.

This is consistent with the Jewish conception of , God does not change with prayer, the human offering the prayer is open to change.

3 The rationalist approach

In this view, ultimate goal of prayer is to help train a person to focus on divinity through philosophy and intellectual contemplation. This approach was taken by Maimonides and the other medieval rationalists.

The educational approach

In this view, prayer is not a conversation. Rather, it is meant to repeat certain attitudes in the one who prays, but not to influence.

Kabbalistic view

Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) uses a series of kavanot, directions of intent, to specify the path the prayer ascends in the dialog with God, to increase its chances of being answered favorably. Kabbalists ascribes a higher meaning to the purpose of prayer, which is no less than affecting the very fabric of reality itself, restructuring and repairing the universe in a real fashion. In this view, every word of every prayer, and indeed, even every letter of every word, has a precise meaning and a precise effect. Prayers thus literally affect the mystical forces of the universe, and repair the fabric of creation.

Methodology and terminology

Minyan (Quorum)

Individual prayer is considered acceptable, but prayer with a quorum of ten adults—a minyan—is the most highly recommended form of prayer and is required for some prayers. An adult in this context means over the age of 13 (bar ).

Attire

• Head covering. In most synagogues, it is considered a sign of respect for male attendees to wear a head covering, either a dress hat or a kippa (skull cap, plural kipot also known by the Yiddish term yarmulke). It is common practice for both Jews and non-Jews who attend a to wear a head covering.[25][26] Some Conservative synagogues may also encourage (but rarely require) women to cover their heads. Many Reform and Progressive temples do not require people to cover their heads, although individual worshipers, both men and women, may choose to. Many Orthodox and some conservative men and women wear a head covering throughout their day, even when not attending religious services.

• (prayer shawl) is traditionally worn during all morning services, during to the Torah, as well as during all the services of Yom Kippur. During the daily afternoon and evening services, the hazzan alone wears a tallit. In Orthodox synagogues they are expected to be worn only by men who are halakhically Jewish and in Conservative synagogues they should be worn only by men and women who are halakhically Jewish.

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References

• To Pray As a , Hayim Halevy Donin, Basic Books (ISBN 0-465-08633-0) • Entering Jewish Prayer, (ISBN 0-8052-1022-9) • Kavvana: Directing the Heart in Jewish Prayer, Seth Kadish, Jason Aronson Inc. 1997. ISBN 0-7657-5952-7. • Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim for Shabbat and Festivals, Reuven Hammer, The and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism • S. Baer. Siddur Avodath Yisrael (newly researched text with commentary Yachin Lashon), 19th century. • A Guide to Jewish Prayer, Rabbi , Shocken Books (ISBN 0-8052-4174-4) • Hilchot Tefilla: A Comprehensive Guide to the Laws of Daily Prayer, Brofsky, KTAV Publishing House/OU Press/Yeshivat Har Etzion. 2010. (ISBN 978-1-60280-164-6) • God's Favorite Prayers, Tzvee Zahavy, Talmudic Books. 2011. (ISBN 978-0-615-50949-5)

External links[edit]

• Jewish liturgy .org • Jewish Prayer - Prayer in Judaism .org • Outline of prayer services Jewfaq.org • GoDaven.com - The Worldwide Minyan Database GoDaven.com • Introduction to Jewish Prayer Aish.com • Ritual for Judging Bad Dreams for Good • Siddur in PDF • Traditional Sephardi prayer Tunes • Audio and text of the Siddur SiddurAudio.com • Q&A about Prayer Ask the Rabbi • Rabbi Eliezer Melamed - Peninei Halacha - The Laws of Prayer

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