The Siddur in Poetry

THE SIDDUR IN POETRY

JEFFREY M. COHEN

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The Hebrew superscriptions are taken from the computerised text of the Siddur bnei Ashkenaz . Public permission is granted for its use (See OpenSiddur.org), subject to display of the following licence details:
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The Siddur in Poetry

C O N T E N T S

FOREWORD 7

SHACHARIT: WEEKDAY MORNING SERVICE

Mah Tovu (On entering synagogue) 13

The Tallit Meditation 14

The Tefillin Meditation 16

Adon Olam 17

Yigdal 19

Morning Blessings 23

Elohai neshamah 25

Blessings at the commencement of the Service 26

Viyhiy ratzon milfanecha 30

Ribbon kol ha‐olamim 33

Mizmor shir chanukat ha‐bayit 37

Baruch She’amar 39

Ashrei 40

Shirat Ha‐Yam (Song of the Red Sea) 42

Barchu 46

Titbarach Tzurenu 48

Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh 49

Shema 51

Emet Veyatziv 56

Ezrat Avotenu 56

Amidah 58

Ya’aleh Veyavo 67

Modim 68

Al Ha‐Nisim 68

Sim Shalom 71

Tachanun 73

Shomer Yisrael 74

Alenu 76

LeDavid Hashem Ori 77

MINCHA: WEEKDAY AFTERNOON SERVICE

Ashrei 40

Amidah 58

Tachanun 73

Aleinu 76

MAARIV: WEEKDAY EVENING SERVICE

Barchu 80

Blessings of the Shema 80

Shema 51‐55

Ve’emunah kol zo’t 82

Amidah 58‐72

Aleinu 76

LeDavid HaShem ori 77

The Siddur in Poetry

PRAYER BEFORE SLEEP AT NIGHT 85

KABBALAT SHABBAT: FRIDAY EVE SERVICE

Meditation before lighting the Shabbat Candles 88

Lecha Dodi 90

Mizmor shir leyom ha‐Shabbat 94

Friday night Amidah 96

Magen Avot 98

Shalom Aleichem 99

Eishet Chayyil 100

Blessing of the Children 105

Priestly Blessing (of the children) 106

Kiddush for Eve of Shabbat 108

SHABBAT MORNING SERVICE

Mizmor shir leyom ha‐Shabbat 94

Nishmat kol chai 109

Hakol Yoducha 113

El Adon 115

La’El asher shavat 117

Shabbat morning Amidah 118

PRAYERS FOLLOWING THE READING OF THE TORAH

Yekum Porkan 120

Prayer for the Congregation 122

Blessing of the new month 124

Ashrei 40

Mizmor le‐David 127

MUSAF: ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR SHABBAT

Musaf Amidah 129

Ein Keloheinu 132

Anim Zemirot 135

Hallel 141

Adon Olam 17

______

The Siddur in Poetry

FOREWORD

The place of poetry in the Siddur

Why did I choose to render the Siddur into poetry? What approach did I take to the original text? Is the work intended as a Siddur? Is it meant to replace the original? What is its target readership? These are just a few of the questions that my readers will inevitable ask.

I wrote it for a variety of reasons. First, because I love poetry, especially sacred poetry – of which Judaism has a very long tradition, stretching back to the Bible. Prose is, basically, the medium of everyday speech. Poetry, with its innate economy of expression and rich and allusive vocabulary, powerfully engages the emotions and enables us to get much closer to the core of the idea. In the poetry of prayer, that is what we struggle to do: to get closer to God ‐ the core object of our adoration.

Michael Wyschogrod (The Body of Faith, 1983) observes that ‘the imagination of the poet is a reflection of his spiritual life…Poetry is one of the most powerful domains in which religious expression takes place.’

Poetry is Judaism’s preferred medium of expression. Open any Hebrew Bible, and you will find that every single word is endowed with cantillations, or musical notes, indicating that it was clearly intended to be chanted, like a song or poem. Attend any Synagogue and you will hear the Torah being read in a lyrical chant. It has all the rhythms of a poem (So much so, that I recently rendered all the episodes of the book of Genesis into rhymed verse. See rabbijeffrey.co.uk). Indeed, it is regarded as almost as important that the one reading from the Torah scroll gets the musical notes correct as it is that he makes no mistakes in the pronunciation of the Hebrew words.

It is the same with the Siddur. The distinguishing feature of a synagogue service is that the chazzan and worshippers do not ‘recite’ the prayers;

they ‘sing’ them. It is not unusual – especially in smaller congregations) to hear individual worshippers who are so ecstatically involved in their prayers that their voices are raised above all those around them, reaching a stage where they are almost in competition with the chazzan! In the larger, more formal, Anglo‐Jewish congregations, however, this is generally regarded as indecorous.

But it goes further. The Siddur lends itself to that lyrical chanting precisely because it is essentially a poetic work, whose rhythms and phraseology conform to the characteristics of biblical Hebrew poetry. These are, primarily, the employment of short lines and phrases, and the reinforcement of an idea through the use of parallelism of expression. The parallel phrase generally conceals a significant nuance of meaning – which can hardly be said for the repetitiveness of so many present‐day pop lyrics!

The poetic basis of the Siddur becomes obvious when we consider that over one half of it constitutes selections from the biblical book of Psalms. Of the other half, I would suggest that, most of the Hebrew hymns and prayers, even including the apparently prosaic blessings also conform to the poetic mode.

The rationale behind this is the Bible’s overwhelming influence on the writings and thought‐processes of all our sages and liturgists, from the 1st century onward, to the extent that even their prose writing had a lyrical quality. Furthermore, they viewed their compositions as gifts to God; and when one presents another with a gift, one does not just hand them the object, but rather one packages it beautifully, to set it off in the most aesthetically appealing way.

What was the objective of this literary project?

As a retired congregational Rabbi, I have long been aware that there is a significant proportion of regular worshippers whose Hebrew reading is, to put it delicately, rusty. Most of the bridegrooms who visited my home, in The Siddur in Poetry preparation for their wedding ceremony, struggled to read the one line of Hebrew prescribed for them to declare to their bride!

How, then, can the spirituality of our young adults possibly be nurtured in a situation wherein their Siddur is, more or less, a closed book, and where, instead of being a source of literary and spiritual inspiration, it is, for so many, a source of embarrassment? It is no wonder that the younger generation is woefully under‐represented on a Shabbat morning in our Modern Orthodox congregations, unless they are there to attend a simchah.

So one of the main objectives of this project is to provide those who cannot follow the Hebrew text – and who certainly do not understand what is being recited – with a user‐friendly and simply‐written paraphrase of the major prayers and hymns, written in a rhythmic, poetic style that, hopefully, they will find inspirational and informative.

But are not most Siddurim provided with an English translation? I believe that, although that is, indeed, the case, yet even our modern translations are, in truth, not easy to read in a way that will trigger interest and generate inspiration. The characteristic poetic parallelism, to which we have drawn attention above, comes over, in prosaic translation, as merely dull and irrelevant repetition. This is largely avoided with the licence granted by the exercise of paraphrase. Furthermore, our sparsely‐typed pages of poetry should prove infinitely more user‐friendly than the crowded and daunting pages of translation.

Is the work intended as a Siddur?

This is a very difficult question to answer. I would hope that most readers would be able to use it as a companion to the Siddur, or as a devotional text for use, at home, at moments of religious contemplation. However, given the high proportion of rusty Hebrew readers, I would not be surprised if it was also used as a manual of prayer.

Our Talmudic sages, legislating for a similar situation of poor Hebrew literacy, and commenting on the phrase, Shema Yisrael, ‘Hear O Israel,’ stated that the

15 use of the word ‘hear’ comes to teach us that we may pray in whatever language one ‘hears’ and understands.

Prayer is not meant to be mumbo‐jumbo. It was clearly intended to be a personal, urgent and spiritually satisfying exercise of approaching the Almighty and of exercising our minds and emotions to express our love of and dependency on Him. So, reciting intelligible, meaningful and edifying prayer is of primary importance. Hence the benefit, I contend, of a work such as this. I stress: It is certainly not meant to replace the original, and I would hope that, once he or she has read our brief, lyrical paraphrase of the main themes of a particular prayer or section of the service, the reader will proceed to the Siddur proper and read those passage in full translation.

What is the target readership of this work?

Anyone with the urge to pray or to express devotion to God; anyone who seeks out a Siddur during a visit to synagogue; anyone for whom daily prayer is too challenging, but who might be prepared to devote a little time to it each morning or last thing at night, anyone who would like to inject a little spirituality and meaning into their homes on a Sabbath eve; any synagogue that would like to place into the hands of gentile visitors a devotional manual that also gives a flavour of what the congregation is praying – this companion is intended for them all.

Jewish educationalists may also find some benefit in the work. Pupils at Jewish secondary schools also come from disparate levels of home observance and with differing levels of ability in Hebrew reading. Given the very demanding and varied subjects on the curriculum of Jewish Studies, fluency in Hebrew reading may not be achieved by all pupils. A school assembly that involves a regular synagogue service may also prove too challenging for many. The introduction of these poetic and devotional readings may well add interest, relevance and inspiration. A place may also be found for them as a starting‐point for lessons on the subject of prayer and liturgy. Youth leaders, especially at camps where full services are not held, may also find a place for its use. The Siddur in Poetry

A general note on prayer

Prayer is instinctive within humans. Take the analogy of the inarticulate baby. From the moment of birth nature endows it with the instinctive ability to exploit the cry as a most potent and stirring vehicle of communication, complaint, and supplication. The baby senses the parent’s absence as much as its presence; and the need ‐ indeed the demand ‐ for that presence to manifest itself is expressed forcefully and volubly by means of the piercing and plaintive cry.

That cry is the baby’s greatest act of faith in the existence and proximity of ‘the absent parent’ and in its ability to supply all its needs. It has faith in that presence; it craves it, and believes passionately that its own comfort and well‐ being is inextricably intertwined with it. The child that is taken away from its mother at birth will still cry out for that love and attention. It does not wait until its cognitive functions are sufficiently developed to appreciate the parents’ relationship to, and responsibility for, its well‐being.

It is the same with God’s children. Faith does not require knowledge. It is not something that we need to work at and aspire to as a prerequisite for prayer ‐ the ultimate and most developed form of that initial and instinctive infantine cry. If we have serious misgivings whether or not God is ‘out there,’ then, giving His presence the benefit of that doubt must certainly be the safest bet. If, on the other hand, we are suffused with the conviction that ‘God is close to all who call upon Him,’ or even if we only suspect that He is, or may be, ‘out there,’ then the prayerful cry should, with practice, prove emotionally and spiritually most satisfying.

Once we lose our religious inhibitions and prayer becomes a meaningful daily exercise, once the words and phrases become a familiar part of our daily vocabulary and bearer of our innermost emotions – carrying heavenward our needs, fears, pleas, hopes, dreams and gratitude – then the cry gives way to the smile of confidence and, ultimately, to the joy of faith. Then prayer becomes spiritually therapeutic and emotionally invigorating.

So, like the infant, the fact that God, ‘the hidden parent’, does not seem to be physically ‘present,’ is no reason for refraining from that prayerful cry. On the contrary: that is precisely when that cry is most needed and has the potential to be most efficacious.

שחרית

THE MORNING SERVICE

On entering the synagogue, say:

מַה טֹּֽבוּ אֹהָל ֶָֽיך יַעֲקֹב

In Jacob’s tents,

Serenity.

In Israel’s homes,

Tranquillity.

In synagogue,

Spirituality.

Before the Lord,

Humility.

וַֽאֲנ ִ י בְּרֹ ב ַח סְדּ ְָֿך אָב וֹא ב ֵֶית ָך

The Siddur in Poetry

I enter Your Temple

In awe and love;

May You respond

From above.

Before the Ark

I bow my head,

With prayers

That ancestors have said

For centuries with lips so pure,

Petitioning You to reassure

Them that Your grace

Would be displayed,

And salvation

To them

Would be relayed.

* * *

The Tallit Meditation

לְהִתְעַטֵּף בַּצִּיצִת

God issued to Moses

His prescription,

That on cornered robes

Of any description

There be tzitzit‐fringes

To proclaim

A faith that burns

Like a flame.

So a tallit robe

I now drape

Around my body

As I shape

Words of prayer,

Praise and petition,

Expressing love,

Pride,

And contrition.

And while, here on earth,

Men struggle and fight,

Whereas, I, for my part,

In my tallit delight,

So in the hereafter,

Where peace reigns supreme,

Let my soul wear its tallit ‐ The Siddur in Poetry

That is my dream.

* * *

The Tefillin Meditation

מִצְוַת תְּפִלִּין

‘Bind them on your arm

As an outward sign,

And on your head

At the hair line’ ‐

Thus said the Creator

To His nation,

That His words

Be treasured

By each generation.

So four sacred chapters

To my body I bind,

Of words that elevate

Heart and mind:

On my arm they recall

God’s protective embrace,

When my people in Egypt

Were forced to face

The impending doom

Of its entire race.

And on my head,

They bid me bend

My will to His service

That He might send

His divine aura

To guide my mind

To higher endeavours

Wherein I might find

Myself enchanted

By thoughts so pure

That sensual enticements

Lose their allure.

* * *

אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם master of the Universe,

Who alone was king,

Before His decision The Siddur in Poetry

To make anything.

The prayer of man,

Though lowly in station,

Became the crown

For His coronation.

וְאַֽחֲרֵי ִכּ כְלוֹת הַכֹּל

And after the world

Has run its course,

And the souls of man

Are returned to their source,

His glory will still remain,

Undiminished by the absence

Of man’s acclaim.

וְהוּא אֶחָד

Being one,

Beyond compare,

Our pale perceptions

Just lay bare

The frustration that we feel

That His essence

He won’t reveal.

וְהוּא אֵלִי

Yet this I know:

He is my God,

Although to many

It may seem odd,

That an unseen Being

Can be my Rock,

And lift my spirits

While others mock,

Redeeming me from adversity,

Answering my prayer

With alacrity.

בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי

Into His hand

I commit my soul,

During sleep

And waking hours.

Fearlessly, I live my life,

Confident

In His great powers.

* * *

יִגְדַּל

The Lord is ‐

So I must praise;

He’s ever present ‐ The Siddur in Poetry

I must find ways

נֶעֱלָּם

To define a oneness

With no intrusion

Of human concepts

That sow confusion.

אֵין לוֹ דְּמוּת הַגּוּף

The physical world

I address;

The Spirit’s realm

I cannot access.

The divine essence –

How much less?

I merely declare

His holiness.

קַדְמוֹן לְכָל דָּבָר

His existence ever pre‐dated

The words that He enunciated,

To give the form He allocated,

And the image delineated ‐

By His Spirit elevated ‐

To the man that He created;

He whose lips He consecrated,

That Sovereignty

Be celebrated.

ֶ שֽׁפַע נְבוּאָתוֹ

On special men

That He admired ‐

Who by His spirit

Were inspired ‐

Upon them

He chose to shower

The gift of prophecy ‐

And to empower.

לֹא קָם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל

No prophet in Israel

Like Moses arose.

Face to face,

God’s presence,

To him was disclosed.

תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת

Implicitly trusting

His faith and skill,

God chose him,

To transmit His will,

To the Chosen People ‐

Chiselled on stone ‐ The Siddur in Poetry

A Torah of truth,

For Israel

Alone.

לֹא יַחֲלִיף

He will never replace that law

Or exchange it for another;

It determines how we relate to God,

And how we treat a brother.

צוֹפֶה וְיוֹד ֵַֽע סְתָרֵֽינוּ

He probes, in His wisdom,

Our every secret thought,

Deciding whether it will succeed ‐

Or simply come to nought.

גּוֹמֵל לְאִישׁ חֶֽסֶד כְּמִפְעָלוֹ

He rewards, with kindness,

The kind in their deeds;

Dooming to perdition

Those who sow

Evil seeds.

יִשְׁלַח לְקֵץ יָמִין ְמ ִ שׁיחֵֽנו

Our Messiah He will send,

When evil shall have reached its end.

Then the righteous shall attend

To His will and they shall bend

The knee before His heavenly throne ‐

Acclaiming Him,

And Him alone.

Their reward will be to earn

The eternal salvation

For which they yearn.

מֵתִים יְחַיֶּה אֵל

In loving‐kindness,

He’ll resurrect the dead.

The gift of reunion,

For the righteous lives they’ve led.

* * *

ברכות השחר

THE MORNING BLESSINGS

עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם

Our thanks for Your blessings,

Designer of Creation,

Who bids us wash our hands

Before prayer for salvation.

אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה

The human body You endowed

With tubes that open or close; The Siddur in Poetry

If one of them becomes impaired,

We suffer countless woes.

וְצִוָּֽנוּ לַעֲסוֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה

Our thanks for Your blessings,

Designer of Creation,

Whose Torah is studied

By His studious nation.

וְהַעֲרֶב־נָא

Make sweet the Torah wisdom

You bestowed on us alone;

May our offspring cherish it,

And observe it in their home.

אֲשֶׁר בָּֽחַר־בָּֽנוּ

Our thanks for Your blessings,

Designer of Creation,

Who bestowed His Law on Israel

For its edification.

יְבָֽרֶכְְֿך יְהֹו ָ ה וְי ְ ִשׁמְֿר ֶָֽך

May the Lord bless and keep you

Safe throughout your life;

May He ever smile with pride on you,

And keep you far from strife.