!!!PLEASE READ!!! Dear Scopus Family, This year, we have prepared a Tefillah Companion to help you specifically navigate the 2020 Rosh Hashana day service from the comfort of your homes. It contains a step-by-step guide on how to approach the full service on your own. Each section of the service is divided accordingly and includes explanations and stories to supplement your davening experience. Each section also contains an ‘instructions table’ which indicates: • the specific prayer; • a direction (YES, NO or Optional) as to whether you should be saying the prayer when davening without a minyan; and • a pinpoint Artscroll Rosh Hashana Machzor page range. We hope it will serve you well during a time like no other. Additionally, for those that feel confident blowing the shofar, there is guidance regarding what, when and how to do so on the relevant pages of this Companion (specifically on pages 10, 14 and 19). A friendly reminder that as the first day of Rosh Hashana falls on a Shabbat this year, we do not blow the shofar on that day. For those who want to fulfil the mitzvah by hearing someone else blow the shofar, please visit https://www.phh.org.au/shofar before chag to find out when and where you can do so on the second day of Rosh Hashana (Sunday). We wish you a meaningful davening experience and a year full of health, growth and happiness. Shana Tova! The Student Development Team 1 Tefillah Companion SHACHARIT and MUSSAF (Morning service) 136-138, ברכות השחר Morning Blessings 182-218 These blessings are said each and every morning. In doing so, we thank Hashem for the fact we have woken, for our health and for the ability to live our lives. Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) Preliminary Blessings YES 136-138 Morning Blessings YES 182-216 Most importantly: - Opening Blessings YES 184 (bottom) – 186 (until …’layaef koach’) The Rabbis’ Kaddish NO 218 266 - 220 פסוקי דזמרה Pesukei D’Zimrah that praise Hashem. It serves as an introduction to (תהילים) This is a selection of psalms the tefillah. Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) Mizmor Shir YES 220 The Mourners’ Kaddish NO 220 Pesukei D’Zimrah YES 222-264 (until the end of Shir Ha’maalot Psalm 130) Most importantly: - Baruch She’amar YES 222-224 - Ashrei YES 244-246 - Nishmat onwards YES 250-264 (until …’avonotav’) Half Kaddish NO 264-266 Barchu NO 266 290 - 266 ברכות קריאת שמע Blessings before the Shema There are two blessings before the Shema and one after. When it is Shabbat, the first blessing is different from the one said during the week. In some shules, they add some piyutim or poems here. 2 Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) Blessings before the Shema YES Bottom of 266 Piyutim/poems NO 268-276 FIRST DAY (SHABBAT): Continue with blessings YES 278-282 before the Shema (bottom half of page) SECOND DAY: Continue with blessings YES 278-282 before the Shema (top half of page) Continue with blessings YES 284 before the Shema Piyutim/poems NO 286 Continue with blessings YES 288-290 (until before the Shema (starting …’be’ahava’) with VeHaofanim on the right side) 292 - 290 שמע Shema One cannot overstate the significance of the Shema in Judaism. Through its words, we find the most profound and forceful proclamation of belief in God and the Torah. The Shema is so fundamental to our world view that children learn to recite it as soon as they can speak. Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) Shema – recite the three- YES 290-292 word verse, El Melech Ne’eman, before you begin During World War II, many young Jewish children were harboured by a myriad of monasteries throughout Europe. At the end of the war, the Va’ad Hatzalah sent representatives to the monasteries to try and reclaim the orphaned children to their heritage. Many of the children who found refuge did so at a young age, and they had but a few recollections of their birthright. When Rabbi Eliezer Silver, who was the Rabbi of Cincinnati, Ohio and a very influential member of the Va’ad, came to a particular hermitage in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, he was met with hostility. “You can be sure, Rabbi, if we had Jews here, we would surely hand them back to you immediately!” exclaimed the monk in charge. “However, unfortunately for you, we have no Jewish children here.” 3 Rabbi Silver was given a list of refugees and was told that they were all Germans. The monk continued, “the Schwartzes are German Schwartzes, the Chandlers are German Chandlers and the Shimmers are German Shimmers.” Rabbi Silver had been told that there were definitely close to ten Jewish children in that hermitage and was not convinced. He asked if he could say a few words to the children as they went to sleep. The monk agreed. Rabbi Silver returned later that evening with two aides, and as the children were lying in their beds about to go to sleep, they entered the large dorm room. He walked into the room and in the sing-song that is so familiar to hundreds of thousands of Jewish children across the globe, he began to sing “Shema Yisrael Ado...” unexpectedly – in mid-sentence – he stopped. Suddenly from six beds in the room the ending to that most powerful verse resounded almost in unison. “Hashem Echad!” He turned to the priest. “These are our children. We will take them now!” The children were redeemed, placed in Jewish homes, and raised as leaders of our community. 292-296 ברכות קריאת שמע Blessing after the Shema This final blessing of the Shema continues our fulfilment of the requirement to recall the Exodus, morning and evening. The Talmud teaches that the formulation of these blessings is based on the verse from Psalms 92:3, “to relate Your kindness in the dawn and Your faithfulness in the nights”. This implies that in the morning we express gratitude for already existing kindness, while in the evening we express our faith in something that has not yet taken place. Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) Continue with blessings after YES Bottom of 292-296 the Shema (until…‘ga’al yisrael’) 304 - 296 עמידה Silent Shacharit Amidah The word, Amidah, means ‘standing’. The first and last three blessings are always the same in every service. The middle section varies according to the type of day (weekday, Shabbat, festival, etc.). On Rosh Hashana morning, like on Shabbat, the middle section consists of one blessing, which concentrates on the central theme of the day: Hashem’s kingship. One of the tenets of Jewish prayer is that it is not enough to simply “think” a prayer or to have a certain feeling in one’s heart towards God. Jewish prayer requires people to actually say the words that they think or feel. Why do we have to verbalise prayer? Why can’t we just feel something in our hearts and communicate it to God through our thoughts? 4 When two people have a relationship with each other, one of the greatest challenges of the relationship is communicating effectively. In the same vein, it’s not enough for us to worship God in our hearts. We must also communicate our thoughts and feelings verbally, or else we are unable to develop a deeper relationship with God. When we say what we feel, God becomes more of a reality for us, and we show a deeper level of sincerity in the relationship. No normal person speaks out loud unless someone is listening. Our verbalisation concretises for us that God really hears what we say. Prayer Should I say this? Page number(s) FIRST DAY (SHABBAT): Amidah YES 296-304 Remember to add the Sq. brackets: 300 square brackets for Shabbat Oseh ha’shalom: 304 and say ‘oseh ha’shalom’ SECOND DAY: Amidah YES 296-304 Remember to say ‘oseh Sq. brackets: 300 ha’shalom’ Oseh ha’shalom: 304 Words What should I think about? Page “Adonai Sefatai Think about how you would like to have a meaningful and 296 Tiftach…” focused tefillah. Enter a frame of mind that enables you to say the tefillah correctly. “Zochrenu Think about how the most important thing to ask for on Rosh 296 lechayim…” Hashana is life. For you, for your family and for everyone you know. “Ufitchon pe Think about the fact that anyone who wants to pray or who has 298 lameyachalim something to ask for, including yourself, should find it easy to do lach” so in an eloquent and meaningful way. “simcha Happiness for your land and joy for your city. Think about Israel 298 leartzecha…” and about the issues that people are facing there and ask for everyone to simply live “happy” lives in Israel. “vechol harisha…” Think of the bad things that should disappear from the earth and 298 of the good things that should remain. “vetaher libenu…” “Purify our heart to serve You sincerely”. The key word here is 300 “sincerely”. Think about how sincere and how honest you are with your Judaism and what you can do better to “leovdecha be’emet”; to worship sincerely. “modim Thank you. Think about all the things you have to be thankful 302 anachnu…” for. Your family, your friends, your school, your country. Anything you can think about. 5 “sim shalom…” Peace. Think about the lives that have been lost around the 302 world through violence and conflict. Think about the different levels of peace.