PORTABLE PRAYER: UNDERSTANDING WEEKLY-DAILY PRAYERS
He has told you, O man, what is good! What does Hashem require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8
JUSTICE - Live by the Torah.
Genesis 18:19
Psalm 82:3
Psalm 89:14
Proverbs 21:3
Isaiah 58:2
LOVE KINDNESS - Treat others the way you wish to be treated.
Psalm 117:2
Psalm 119:76
Isaiah 54:10
Joel 2:13
WALK HUMBLY - Pray.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THESE TERMS
Prayer - tefillah
Prayers - tefillot, tefillos
Yinglish - davening
Siddur - prayer book
Siddurim - prayer books
DAILY PRAYER(S)
Shacharit - morning from “morning light”; first four hours of daylight
Mincha - flour offering (afternoon); after 1:00 PM and before sunset
Arbith or Ma’ariv - nightfall; the afternoon and evening prayers may be said back-to-back on a work day, yet it is recommended to keep the separate times as “three times a day”; after sunset
Musaf - “additional” - usually on high holy days
Ne’ilah - “closing” - said only on Yom Kippur
If you miss a time of prayer, the Amidah is said twice in the next section of prayer (tefillat tashlumin).
Torah study is to be held on Mondays and Thursdays.
The Talmud teaches us that prayer is a commandment. It is not an option.
Why are there three basic times for prayer?
· To recall the three times of sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem
· Abraham gave us the morning prayer; Isaac prayed in the afternoon; Jacob gave us the evening prayer
One may pray at any time. One may pray without ceasing. Corporate prayer requires a minyan of ten males over the age of thirteen. We follow the custom that a minyan includes females and males. It is said that King David and Daniel prayed three times each day.
Personal prayer is always appropriate. The Jewish siddur was composed from The Great Assembly*. Historical and archaeological evidence shows us that this combination of prayers dates all the way back to a period after the exile. This understanding of corporate prayer is not a myth, but a firm foundation of prayer for the Jewish people.
Custom varies from congregation to congregation and this is acceptable. While there is often a common order for the prayers, the order and length of the prayers can be adjusted. All Jews would agree that prayer is our way of life, whether we pray three times a day or not.
Our earliest prayers included the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) and The Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26).
The Shemoneh Esrei (“eighteen”) or Amidah (the standing prayer) is said to have come from Ezra himself.
The earliest codification of prayers dates to 860 CE. Today the major difference between Reform and Reconstructionist siddurs and those of the Orthodox and Conservative is the tendency to omit bodily resurrection, the Jewish Messiah, and Jewish eschatology.
In Judaism, the verb for prayer (hitpallei) reflects the need to judge one’s self. We agree that prayer is a time to transform ourselves. It is indispensable for it is through prayer that we a renewed (on-going) relationship with Hashem.
In Kabbalah, prayer is seen as the direction of an intention. This is where the word kavanot is developed. One prays with intention - directed intention. Thus one’s seriousness of intent is known as kavanot. Kabbalists believe that prayer affects the very fabric of reality itself. It is through prayer that I change my personal reality. Through prayer, I can begin to see the way the Creator sees. My personal reality comes to align with that of the Creator (altruism). Kabbalists believe that every prayer, every word of prayer, every letter of each word, has a precise meaning and precise effect. It is through prayer that the fabric of the universe is repaired (tikkun olam). This is one reason why I am a Kabbalist.
Kippah - Kippot (plural) - a sign of respect; may be worn by women and men
Tallit - worn during morning prayer services, when one is making aliyah, and the Kol Nidre service of Yom Kippur; worn any time you wish during personal prayers - the daily wearing of tzit tzit is appropriate yet not required (Our Rabbi Cukierkorn teaches us that there is no “uniform” for a Jew. McDonalds has uniforms.)
Tzeniut - modesty
· Women: ¾ sleeves, skirt below knees, high neckline to collar bone, cover hair if married
· Men: ¾ sleeves or long sleeved shirt, full pants
Tzedakah is collected on weekdays and in the afternoon service on Shabbat.
Congregation Adat Achim Texas uses the EIT RATZON siddur written by Joseph G. Rosenstein.
ESTABLISHING A WEEKLY DAILY PRAYER LIFESTYLE
Shacharit Service
pp. 9-57 - Morning Service
pp. 185-197 - Amidah
pp. 176-177 - Kaddish Shaleim
Torah Reading use page 75 on Mondays and Thursdays
pp. 179-182 - Aleinu and Mourner’s Kaddish
Mincha Service
pp. 88-89 - Shemoneh Ashrei
page 92 - Half Kaddish
pp. 185-197 - Amidah
pp. 176-182 - Kaddish Shaleim, Aleinu, Mourner’s Kaddish
Ma’ariv Service
pp. 157-165 - Shema and Blessings
pp. 185-197 - Amidah
pp. 175-182 - Kaddish Shaleim, Aleinu, Mourner’s Kaddish
What is the one common element in each of the three times of prayer?
Amidah or Shemoneh Esrei
What does this say to us?
As Jews, there are three elements that we hold in common throughout our day - throughout our world:
· The Shema
· The Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah)
· Aleinu
If you simply implement these elements three times a day, you have made a grand start to weekly-daily prayers.
*The Great Assembly
The Great Assembly is also known in Hebrew as Anshei HaGedolah.
It was attended by men in Jewish leadership who lived between 410 BCE and 310 BCE. This time period follows the destruction of the First Temple, and includes the early decades of the Second Temple, up until the invasion of the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great.
Realizing that the Jewish people were growing weaker spiritually, a group of wise leaders came together -- expanding the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, from 70 to 120 members -- with a special aim of strengthening Judaism. Initially gathered together by Ezra, they defined Judaism in this tumultuous time when prophecy and kingship were all but gone from the Jewish people.
Who attended The Great Assembly?
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Mordechai - from the Purim story
Yehoshua - the High Priest
Nechemia - the chief architect of rebuilding of Jerusalem
Shimon HaTzaddik - also a High Priest
Keep in mind that at this time the Talmud has not yet been compiled! Knowing how to live a Jewish life depends on knowing the commandments of the Torah and their interpretations and applications which have been passed down orally -- in short, knowing what is known as the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, both of which date back to Moses' teachings at Sinai.
In addition to prayer, the Men of The Great Assembly also instituted the blessings said before and after food and the performance of various commandments as well as Kiddush and Havdalah before and after the Sabbath.
The destruction of the first Temple and ensuing exile were incredibly traumatic experiences for the Jewish people. The Temple and its daily service were gone. The Jews found themselves in an alien land with none of the normative institutions fundamental to Judaism. (Ironically, the Jewish world is still in the same situation. The difference is that after 2,500 years, the exile is so comfortable that what is really an abnormal situation is now accepted as totally normal!)
As the Jewish people struggle with the aftermath of exile, accurate transmission of this oral tradition becomes essential. And here is where the Men of the Great Assembly make the greatest contribution. If there is no common tradition, the Jews will assimilate and disappear.
From Pirkei Avot, 1.1, we read: Moses received the Torah from Sinai and conveyed to Joshua, Joshua to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly ... Shimon HaTzaddik was one of the remnants of the Great Assembly. He used to say, "The world stands on three things: on the Torah; on the service of God, and upon acts of loving-kindness....” Some call this “the great lie.” I believe it is “the great truth.”
It was The Great Assembly who decided what books would make up the Torah and Tanach.
They gave us:
The Torah - 5 books
The Prophets - 8 books
The Writings - 11 books
We start each day by stating the Shema. We end each day by stating the Shema. May it be the final words from our lips.
It is my opinion that the “Great Prayer” is the Shemoneh Esrei. The mystical depth of this prayer - a masterpiece of writing by The Great Assembly - is amazing. For example, the blessing for healing is composed of 27 words, corresponding to the 27 words in the verse in the Torah (Exodus 15:26) where God promises to be the Healer of the Jewish people. It is said (Nefesh HaChaim 2:13) that the text of the Shmonei Esrai is so spiritually powerful that even when recited without intention, feeling or understanding, its words have a great impact on the world.
Through Divine inspiration and sheer genius, the Men of The Great Assembly were able to create out of the ashes of a physically destroyed nation, a spiritually thriving people. Their work defined and anchored Jewish religious and national identity and created focus, unity and uniformity for the Jewish people, no matter where in the world they might be scattered.
SOURCES:
Talmud: Nedarim 37b; Kiddushin 30a; Talmud-Megillah 17b.
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