A siddur (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: סידור‎; plural סידורים siddurim) is a Jewish Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers Listed below are some Hebrew prayers and blessings that are part of Judaism that are recited by many Jews. This article addresses Jewish liturgical blessings, which generally begin with the formula:. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed. A separate article, Jewish services Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book, discusses the prayers that appear in the siddur, and when they are said.

Contents

History of the siddur

The earliest parts of Jewish prayer book are the Shema Yisrael Shema Yisrael (Hebrew: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל‎; "Hear, [O] Israel") are the first two words of a section of the Torah (Hebrew Bible) that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. The first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is ("Hear O Israel") (Deuteronomy Deuteronomy or Devarim (Hebrew: דְּבָרִים‎, literally "things" or "words") is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fifth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch 6:4 et seq), and the Priestly Blessing The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, (lit. Raising of the Hands), is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services. It is based on a scriptural verse: "They shall place My name upon the children of Israel, and I Myself shall bless them." It consists of the following Biblical verses (Numbers (Numbers The Book of Numbers or Bəmidbar (Hebrew: במדבר, literally "In the desert [of]") is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch. This book may be divided into three parts: 6:24-26), which are in the Torah The term Torah , also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: penta [five] and teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the Shemoneh Esreh or the Amidah The Amidah , also called the Shmone Esre (שמנה עשרה, Shmoneh Esreh "The Eighteen," in reference to the original number of constituent blessings), is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila (תפילה, "prayer") in Rabbinic literature (Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s, "standing [prayer]"), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra Ezra was a Jewish priestly scribe who led about 5,000 Judean exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem in 459 BCE. Ezra reconstituted the dispersed Jewish community on the basis of the Torah and with an emphasis on the law. According to the Hebrew Bible, Ezra resolved the identity threat which arose by the intermarriage between Jews, 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 Second Temple The Second Temple stood between 516 BCE and 70 CE, during which time it was the center of Jewish sacrificial worship. It was the second temple in Jerusalem, built to replace the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon period 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. Many modern scholars believe that parts of the Amidah came from the Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s apocryphal The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", and "Christian texts that are not canonical" work Ben Sira Jesus ben Sira, Ben Sira, was the author of the deuterocanonical book Sirach. Ben Sirah, a Jew who had been living in Jerusalem, may have authored the work in Alexandria, Egypt circa 180–175 BC, where he is thought to have established a school.

According to the Talmud The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history, soon after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of ancient Jewish worship. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acted as the figurative "footstool" of God's a formal version of the Amidah was adopted at a rabbinical council in Yavne Yavne is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 32,200, under the leadership of Rabban Gamaliel II and his colleagues. However, the precise wording was still left open. The order, general ideas, opening and closing lines were fixed. Most of the wording was left to the individual reader. It was not until several centuries later that the prayers began to be formally fixed. By the Middle Ages The Middle Ages is a period of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The period followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and preceded the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a three-period division of history: Classical, Medieval, and Modern. The term "Middle Ages" (medium aevum) was coined in the texts of the prayers were nearly fixed, and in the form in which they are still used today.

The siddur was printed by Soncino in Italy Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine as early as 1486, though a siddur was first mass-distributed only in 1865. The siddur began appearing in the vernacular A vernacular, mother tongue or mother language, and less frequently one sense of idiom and dialect, is the native language of a population located in a country or in a region defined on some other basis, such as a locality. For example, Navajo is a local language in the southwest of the United States, and English is the state language of a number as early as 1538. The first - unauthorized - English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source language text with the equivalent target language translation to help a reader understand a foreign (source) language text. Translation dates from the appearance of written literature; translations of parts of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2000 BCE) were found in Southwest Asian, by Gamaliel ben Pedahzur (a pseudonym Pseudonyms are often used to hide an individual's real identity, as with writers' pen names, graffiti artists' tags, resistance fighters' or terrorists' noms de guerre, and computer hackers' handles. Actors, musicians, and other performers sometimes use stage names, for example, to mask their ethnic backgrounds. Stage names are also used as), appeared in London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, in 1738; a different translation was released in the United states ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language in 1837.[1]

Creating the siddur

Readings from the Torah The term Torah , also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: penta [five] and teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment (five books of Moses) and the Nevi'im Nevi'im is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh. It falls between the Torah (teachings) and Ketuvim (writings) ("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 Rav Amram Gaon of Sura, Babylon, about 850 CE. Half a century later Rav Saadia Gaon Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon , (Arabic: سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي‎ Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi, Hebrew: סעדיה בן יוסף גאון‎, Sa'id ibn Yusuf al-Dilasi, Saadia ben Yosef aluf, Sa'id ben Yusuf ra's al-Kull), was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period, also of Sura, composed a siddur, in which the rubrical matter is in Arabic Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabīyah, ( Arabic pronunciation ) or عربي ʿarabi) is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million. These were the basis of Simcha ben Samuel's Machzor Vitry (11th century France), which was based on the ideas of his teacher, Rashi Shlomo Yitzhaki, better known by the acronym Rashi , (February 22, 1040 – July 13, 1105), was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). He is considered the "father" of all commentaries that followed on the Talmud (. Another formulation of the prayers was that appended by Maimonides to the laws of prayer in his Mishneh Torah The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka (יד החזקה "Book of the Strong Hand,") is a code of Jewish religious law (Halakha) authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as RaMBaM or "Rambam"), one of history's foremost rabbis. The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180 (4930-4940), while: 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.

Two authoritative versions of the Ashkenazi siddur were those of Shabbetai Sofer in the 16th century and Seligman Baer in the 19th century; siddurim have also been published reflecting the views of Jacob Emden Jacob Emden (the Yabets) was a rabbi and notable talmudist, and prominent opponent of the Sabbateans. He was born at Altona June 4, 1697, and died there April 19, 1776. He was the son of the Chacham Tzvi, and a great-great grandson of Elijah Ba'al Shem of Chelm. Emden was the father of Meshullam Solomon, one of two rival Chief Rabbis of England and the Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu"), (b. Vilnius April 23, 1720, d. Vilaus October 9, 1797), was an exceptional Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic world Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly.

Different Jewish rites

A siddur

There are differences among, amongst others, the Sephardic 1st row: Maimonides • Isaac Abrabanel • Baruch Spinoza • David Nieto • Daniel Mendoza • David Ricardo (including Spanish and Portuguese Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on. These communities must be clearly distinguished from:), Chasidic Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew חסידות -Hasidus meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith. It was founded in 18th Century Eastern Europe by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem, Ashkenazic Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions (German-Polish), Bené Roma or Italkim Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living or with roots in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from newer arrivals who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite and Romaniote The Romaniotes or Romaniots are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and Greek. They derived their name from the old name for the people of the Byzantine Empire, Rhomaioi. Large communities (Greek, once extending to Turkey and perhaps the southern Italian peninsula) liturgies: see further discussion in the articles on Nusach and Minhag Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers. The related Arabic منهاج minhāj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition; the similar منهج manhaj means "curriculum" in both academic. Most of these are slight differences in the wording of the prayers; for instance, Oriental Sephardic and some Hasidic prayer books state "חננו מאתך חכמה בינה ודעת", "Graciously bestow upon us from You wisdom (ḥochmah Chokhmah (or chochmah or hokhmah) in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the uppermost of the Sephirot of the right line (kav yamin which is also the "Pillar of Mercy"). It is derived from the Hebrew word chokhmah (חכמה) which means "wisdom". It is to the bottom right of Keter, and with Binah across it. Under it are the sephirot of), understanding (binah Binah, , in the Kabbalah of Judaism, is the second intellectual Sephirah on the tree of life. It sits on the level below Keter (in the formulations that include that Sephirah), across from Chokmah and directly above Gevurah. It is usually given four paths: to Keter, Chockmah, Gevurah, and Tiphereth (some Kabbalists place a path from Binah to) and knowledge (daat Daat or Daas in Jewish mysticism, called Kabbalah, is the location (the mystical state) where all ten sephirot in the Tree of Life are united as one)", in allusion to the Kabbalistic Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation). While it is heavily used by some denominations, it is not a denomination in and of sefirot Sephirot , meaning "enumerations", are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which God (who is referred to as Ein Sof - The Infinite) reveals him/herself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms (Seder hishtalshelus). The term is alternatively transliterated into English as of those names, while the Nusach Ashkenaz, as well as Western Sephardic and other Hasidic versions retain the older wording "חננו מאתך דעה בינה והשכל", "Graciously bestow upon us from You knowledge, understanding, and reason". In some cases, however, the order of the preparation for the Amidah is drastically different, reflecting the different halakhic and kabbalistic formulae that the various scholars relied on in assembling their siddurim, as well as the minhagim, or customs, or their locales.

Some forms of the Sephardi rite are considered to be very overtly kabbalistic Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation). While it is heavily used by some denominations, it is not a denomination in and of, depending on how far they reflect the ritual of Isaac Luria Isaac Luria (Hebrew: Yitzhak Lurya יִצְחַק לוּרְיָא), also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi (Isaac ben Solomon Luria) aka as "The Ari", "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal," meaning "The Lion," was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman. This is partly because the Tetragrammaton The term Tetragrammaton refers to the Hebrew name of the God of Israel YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎) used in the Hebrew Bible frequently appears with varying vowel points beneath the letters (unpronounced, but to be meditated upon) and different Names of God appear in small print within the final hei (ה) of the Tetragrammaton. In some editions, there is a Psalm in the preparations for the Amidah that is printed in the outline of a menorah, and the worshipper meditates on this shape as he recites the psalm.

The Ashkenazi rite is more common than the Sephardi rite in America, and it appears that most American congregations follow the order presented in the Nusach Ashkenaz Siddur printed by Mesorah Publications. While Nusach Ashkenaz does contain some kabbalistic elements, such as acrostics and allusions to the sefirot ("To You, God, is the greatness [gedullah], and the might [gevurah], and the glory [tiferet], longevity [netzach],..." etc.), these are not easily seen unless the reader is already initiated. It is notable that although many other traditions avoid using the poem "Anim Zemiroth" on the Sabbath, for fear that its holiness would be less appreciated due to the frequency of the Sabbath, the poem is usually sung by Ashkenazi congregations before concluding the Sabbath Musaf service with the daily psalm. The ark is opened for the duration of the song.

Nusach Ari refers to the order of the prayers set by Rabbi Isaac Luria, often called "Ari HaKadosh", or "The Holy Lion", and it is generally used by Hasidim. Although the Ari himself was born Ashkenazi, he borrowed many elements from Sephardi and other traditions, since he felt that they followed Kabbalah and Halacha more faithfully. The Nusach HaAri Siddur from Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch notes that he did not publish his siddur, but orally transmitted it to his students with interpretations and certain meditations matched with it. In 1803, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi compiled an authoritative siddur from the sixty siddurim that he checked for compliance with Hebrew grammar, Jewish law, and Kabbalah. Those that use Nusach HaAri claim that it is an all-encompassing nusach that is valid for any Jew, no matter what his ancestral tribe or identity, a view attributed to the Maggid of Mezeritch.

The Mahzor of each rite is distinguished by hymns (piyyutim) composed by authors (payyetanim) of the district. The most important writers are Yoseh ben Yoseh, probably in the 6th century, chiefly known for his compositions for Yom Kippur; Eleazer Qalir, the founder of the payyetanic style, perhaps in the 7th century; Saadia Gaon; and the Spanish school, consisting of Joseph ibn Abitur (died in 970), ibn Gabirol, Isaac Gayyath, Moses ibn Ezra, Abraham ibn Ezra and Judah ha-Levi, Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides) and Isaac Luria. In the case of Nusach HaAri, however, many of these High Holiday piyyutim are absent, since they were created or added to the liturgy after Rabbi Isaac Luria composed and finalized his siddur.

Complete versus weekday siddurim

Some siddurim have only prayers for weekdays; others have prayers for weekdays and Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath). Many have prayers for weekdays, Shabbat, and the three Biblical festivals, Sukkot (the feast of Tabernacles), Shavuot (the feast of weeks) and Pesach (Passover). The latter are referred to as a Siddur Shalem ("complete siddur").

Variations and additions on holidays

There are many additional liturgical variations and additions to the siddur for the Yamim Noraim (The "Days of Awe"; High Holy Days, i.e. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur). As such, a special siddur has developed for just this period, known as a mahzor (also: machzor). The mahzor contains not only the basic liturgy, but also many piyutim, Hebrew liturgical poems. Sometimes the term mahzor is also used for the prayer books for the three pilgrim festivals, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

Popular siddurim

Below are listed many popular siddurim used by religious Jews.

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Main articles: Ashkenazi Jews and Orthodox Judaism

Sephardic

Main article: Sephardic law and customs

Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Main article: Spanish and Portuguese Jews

(Characterised by relative absence of Kabbalistic elements:)

Greek, Turkish and Balkan Sephardim

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

North African Jews

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

Middle Eastern Sephardim and Mizrachim

(Usually characterised by presence of Kabbalistic elements:)

Syrian">
Syrian
Ovadia_Yosef">
Israeli, following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Edot Hamizrach (Iraqi)

Yemenite Jews (Teimanim)

Main article: Yemenite Jews
Baladi
Shami

Chassidic Siddurim

Conservative Judaism

Main article: Conservative Judaism

Progressive and Reform Judaism

Main article: Reform Judaism

All of the following published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

Reconstructionist Judaism

Main article: Reconstructionist Judaism

See also

References

  1. ^ Power and Politics: Prayer books and resurrection | Jerusalem Post
  2. ^ A New Dialogue With The Divine, May 26, 2009, Jewish Week, Jonathan Rosenblatt [1]
  3. ^ Artscroll facing challenge from Modern Orthodox, April 5, 2009, JTA

Categories: Jewish prayer books | Hebrew words and phrases

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By 1998 I was keeping Shabbos, eating kosher and praying daily with an Artscroll siddur . He asked an old friend to send kosher food, and was surprised to ...
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Q. Is there a special merit to davening with a siddur? Why or why not? I mean, I know there's supposed to be some kabbalistic significance to the Bedtime Shema, but what about Shacharit, Minchah and Ma'ariv?
Asked by Saria A - Sun Feb 17 14:16:12 2008 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Yes. If one can, one should daven with a siddur, in hebrew, even if one does not understand the language. From a kabbalistic standpoint, the prayers were arranged and written in a manner to maximize their spiritual impact. Hebrew, being the language of creation, ie God's language, is the optimal language for prayer because just as God was able to create, and is able to sustain, the universe through the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, so to can one assist God in that creation by using the Hebrew in a sanctified manner, as through prayer. And as most of the content of the service was authored by prophets who understood how to arrange letters and words, it is best for us to use the tools they provided.
Answered by mzJakes - Sun Feb 17 14:24:03 2008

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