Judaism FAQs

The Liturgy of Orthodox Judaism

The Orthodox liturgy is continuous with the 2,000 year old rabbinic Jewish liturgical tradition. While the text of the liturgy has never been static, it is undoubtably the Orthodox prayer books which retain the most traditional formulations that have evolved over the past few centuries. While innovations became less common in the last few centuries due to the introduction of the printing press and various social factors, Orthodox Jews take pride in their community's tradition of liturgical preservation. For more information, see the entry on "What is the traditional Siddur?"

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Orthodox Jewish liturgy has not undergone significant change in the past 200 years. The Encyclopaedia Judaica [EJ] notes that even up to the 1990s "standard editions of the Orthodox prayer book continued to appear with no visible change in either content or format... At the same time, however, new and modernized editions have also appeared, designed either for centrist Orthodox (religious Zionist) Jews in Israel and elsewhere or for right-wing Orthodox (non-Zionist) Jews in the English-speaking Diaspora... they display three characteristics: improved binding, layout, and typography; instructive notes, together with a modern translation (substituting 'you' for 'Thou,' etc., in English) and commentary; as well as the inclusion of new material. Zionist editions acknowledge the State of Israel's religious importance by including new prayers and services; other editions do not."

"After World War II, Philip Birnbaum's daily and High Holiday prayer books attained an unrivaled circulation among Orthodox Jews... they included a modern English translation and notes...The Orthodox resurgence of the 1970s created. ..an expanding market for religious books. One response to this was the Metsudah Siddur...Innovative hallmarks of these Orthodox best sellers were the linear English translation and anthologized commentary by Avrohom Davis." In 1976, the Brooklyn publishing firm of Mesorah launched the Artscroll series of books, including the popular Artscroll siddurim and machzorim... the siddur's success was remarkable, more than 250,000 copies being sold within five years. It owes it popularity "to Art-Scroll's mindfulness of esthetic considerations as well as content. Binding, layout, and typography are of a high standard, each volume containing an introductory 'overview', plain English translations of the Hebrew text, detailed guidance to the worshiper, and an inspirational running commentary by Nosson Scherman. There is, however, one notable failing to which leaders of mainstream, centrist Orthodoxy have drawn attention: a Diaspora-oriented outlook on Judaism that inspires not only the old-fashioned Ashkenazi transliteration of Hebrew terms, but also the rigid exclusion of any prayers or services relating to the State of Israel's existence." [EJ]

"Prayer books of every conceivable type and arranged in accordance with several different liturgical rites are now obtainable in Israel... Some have been reprinted without change for generations, others have undergone a slight "Zionist" updating, while others again are entirely new." The Encyclopaedia Judaica has as extensive discussion of this topic. [Liturgy, Developments, 1970-1990, Orthodox Liturgy, EJ]

To learn more about the structure and content of the traditional Jewish liturgy, see this website:

http://www.jewfaq.org/liturgy.htm

To order prayerbooks:

http://judaism.com/books/prayer.asp

The Liturgy of Reform Judaism

Much of the modern Reform liturgy is continuous with the 2,000 year old rabbinic Jewish liturgical tradition, yet much is a new creation that appeals to "naturalists, organicists, existentialists, traditionalists, classicists, and non-theists." Although the text of the liturgy has never been static, it is undoubtably the Reform prayer books which have become the source of the most dynamic innovation. Innovations became less common in the last few centuries due to the introduction of the printing press and various social factors; However, Reform Jews take pride in their community's resumption of liturgical creativity outside a halakhic framework. For more information, see the entry on "What is the traditional Siddur?"

http://communities.msn.com/JudaismFAQs&naventryid=129

The Encyclopaedia Judaica [EJ] notes that from the 19th century on, Reform Jews created a plethora of new liturgies, "based on the old, but, as the Reformers saw it, having now a more refined, spiritual, and intellectual approach. The early Reformers were unduly influenced by the Zeitgeist; they were eager to model Jewish prayer on the patterns of Protestant worship and keen to make the Jewish service "respectable" to the gentile neighbors...Less Hebrew was used; some of the traditional prayers were translated; and new prayers in the vernacular, as well as in Hebrew, were introduced. The services were shortened by omitting some of the lengthier prayers, piyyutim, and study portions... New melodies, influenced by the musical tradition of the West, were introduced to the accompaniment of organ and choir. A determined effort was made to rid the service of such anachronisms as the Yekum Purkan"

"The priestly blessing was omitted partly because it was held that the priesthood was an anachronism and partly because of the superstitions surrounding it (i.e., that anyone who gazes at the hands of the priests will become blind). On the other hand it became not at all unusual for the rabbi to adopt the priestly role by blessing the congregation with uplifted hand at the end of the service, an obvious imitation of church worship... The early morning benediction in which a man thanks God for not having made him a woman was omitted. The word nokhri ("stranger," "pagan") was substituted for goi ("gentile") in a similar benediction: "who hath not made me a goi."[EJ]

"Many changes were introduced on theological grounds. The most far-reaching one, which especially aroused the ire of the Orthodox, was the deleting of all references to the return to Zion. The Reformers believed that these references frustrated the universalistic aspect of Judaism...A theological question which greatly bothered not only the Reformers but some of the Conservatives and Orthodox as well, was whether a modern Jew could sincerely pray for the restoration of the ancient sacrificial cult. The tendency was either to omit references to it entirely or to change the wording so as to commemorate it historically rather than as a hope for the future." [Liturgy, Reform, EJ]

For over 60 years the standard US Reform prayerbook was "The Union Prayer Book I (UPB)". [1894, revised in 1924 and 1940] Its text contained only a fraction of the traditional services, and was almost entirely in English. "It opened from left to right... decorum was guaranteed by labeling prayers with directions ("Rabbi," "Choir," "Congregation," "Silent Prayer," "Responsive Reading," etc.) [the] English was stilted with mid-Victorian vocabulary and syntax, [the] Hebrew was minimal." By the 1960s most Reform Jews complained that its "absolute theism and facile optimism were old-fashioned." In response, a grassroots liturgical revolution occured. In 1975 the Reform movement finally replaced the UPB with "Shaarei Tefillah: Gates of Prayer". Unlike previous siddurim, it contained an anthology of highly varied services. This prayer book "orchestrated the polymorphous trends within Reform Jewish thought among naturalists, organicists, existentialists, traditionalists, classicists, and non-theists. Its egalitarian sentiments were expressed in its inclusion of women in the siddur's all-male cast of biblical heroes and in the ways that masculine language for people was emended to include women... Hebrew is featured as an authentic and encouraged language of prayer and study, often in its traditional version and literally translated in many cases." [Liturgy, Developments, 1970�1990, Reform, EJ]

In 1978 CCAR issued "Shaarei Teshuva: Gates of Repentance: The New Union Prayerbook for the Days of Awe", a high holy day mahzor inspired by European Reform & Progressive prayerbooks; this mahzor is much closer to the traditional liturgy than any of its predecessors. In 1996, CCAR issued a revised "Gates of Prayer: A Gender Sensitive Prayerbook", which removes some of the less traditional alternative services, includes gender-neutral translations of the names of God, more transliterations of much of the Hebrew, and includes the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals). Along similar lines, 1999 saw the release of two revised versions of "Shaarei Teshuvah: Gates of Repentence: The New Union Prayerbook for the Days of Awe". (One version is gender-neutral, the other is classical). Further, many congregations are writing their own prayers, and even entire services. Most liturgy is centered on Shabbat, but some is for other days such as Yom HaShoah, Tu Bishvat, etc.

CCAR's Siddur Editorial Committee is planning a new Reform siddur, expected to be completed near 2005. Editors state that they plan to move both towards tradition and away from tradition. The new siddur will include Birkat Hamazon, the full text of the Shema Yisrael and references to the Messiah, and feminist inspired liturgucal changes. New prayers also may be influenced by the new Reconstructionist liturgy.

Modifications introduced in Reform prayerbooks

http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/18-05-01.html

http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/18-05-02.html

To learn more about the structure and content of the traditional Jewish liturgy, see this website:

http://www.jewfaq.org/liturgy.htm

To order prayerbooks:

http://judaism.com/books/prayer.asp

The Liturgy of Conservative Judaism

The Conservative liturgy is continuous with the 2,000 year old rabbinic Jewish liturgical tradition. Since the text of the liturgy has never been static, it is undoubtably the Conservative prayer books which retain the most traditional dynamic of innovation within a framework of conserving tradition. While innovations became less common in the last few centuries due to the introduction of the printing press and various social factors, Conservative Jews take pride in their community's resumption of the traditional of liturgical creativity within a halakhic framework. For more information, see the entry on "What is the traditional Siddur?"

http://communities.msn.com/JudaismFAQs&naventryid=129

The Conservative movement recognizes that it is no small matter to modify prayers in the siddur. Nonetheless, Conservative rabbis accept the findings of liturgical scholarship which show that even the Amidah has existed in a variety of forms; the specific wording and order of the blessings had a certain amount of flexibility. The standardized versions used today were not created by any one rabbinical council; rather, as Prof. Jaokb Petuchowski has observed, "The ultimate authority in matters liturgical is the printer." The printer 'canonized' one manuscript while other versions fell by the wayside.

Many in the right-wing Orthodox Jewish community are not aware of, or refuse to accept the validity of, modern critical scholarship on the history of the liturgy; they thus insist that the main elements of the liturgy today are almost identical to their form 2000 years ago. In effect, they deny that the liturgy has a history. They then deny that the liturgy can change. The Modern Orthodox accept the validity of this scholarship, but also hold the modern text as inviolable; thus their liturgy changes only slightly more than that of the right-wing Orthodox. On the other extreme, the Reform and Reconstructionist movements do not see halakha (Jewish law) as binding, and thus see no problem in significantly reediting or rewriting all sections of the siddur.

In between these views we find the Conservative/Masorti view, which follows the historical approach: Since halakha is binding, one can only modify the siddur in accord with the halakhic process. Further, the liturgy is the common inheritance of all Klal Yisrael; it is one of the most important vehicles for linking past generations to the present, and to the future. In all generations the siddur was kept essentially the same as that used by the previous generation, yet each generation had the authority to add its own changes to the text. Thus Conservative rabbis have taken a "conservative" approach to liturgical innovation. The changes they have introduced are no greater than the normal types of variations that always have been allowed.

Where the Conservative movement has validated more than one possible formulation of a prayer a congregation must follow the ruling of its rabbi, who as mara d'atra [local halakhic authority] has the sole responsibility and authority in making such a p'sak [decision].

The liturgy of Conservative Judaism is discussed in detail the following sections:

List of Conservative siddurim

Changes in Conservative prayerbooks

May the Matriarchs be added to the Amidah?

Ordering Conservative prayerbooks

References and sources

The Liturgy of Reconstructionist Judaism

Much of the Reconstructionist liturgy is continuous with the 2,000 year old rabbinic Jewish liturgical tradition, yet a significant part of it is a new creation that appeals to religious naturalists and humanists, and to those who question classical theism. Although the text of the liturgy has never been static, it is undoubtably the Reconstructionist prayer books which retain the most traditional forms while simultaneously endorsing the most significant theological changes. Innovations became less common in the last few centuries due to the introduction of the printing press and various social factors; However, Reconstructionist Jews take pride in their community's ability to create prayerbooks that speak to those who maintain Mordecai Kaplan's religious naturalism yet also to those who maintain more traditional theistic views. For more information, see the entry on "What is the traditional Siddur?"

http://communities.msn.com/JudaismFAQs&naventryid=129

For Reconstructionist Jews, prayer is "stretching forth toward that which we call God. For some Reconstructionists this is the sum of humanity's highest values and aspirations, taken as a whole. For others it is a force within the natural world, or the spiritual essence of reality itself, inadequately conceived by us humans in personified terms. The divinity of prayer life lies in its embodiment of this human struggle to reach for godliness, rather than in any simplistic notion of a God who hears and answers prayer." [EJ]

The Reconstructionist liturgy deletes references to the Jews as God's chosen people, deletes references to the reinstitution of animal sacrifice and references to resurrection. "Such basic liturgical motifs as Creation, the giving of the Torah, and Messianic redemption, which Reconstructionists affirm in non-literal ways, have a more complex nuanced place in the history of the movement's liturgical efforts... Beginning in 1945, the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation published prayer books for the Sabbath, for the High Holidays (1948), for the three festivals (1958), and for daily use (1963).[Edited by Mordecai Kaplan, Ira Eisenstein, Eugene Kohn, and Milton Steinberg.]

The Reconstructionist movement more recently created a new series of siddurim [Ed.David Teutsch, Arthur Green, Joel Rosenberg] The first was a Friday evening prayer book, Kol ha-Neshamah (1989). A full Sabbath and festival prayer book later appeared. These "are distinguished from prior Reconstructionist liturgy...in a number of ways. They represent a full and rich rendition of the traditional text. Various traditional practices eliminated by other modern prayer book editors have here been restored as options for the contemporary worshiper. These include the recitation of the Song of Songs before Kabbalat Sabbath (on Friday evening), the sanctification of the new moon [but are] interpreted in symbolic ways. At the same time, the daring moral stance taken by Kaplan in the 1945 prayer book has been upheld and continued. The new liturgy continues the omission of references to the election of Israel as a claim that could too easily lead to a sense of Jewish chauvinism." [Liturgy, Developments, 1970-1990, Reconstructionist, EJ]

Ordering Reconstructionist prayerbooks

http://www.jrf.org/pub/list-prayerbooks.html

To learn more about the structure and content of the traditional Jewish liturgy, see this website:

http://www.jewfaq.org/liturgy.htm