PREFACE A prayerbook is at the same time the most public and the most private expression of Jewish values and experience. It is the most accessible window into the Jewish soul, but at the same time a witness to the daily struggles that take place within that soul. Liturgies, as they evolve over the centuries, contain the greatest aspirations of a people of faith, yet at the same time the ghostly echoes of old controversies and divisions. Precisely because they are public statements and affirmations, liturgies encapsulate the self– understanding of a given community at a given moment in time. They affirm the inclusion of those who feel themselves part of that community, but whether intentionally or not, may effectively exclude others who do not feel able to join that particular community or that particular form of worship. Yet while prayerbooks reflect the attitudes of past generations that have formed the community they are also the context, and sometimes the battleground, however well disguised, in which new experiences, views and needs are reflected, tested out or asserted in the public arena. That is why liturgies both unite and divide communities. They are defining texts and events. At the same time that liturgies provide for collective experiences and expressions, they also offer the possibility of private space and personal meditation in the framework of the liturgical moment. The silences between the words may be as important as the words themselves. Since liturgies, whatever their content, may accompany people from very early in their lives and acquire special significance at certain times, they become very deeply embedded in our hearts and minds. Even if we are not always aware of this, they represent something eternal, reliable and secure. It has to be said that this is the case even when the texts themselves have little meaning to the person who recites or hears them, either because of the passage of time since their original composition, or because the language is unknown, or because in time the rhythms and cadences have become like a mantra. Yet try to change a word or syllable, a melody or the order of particular prayers that people are used to and enormous emotions are unleashed. It is of little consolation to know that a few years down the line the most radical changes will be equally experienced as if they had been ‘eternally there’. At the time of change only the threat and distress may be felt. We underestimate the power and depth of ritual and liturgy at our peril. But change is at the heart of the value system of Reform Judaism – not change for its own sake, but in order to answer the needs of a community always in transition in a changing world. The 1977 edition of Forms of Prayer <<<
PREFACE
was a child of its time. Under the initial chairmanship of Rabbi Dr Werner van der Zyl, and subsequently of Rabbi Hugo Gryn, the prayerbook committee together with the two editors, Rabbi Lionel Blue and Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, spoke for the generation that had experienced the horrors of the Second World War as refugee survivors, and a generation born during and immediately after the war. In addition to addressing what were seen as lacks in the previous edition, the volume had to attempt to create a liturgy after the Shoah , the single greatest catastrophe faced by the Jewish people since the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginnings of almost two thousand years of exile from the land, and the miraculous, if ever–threatened, return to the land with the establishment of the State of Israel. For that edition to speak to a new generation, the language had to be made more contemporary, for example replacing the use of Thee and Thou, already archaic in the 1931 edition it was to replace. It became an educational tool providing opportunities to study through responsive readings and a large anthology – it being argued that the Siddur was likely to be the only Jewish book owned by members, so that what it contained was crucial in shaping their Jewish knowledge and identity. In these and other areas it pioneered new approaches to liturgy many of which were taken up by other ‘progressive’prayerbooks around the world. This new edition is similarly attempting to address new situations. Already the issue of the equality of men and women, as reflected in the language of the prayerbook, and in the recognition given to women amongst our spiritual ancestors, was noted in the High Holyday volume of 1985 and comprehensively addressed in the Pilgrim Festival Prayerbook of 1995. Lessons learned from the latter have helped to make ‘inclusive language’a feature of this new edition. Whereas in the past one standard service was seen as sufficient for the broad base of a congregation, today many congregations experiment with different types of minyanim . Moreover our congregations are quite varied in the mix of traditional and contemporary material, let alone musical styles, which they use. For this reason it was felt that greater flexibility was needed within the service structure, allowing for very different forms of worship. We have tried to meet this need by allowing for and encouraging choices within various sections of the service, so as to provide flexibility within the familiar. Today we are conscious of a shrinking and aging Jewish population in the United Kingdom, but also of a younger generation that feels detached from congregational life. So the prayerbook needs to be more accessible and welcoming to a wider range of people, both within and beyond our congregations, some of whose Jewish background is often minimal. <<<
Hebrew, such a central aspect of Jewish worship, remains a stumbling block that prevents many fully taking part in religious services, and the bold step has been taken here of transliterating most of the Shabbat services and some home services in the hope that through this encouragement to participate the further step to learning Hebrew will also follow. The traditional service is expressed in terms of the Jewish people as a collective whole, with our specific values and traditions, our views about God and our relationship to one another. Amidst so much that is stated in terms of ‘we’and ‘us’, it is sometimes difficult to find our individual voice or needs being addressed. The notes that accompany each page, together with a new section on liturgy in the Study Anthology, may go some way to translating the traditional language of prayer into its historical and theological place, but also into more personal understandings. A new section, ‘Reflections on the Shabbat Services and Weekday Amidah ’, offers new approaches to addressing the traditional prayers, particularly for people who have questions about their language or affirmations. A menorah and page number ( f 123 ) beside a prayer or section indicate where such reflections may be found. Life cycle prayers, as well as a similar section in the Study Anthology, may offer other ways of expressing our own individual voice both within and beyond the service. Our growing concern with issues like terrorism, the relationship between different religious communities, the environment, poverty and human rights all need to be addressed within the prayer life of the Jewish community. So in addition to prayers for inclusion in appropriate services, to be found in a new section on Public Prayers and Passages, these issues too are addressed in a section of the Study Anthology. While it is easy now to list the above features of the new Siddur as self–evident, each of them has been introduced after much heart–searching and debate within the Editorial Board, the Assembly of Rabbis, and throughout the congregations, since we have conducted a thorough set of trials of different drafts, more so than in any previous edition. People have responded individually and as congregations, and we have tried to take into account a wide range of views and wishes, many of which are inevitably mutually contradictory. Clearly with such a diverse set of congregations, each with a diverse membership, there is no way that all expectations can be met. Yet it is our hope that everyone who expressed an opinion will feel listened to and will recognize places where their influence has been felt. Where their views have not been fully accepted, it is because we have responded to equally strongly felt needs from others and had to make a fine judgment on what to prioritise. In such an enterprise we may have to settle for a holy compromise, but do so in the knowledge that the sacrifice of our own particular opinion has been in order to help many others.
PREFACE
The desire for a new name for the prayerbook came up relatively early in the process and many names were suggested, most of which have already been used for new prayerbooks of other movements. We first chose the name Iyyun T’fillah , ‘Devotion in Prayer’, because of its presence in the passage within our existing Siddur (from Shabbat 127a) where it is listed as ‘one of the things whose interest we enjoy in this world, while the capital remains for us in the world to come’. The term is not without some controversy, as rabbinic texts understand it either positively, as devotion, or negatively, as attempting to calculate the reward to be obtained from God from our prayers. We felt that these two aspects of the term rightly reflect the tension that is often present within our prayer life, as people struggle to find the holy within a highly secular world. In the end the decision was made to retain the name ‘Forms of Prayer’, Seder ha–t’fillot , from the previous editions. However we have used the term Iyyun T’fillah , now translated as ‘Engaging with Prayer’, as the designation of the page notes, introductions and reflective passages. It is an appropriate term for a Jewish tradition that understands the root meaning of the verb l’hitpallel , ‘to pray’, as meaning to judge, and hence ‘to judge oneself’, when we stand before God. The previous edition included illustrations of synagogues, many of which were destroyed in the Second World War, as a memorial to the victims of the Shoah . In looking for illustrations for this new edition two ideas were followed. Because of the desire to encourage a greater engagement with Hebrew the aim has been to use Hebrew calligraphy in most cases as the basis of artistic designs. Secondly, in seeking artists, priority was given to those associated with congregations rebuilt or newly created since the war, as a way of looking towards the Jewish future in Europe. We were fortunate in finding artists from Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Russia, Spain and Switzerland, as well as the UK, Israel and the USA. Of particular help in following the structure of the individual services and the different sections of the book are a series of graphical headings created by Marc Michaels, whose remarkable design skills throughout the Siddur have made a complex layout clear and accessible. It was asked why the traditional first paragraph of the Amidah says: ‘God of Abraham, God of Isaac and God of Jacob’, and not simply ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’. The answer: that each of the patriarchs had to discover God in his own way, based on the tradition he had inherited but also on his own experience in his own time and place. That is our challenge today – and equally a quest to find the ‘God of Sarah, God of Rebecca, God of Rachel and God of Leah’. It is our hope that this new Siddur as a whole will provide both a synagogue resource and a companion in the home, just as the current volume has managed to do for the past thirty years. Jonathan Magonet, Editor
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This new edition of Forms of Prayer is the result of a remarkable collaborative exercise over a seven–year period. The initial idea that a new edition was required to meet the needs of a new generation was welcomed enthusiastically by Rabbi Dr Tony Bayfield as Head of Movement. He offered his own distinctive ideas about what might be required, but having entrusted the task to the editor and his team, stepped back to give the task the freedom needed to evolve with its own dynamic and logic, intervening only towards to end to ensure that certain important opportunities were not overlooked. His trust and support whenever major debates arose within the Movement gave stability and security to the whole enterprise. The Editorial Board, under the chairmanship of Rabbi Steven Katz, oversaw the entire process. Individual members also contributed specific elements and though its composition varied from time to time because of other commitments the following participated: Rabbis Simon Franses, Paul Freedman, Michael Hilton, Maurice Michaels, Reuven Silverman, Danny Smith, Jacqueline Tabick, Larry Tabick and in addition student rabbi Debbie Young and Dr Helena Miller. Towards the end of the process, a team convened by Rabbi Tony Bayfield, including Rabbis Miriam Bayfield, Howard Cooper, Tony Hammond and Jeffrey Newman, explored and helped produce the Reflective Service materials. The Glossary was prepared by Rabbi Amanda Golby, and the transliteration by Rabbi Larry Tabick. Responsibility for finding music for the Siddur was taken by Zoë Jacobs and Rabbis Laura Janner–Klausner and Sybil Sheridan. Throughout the process the Assembly of Rabbis, under the successive chairmanship of Rabbis Sylvia Rothschild, Ian Morris, Maurice Michaels and Jonathan Romain, oversaw all the materials and devoted a number of residential and business sessions to evaluating them, suggesting improvements and agreeing the final contents. Responsibility for the consultation process for the Siddur through its various draft editions, as well as organising the practical arrangements regarding printing, funding, promotion and sales, fell to the Siddur Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Rabbi Elaina Rothman, without whose enthusiasm, determination and support the project might never have been realised. The chairs of the two committees together with Jenny Pizer, David Jacobs and the Editor visited congregations throughout the country presenting the materials and fielding questions and concerns in what was a greater consultative process than for any previous edition. Every attempt was made to respond to the written comments, concerns and proposed improvements from numerous individuals and congregations. The members of the Steering Committee included in addition to the above: Dr John Bowden, Jane Cutter, <<<
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Jon Epstein, Mike Frankl, Andrew Gilbert, Debbie Jacobs, Larry Ross and Robert Shrager. All practical and administrative matters, including researching copyright materials, were undertaken by Sylvia Morris. IT support throughout was undertaken by Marc Ozin. We are sad to record the death of Ian Spinks who undertook the printing of the many early draft versions. Proofreading of the Hebrew at different stages was undertaken by Rabbis Colin Eimer, Paul Freedman, Amanda Golby, Charles H. Middleburgh, Sammy Pereira, Reuven Silverman, Student Rabbi Yuval Keren, and Dr Annette Boeckler, while the English was examined by Brian Humphreys and Dr John Bowden, to whom additional thanks are due for his practical advice throughout on all matters to do with publishing. The extraordinary task of creating a layout that could incorporate the Hebrew and English text, transliteration and commentary fell to Marc Michaels without whom the present volume could not have been produced. In addition he designed the numerous section headings, icons and other aids that ensure continuity and ease of use of the services. Each of the sections that make up the Siddur went through up to twenty sets of corrections and revisions under his patient guidance and practical care. Various individuals viewed the contents and made important suggestions and corrections, including Dr Jeremy Schonfield. Pre–eminent amongst them is Dr Eric Friedland, whose knowledge of traditional and progressive Jewish liturgies and sensitivity to the parameters of innovation helped shape the final version. The artists that we approached were extremely generous in their willingness to offer existing artistic materials and create new ones for the Siddur . Their names are recorded in the List of Artists. The Movement for Reform Judaism is grateful for the considerable care taken by Jongbloed bv in the complex task of printing this Siddur .
Jonathan Magonet, Editor
Engaging with Prayer
:m ¤ki¥l£` i ¦Y §r ©n ¨W §e i ¨l ¥` m ¤Y §l ©N ©R §z ¦d §e m ¤Y §k©l£d ©e i ¦]r` m ¤z` ¨x §wE :m ¤k §a ©a §lÎl oÇk §A i ¦p «ªW §x §c ¦z i ¦M m ¤z` ¨v §nE i ¦]r` m ¤Y §W©T ¦aE :dediÎm ª` §p m ¤k¨l i ¦z`«¥v §n¦p §e When you call Me and come and pray to Me, I will hear you. When you seek Me, you will find Me, if you search for Me with all your heart. I shall let you find Me, says God.
Jeremiah 29: 12–14
The central part of the Shabbat and Daily services, beginning with the Sh’ma and its blessings, has a fixed form, the Hebrew term being keva , whereas the earlier parts of the service offer greater flexibility. Being ‘fixed’there is always the risk that the prayers become mechanical recitations. Rabbinic tradition stressed the need both to concentrate on the meaning of the prayers and to keep them fresh, to read them with kavvanah , ‘intention’. To aid in this they introduced private meditations and poems. This section provides materials that may aid engaging with prayer, iyyun tefillah , meditations that may be read privately before the service begins and opening prayers to set the mood for the individual services.
zepeek MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER PREPARATION FOR PRAYER
We should purify our heart before we pray.
Exodus Rabbah None may stand up to say the Tefillah (the statutory prayer, the Amidah) save in a sober mood. The pious of old used to wait an hour before they said the Tefillah , that they might direct their heart toward God. Mishnah Berachot 5:1 Our Rabbis taught: we should not stand up to say the Tefillah while immersed in sorrow, or idleness, or laughter, or frivolity, or chatter, or idle talk, but only while rejoicing in the performance of some religious act. Berachot 31a R. Meir said: Our words should always be few towards God. ‘Be not rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God; for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes through a multitude of business; and a fool’s voice through a multitude of words’ (Ecclesiastes 5:1–2). Berachot 61a When you cannot pray with the proper concentration, try your utmost to speak the words in a spirit of belief in their truth. Nachman of Bratzlav The Tzanzer was asked by a Chasid: ‘What does the Rabbi do before praying?’‘I pray,’was the reply, ‘that I may be able to pray properly.’ Chasidic Rabbi Simon says: When you pray do not make your prayer a fixed formal thing, but an appeal for mercy, a supplication before God. Sayings of the Fathers 2:18 Those who are about to pray should learn from a common labourer, who sometimes takes a whole day to prepare for a job. A wood–cutter who spends most of the day sharpening the saw and only the last hour cutting the wood, has earned his day’s wage. Mendel of Kotzk Forget everybody and everything during your worship. Forget yourself and your needs. Forget the people of whom you have need. Then in truth you may worship God. <<<
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
When you offer prayer, imagine yourself as one who is newly born; without achievements of which to be proud; without high family descent to make you arrogant. Forget all dignity and self–esteem. Remember only your Maker. Before the prayers, remember any good qualities you have, or any good deeds which you have performed. This will put life into you and enable you to pray from the heart. Nachman of Bratzlav What then is devotion? We must free our heart from all other thoughts and regard ourselves as standing in the presence of God. Therefore, before engaging in prayer, we ought to go aside for a little in order to bring ourselves into a devotional attitude, and then we should pray quietly and with feeling, not like one who carries a weight and goes away. Then after prayer the worshipper ought to sit quiet for a little and then depart. Maimonides Let all cry out to God and lift our heart up to God, as if we were hanging by a hair, and a tempest were raging to the very heart of heaven, and we were at a loss for what to do, and there were hardly time to cry out. It is a time when no counsel, indeed, can help us and we have no refuge save to remain in our loneliness and lift our eyes and heart up to God, and cry out to God. And this should be done at all times, for in the world a person is in great danger. Chasidic THE NATURE OF PRAYER We pray for the sake of our soul as we take food for the sake of our body. Judah Halevi However, it is essential that you know how to be careful when you make supplication for your needs. God forbid that your intention should be for the gratification of your own desires, for this is self–worship, of which God has no desire, indeed it is abhorrent in God’s eyes ... Therefore, when you ask of God your material needs, such as health, riches, peace, and other material perfections, your intention should be that these will help you to serve your Creator, seeing that you cannot properly serve God if you lack the material goods of life, which are God–given aids for the aim you really desire – the improvement of the soul. Jacob Emden As the flame clothes the black, sooty clod in a garment of fire, and releases the heat imprisoned therein, even so does prayer clothe us in a garment of holiness, evoke the light and fire implanted within us by our Maker, illumine our whole being, and unify the Lower and the Higher Worlds. Zohar
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The aim of our worship is the purification, enlightenment and uplifting of our inner selves ... Its aim is not simply to stir up the emotions, or to produce fleeting moments of devotion, empty sentimentalism and idle tears, but the cleansing of heart and mind. Life robs us of the correct judgment concerning God, the world, humanity, and Israel, and concerning our own relationship to them all. Leaving the disturbing influences of life, and turning to God, you can find it again through the contemplation that is part of tefillah ... Contemplate afresh our prayers, our divine service as a whole, and see if you do not find it more dignified, meaningful and important than you had ever before imagined. Samson Raphael Hirsch Prayer is a brazen act. For it is impossible to stand before God, but brazenly. We all imagine, in one way or another, the greatness of the Creator: How then can we stand in prayer before God? For prayer is a wonder; (its task is) chiefly the assault upon, and the despoiling of, the heavenly order ... We come wishing to despoil the order and do marvels. Therefore we must be shameless in prayer. Nachman of Bratzlav Not all tears come before God. Sullen tears, and tears accompanying the petition for vengeance do not ascend on high. But tears of entreaty and penitence, and tears beseeching relief, cleave the very heavens, open the portals and ascend to the Sovereign above all earthly rulers. Zohar Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. Abraham Joshua Hesche l We must bear in mind that all such religious acts as reading the Torah, praying, and the performance of other precepts, serve exclusively as the means of causing us to occupy and fill our mind with the precepts of God, and free it from worldly business; for we are thus, as it were, in comm– unication with God, and undisturbed by any other thing. If we, however, pray with the motion of our lips, and our face toward the wall, but at the same time think of our business; if we read with our tongue, whilst our heart is occupied with the building of our house, and we do not think of what we are reading; if we perform the commandments only with our limbs, we are like those who are engaged in digging in the ground, or hewing wood in the forest, without reflecting on the nature of these acts, or by whom they are commanded, or what is their object. We must not imagine that in this way we attain the highest perfection; on the contrary, we are then like those in reference to whom Scripture says ‘Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their inner life’ (Jeremiah 12: 2). Maimonides
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
‘To serve the Eternal your God with all your heart’ (Deuteronomy 11:13). What is a service with the heart? It is prayer. Ta’anit 2a We do not even know how we are supposed to pray. All we do is call for help because of the need of the moment. But what the soul intends is spiritual need, only we are not able to express what the soul means. That is why we do not merely ask God to hear our call for help, but also beg the One who knows what is hidden, to hear the silent cry of the soul. Chasidic So long as the world moves along accustomed paths, so long as there are no wild catastrophes, we can find sufficient substance for our life by contemplating surface events, theories and movements of society. We can acquire our inner richness from this external kind of ‘property’. But this is not the case when life encounters fiery forces of evil and chaos. Then the ‘revealed’world begins to totter. Then those who try to sustain them– selves only from the surface aspects of existence will suffer terrible impoverishment, begin to stagger, ... then they will feel welling up within themselves a burning thirst for that inner substance and vision which transcends the obvious surfaces of existence and remains unaffected by the world's catastrophes. From such inner sources they will seek the waters of joy which can quicken the dry outer skeleton of existence. Avraham Isaac Kook ‘You are My witnesses,’the Eternal says, ‘and I am God.’Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai said: ‘If you give witness unto Me, then I am the Eternal. If you are not My witnesses, then I am not the Eternal, as it were.’ Pesikta d'Rav Kahana In my experience, prayer does not give security or the answer to the problems of the cosmos – at least it never has for me. But though it has not changed the external world to suit my convenience, it has changed me, and I am part of that world. It has not given me security … but it has given me courage, and helped me cope with the next step ahead. Lionel Blue Prayer will not come about by default. It requires education, training, reflection, contemplation. It is not enough to join others; it is necessary to build a sanctuary within. Abraham Joshua Heschel For prayer is the language of the heart – needing no measured voice, no spoken tone. Grace Aguilar
There is one thing in prayer that we all need greatly … a few minutes each day of peace and quiet with oneself, at least a minute fragment of the day to listen within oneself, attending to the voice of God. Ellen Littmann THE PRAYER OF THE COMMUNITY What are our places of prayer ... but schools of prudence, courage, temperance and justice, of piety, holiness and virtue? Philo R. Jose ben Chalafta taught: There are proper times for prayer, as it says, ‘As for me, let my prayer come before You at the proper time’ (Psalm 69:14). What is a ‘proper time’? When the community is at prayer. Tanchuma Community prayer is preferable for many reasons. Firstly, the community does not pray for what is hurtful to an individual, whilst the individual sometimes prays for something to the hurt of other individuals, and these pray for something that hurts him; a prayer, however, can be heard only if its object is profitable to the world and in no ways hurtful. People rarely accomplish their prayer without digression of mind and negligence; we are therefore commanded that we recite the prayers of a community, and if possible in a community of not less than ten people, so that one makes up for the digression or negligence of the other, in order that a perfect prayer, recited with unalloyed devotion, may be made, and its blessing bestowed on the community, each of us receiving our portion. Judah Halevi Rav said: Whoever has it in their power to pray on behalf of their neighbour, and fails to do so, is called a sinner. Berachot The Baal Shem Tov once refused to enter a certain synagogue because he said it was too full of prayers. Noting his followers’astonishment at his attitude, he explained that so many routine insincere prayers were uttered there that they could not rise to the heavenly throne and stayed on earth, cramming the synagogue full. Baal Shem Tov Feel the tribulations of the individual and of the multitude, and implore God to ease their burden. Nachman of Bratzlav If we are accustomed to attend synagogue and one day do not go, the Blessed Holy One makes enquiry about us. Berachot
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
LITURGY AND PRAYER Liturgy defines the community that prays. Prayer is the offering of each individual. Liturgy affirms the values of that community. Prayer sets those values on our lips and in our hearts. Liturgy unites those who share a tradition. Prayer connects us to all who pray. Liturgy describes the boundaries of a community. Prayer locates us within creation as a whole.
Liturgy offers a language for prayer. Prayer reaches out beyond language. Liturgy places us within a history. Prayer opens us to the future.
Liturgy invites our emotions. Prayer refines our emotions.
Liturgy begins in the world we know. Prayer suggests worlds to be explored. Liturgy provides a space in which to pray. Prayer tests the truth of what we pray.
Liturgy seeks to bring God into the world. Prayer helps make room for God in our lives. Liturgy provides security, continuity and certainty. Prayer disturbs, challenges and confronts. Liturgy without prayer may become sterile. Prayer without liturgy may become selfish. Liturgy is an event. Prayer is a risk. Liturgy sets limits. Prayer offers space. Liturgy asserts. Prayer expresses hope. Liturgy is the motor. Prayer is the fuel. Liturgy is the vehicle. Prayer is the journey. Liturgy is the companion. Prayer is the destination. JonathanMagonet
SOME INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS And if I say, ‘I will not make mention of God, nor speak any more in God’s name,’then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I weary myself to hold it in, but cannot. Jeremiah 20: 9 I gave orders for my horse to be brought round from the stable. The servant did not understand me. I myself went to the stable, saddled my horse and mounted. In the distance I heard a bugle call, I asked him what this meant. He knew nothing and had heard nothing. At the gate he stopped me, asking, ‘Where are you riding to, master?’‘I don't know,’I said, ‘only away from here, away from here. Always away from here, only by doing so can I reach my destination.’‘And so you know your destination?’he asked. ‘Yes,’I answered, ‘didn’t I say so? Away–From–Here, that is my destination.’‘You have no provisions with you,’he said. ‘I need none,’I said, ‘the journey is so long that I must die of hunger if I don't get anything on the way. No provisions can save me. For it is, fortunately, a truly immense journey.’ Franz Kafka Inscription on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews hid from the Nazis: I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.
I believe in love even when feeling it not. I believe in God even when God is silent.
Anon
The prayer of a shepherd who ‘did not know how to pray’: God of the Universe! It is apparent and known unto You, that if You had sheep and gave them to me to tend, though I take wages for tending from all others, from You I would take nothing, because I love You. Sefer Chasidim
A favourite saying of the Rabbis of Yavneh was: I am God’s creature and my fellow is God’s creature. My work is in the town and his work is in the country. I rise early for my work and he rises early for his work. Just as he does not presume to do my work, so I do not presume to do his work. Will you say, I do much and he does little? We have learnt: One may do much or one may do little; it is all one, provided we direct our heart to heaven.
Berachot 17a
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
I pray to You O Lord from all my heart, O Lord! I pray to You with fervour and zeal,
for the sufferings of the humiliated, for the uncertainty of those who wait; for the non–return of the dead; for the helplessness of the dying; for the sadness of the misunderstood; for those who request in vain; for all those abused, scorned and disdained; for the silly, the wicked, the miserable; for those who hurry in pain to the nearest physician; those who return from work with trembling and anguished hearts to their homes; for those who are roughly treated and pushed aside, for those who are hissed on the stage; for all who are clumsy, ugly, tiresome and dull, for the weak, the beaten, the oppressed, for those who are afraid of Death; for those who wait in pharmacies; for those who have missed the train; – for all the inhabitants of our earth and all their pains and troubles, their worries, sufferings, disappointments, all their griefs, afflictions, sorrows, longings, failures, defeats; for everything which is not joy, comfort, happiness, bliss ... Let these shine for ever upon them with tender love and brightness, I pray to You O Lord most fervently – I pray to You O Lord from the depths of my heart. for those who cannot find rest during long sleepless nights;
Juljan Tuwim
Lord, where shall I find You? High and hidden is Your place. And where shall I not find You? The world is full of Your glory. I have sought Your nearness, with all my heart I called You and going out to meet You I found You coming to meet me.
Judah Halevi Blessed are You Lord, my God , spirit of the universe, who brought me across the ( Yabok ) bridge of life. When the dim light of my own self will sink and merge within the light which illumines the world and eternity, I shall conclude the order of my days. In this twilight glow of my life, I stand before the dawn of my new sun with tense consciousness, a man about to die and to live, who feels at one with the universe and eternity, as in the ancient words. ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.’Blessed is the God of life and death, of light and love. Nachman Syrkin Lord of the universe, You are doing much to make me desert my faith, but I assure You that, even against the will of the dwellers in heaven, a Jew I am and a Jew I shall remain, and neither the sufferings that You have brought upon me nor that which You will yet bring upon me will be of any avail. Solomon Ibn Verga God on high, divine Sovereign, enlighten my soul at all times. Give me, God, true faith, and perfect humility against the world’s vanities. Do not give me riches, God, that may make me proud; nor poverty, that may deject me. Give me, God, some help that I may serve You, and life that I may praise You and death that I may find salvation. Marrano When all within is dark, and former friends misprise; from them I turn to You, and find love in Your eyes.
When all within is dark, and I my soul despise; from me I turn to You, and find love in Your eyes. When all Your face is dark, and Your just angers rise; from You I turn to You, and find love in Your eyes.
Israel Abrahams based on Ibn Gabirol
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
Where I wander – You! Where I ponder – You! Only You, You again, always You! You! You! You! When I am gladdened – You! When I am saddened – You! Only You, You again, always You! You! You! You! Sky is You, earth is You! You above! You below! In every trend, at every end, only You, You again, always You! You! You! You!
Levi Yitschak of Berditchev
Good morning, to You, Almighty God, I, Levi Yitschak son of Sarah of Berditchev, have come for a judgment against You, on behalf of Your people Israel. What do You want of Your people Israel? Why do You afflict Your people Israel?
The slightest thing and You say, ‘Speak to the children of Israel,’ the slightest thing and You turn to the children of Israel, the slightest thing and You say, ‘Tell the children of Israel.’ Our father! There are so many nations in the world, Persians, Babylonians, Edomites. The Russians, what do they say? That their Emperor is the Emperor. The Germans, what do they say? That their Empire is the Empire. And the English, what do they say? That their Empire is the Empire. And I, Levi Yitschak son of Sarah of Berditchev, say, ‘From this spot I shall not stir, I shall not stir from this spot, there must be an end of this, the exile must end! Magnified and sanctified be God’s great name!’
Levi Yitschak of Berditchev
The needs of Your people Israel are many, but their knowledge is small. May it be Your will, our God and God of our ancestors, to give to every creature what it needs and to every body what it lacks. Blessed is God, for You heard the voice of my supplication. Blessed are You God, who hears prayer. Yerushalmi May it be Your will, O Lord, that none foster hatred against us in their heart, and that we foster no hatred in our hearts against any others; that none foster envy of us in their heart, and that we foster no envy in our hearts of any. Talmud Your eternal providence has appointed me to watch over the life and health of Your creatures. May the love for my art actuate me at all times; may neither avarice nor miserliness, nor the thirst for glory or for a great reputation engage my mind, for the enemies of truth and philanthropy could easily deceive me and make me forgetful of my lofty aim of doing good to Your children. May I never see in a patient anything but a fellow creature in pain. Grant me strength, time and opportunity always to correct what I have acquired, always to extend its domain, for knowledge is immense and the human spirit can extend indefinitely to enrich itself daily with new requirements. Today we can discover our errors of yesterday and tomorrow we may obtain new light on what we think ourselves sure of today. O God, You have appointed me to watch over the life and death of Your creatures. Here I am, ready for my vocation. Attributed to Maimonides (The Medical Oath) My Lord and God, I do not desire Your paradise; I do not desire the bliss of the world to come; I desire only You Yourself. Shneur Zalman of Ladi When I travel in my coach to teach Torah, give me thought for the mare that carries me, and guard her from my impatience; when I walk through Your woods, may my right foot and my left foot be harmless to the little creatures that move in the grasses; as it is said by the mouth of Your prophet, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain. Amen. Moshe Hakotun You were my death; You I could hold when all fell away from me. Paul Celan
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
Lord, let Your light be only for the day, and the darkness for the night. And let my dress, my poor humble dress, lie quietly over my chair at night. Let the church–bells be silent, my neighbour Ivan not ring them at night. Let the wind not waken the children out of their sleep at night. Let the hen sleep on its roost, the horse in the stable all through the night. Remove the stone from the middle of the road that the thief may not stumble at night. Let heaven be quiet during the night. Restrain the lightning, silence the thunder, they should not frighten mothers giving birth to their babies at night. And me too protect against fire and water, protect my poor roof at night.
Let my dress, my poor humble dress lie quietly over my chair at night.
Nachum Bomze And yet I pray, for I do not desire to lose the blessed feeling of unity, of communication with You. Arnold Schoenberg I do not beg You to reveal to me the secret of Your ways – I could not bear it. But show me one thing; show it to me more clearly and more deeply: show me what this, which is happening at this very moment, means to me, what it demands of me, what You, Lord of the world, are telling me by way of it. Ah, it is not why I suffer, that I wish to know, but only whether I suffer for Your sake. Levi Yitschak of Berditchev Anyway, can I pretend I have much choice? I look at myself and see chest, thighs, feet – a head. This strange organization, I know it will die. And inside – something, something, happiness ... ‘Thou movest me.’That leaves no choice. Something produces intensity, a holy feeling, as oranges produce orange, as grass green, as birds heat. Some hearts put out more love and some less of it, presumably. Does it signify anything? There are those who say this product of hearts is knowledge ... I couldn’t say that, for sure. My face too <<<
blind, my mind too limited, my instincts too narrow. But this intensity, doesn’t it mean anything? Is it an idiot joy that makes this animal, the most peculiar animal of all, exclaim something? And he thinks this reaction a sign, a proof, of eternity? And he has it in his breast? But I have no arguments to make about it. ‘Thou movest me.’‘But what do you want ... ?’‘But that’s just it – not a solitary thing. I am pretty well satisfied to be, to be just as it is willed, and for as long as I may remain in occupancy.’ Saul Bellow I know that in praying something happens, even if there is no one God in the form of a Father or a Mother receiving my prayer. I know that by the act of praying in the desert, out of love (because I wouldn’t pray otherwise), something might already be good in myself: a therapy might be taking place. I know that by doing this, I try – I will not necessarily succeed – to affirm and accept something in myself that won’t do any harm to anyone, especially to me. The impression that I do something good for myself or my loved ones, that’s the calculation. If, through this prayer, I am a little better at re– conciliation, and if I give up any calculation because I cannot calculate the incalculable, I can become better. Jacques Derrida Kaddish Let holiness move in us, let us pay attention to its small voice, let us see the light in others and honour that light, God, take me by Your hand, I shall follow You dutifully, and not resist too much. I shall evade none of the tempests life has in store for me, I shall try to face it all as best I can. But now and then grant me a short respite. I shall never again assume, in my innocence, that any peace that comes my way will be eternal. I shall accept all the inevitable tumult and struggle. I delight in warmth and security, but I shall not rebel if I have to suffer cold, should You so decree. I shall follow wherever Your hand leads me and shall try not to be afraid. I shall try to spread some of my warmth, of my genuine love for others, wherever I go. But we shouldn’t boast of our love for others. We cannot be sure that it really exists. I don’t want to be anything special, I only want to try to be true to that in me which seeks to fulfil its promise. I sometimes imagine that I long for the seclusion of a nunnery. But I know that I must seek You among people, out in the world. Etty Hillesum remember the dead who paid our way here dearly, dearly, and remember the unborn for whom we build our houses. Praise the light that shines before us, through us, after us. Marge Piercy
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
A Short Dialogue You and I, dear God, we both know it, that Your world was barely ready when the seventh day dawned. So at the time You relied on Your creation to help You out. Oh dear! Suffering doesn’t purify us and from mistakes we don’t become wise, merely crafty. – God, You gave us the world as it is please give us as well that world–conscience which was unfortunately not handed over at the time.
MaschaKaléko
FOR MOMENTS OF PRIVATE PRAYER
How do I pray? My God, I do not know how to pray. I have only the feelings in my heart, the stirrings in my soul, and these impoverished words. Will they suffice this day? Thinking of You, I find my mind wandering, wondering about the journey I have made to reach this moment in time. I think of the burdens I carry and the rewards that have come my way. I remember the joy I have known, and the times when my vision failed. Swept along by the currents of my desires, I am adrift in the midst of life. Your psalmist says ‘Be still, and know that I am God’. So still my mind as I wait for You. Teach me to hear the silence – Your voice in me. This is my prayer today, the prayer of one who does not know how to pray. My body is weak, my thoughts distracted, my heart awash with hopes unfulfilled. Let my honesty now be my true devotion to You. Hear me now, in the stillness, and may Your still, small voice echo within and bring my spirit peace. Howard Cooper God, I thank You for this time of prayer, when I become conscious of Your presence, and lay before You my desires, my hopes and my gratitude. This consciousness, this inner certainty of Your presence is my greatest blessing. My life would be empty if I did not have it, if I lost You in the maze of the world, and if I did not return to You from time to time, to be at one with You, certain of Your existence and Your love. It is good that You are with me in all my difficulties and troubles, and that I have in You a friend whose help is sure and whose love never changes. From Forms of Prayer 1930
MEDITATIONS BEFORE PRAYER
I turn towards You, and pray for those I love, who are dearer to me than life. Protect them as a father, and keep them from harm, in body, mind and spirit. Deepen their desire to know Your will, and strengthen them to do it. Help them in their struggle with the world, with selfishness, with laziness, and with forgetfulness of their own souls. Lord, help me as well, so that my own life does not contradict the life I desire for them. Let it serve them as an example, and help them in their struggle for goodness. I thank You for those who are dear to me, for the privilege of guiding their steps towards You, for the love which binds our hearts together, for its joy, for its solace, and for the strength it gives me in trouble and temptation. Help me to keep that love strong. May no selfishness or misunderstanding weaken it. May it bless me to the end! Amen. From Forms of Prayer 1930 God, I have not always been true to You in my thoughts. I have doubted Your goodness, Your justice and Your very existence. The pressures of life were too strong, its bitterness more than I could bear. Everything went wrong with my hopes and my plans, and there seemed no way out, no way to turn. I said, ‘There is no justice in this life of ours!’Sometimes my own suffering, but still more the suffering of others, strengthened my doubts. ‘Why,’I asked, ‘does God make His own children suffer? Where is God’s love? Where is God’s power?’At this point, You almost ceased to exist for me. Your hand would have held me, guided me, comforted me, but I lost touch with You. I should have looked for You more steadily, searched for You more diligently. Out of my limited experience and my small knowledge, I judged the source of justice, and set my cleverness higher than the ultimate wisdom. I saw only one side of truth – the darkness, not the light. I forgot the smiling face of life and its beauty. I also forgot that the pain of life itself can lead to deeper compassion, and is a teacher of great wisdom. Because I was proud, and claimed to understand what was beyond me, I did not see that human goodness is a token of its Creator’s goodness. Pardon my conceit and my blindness. Help me to greater detachment so that I may see with greater steadiness and calm. Help me to find order in the apparent chaos of human life, and love even in its defeats and trials. Your mercy is always there; You know and feel our pain. Amen. From Forms of Prayer 1930
SH’LIACH TSIBBUR – THE WORSHIP SERVICE LEADER To conduct a Jewish worship service is a great privilege and responsibility, an opportunity that is given to few. Whether for a ‘professional’, for a ‘regular congregant’with skills, or for someone asked because ‘no one else is available’, each of us faces the same challenges: a worship service belongs to a chain of tradition, yet each worship service is unique; however familiar it is, we need to review the structure and timing on each occasion; preparation includes liaising with others who play a part in this particular service; the clearer we have the flow of the service in our minds, the easier it will be for congregants to participate and follow; we should respect the minhag of those who want what is familiar – and be sensitive and prepare people when introducing something new. The challenge in a worship service is to be faithful to the liturgy itself, the structure and traditions that have come down to us over the centuries, but at the same time to respect the needs of those who are there, whether to pray or simply to be present. The service should be a ‘safe space’, one that meets the many different needs that people bring at different times. The words, music and ‘choreography’aim to build a collective experience, yet congregants can be helped to find their private space within it, to focus or simply daydream: through a few moments of stillness, perhaps wrapped in a tallit , before the service itself begins; during the prayer ribon ha–olamim which provides a kind of ‘spiritual questionnaire’; during the silences, when the second and third paragraphs of the Sh’ma are read or at the end of the Amidah . The Sh’liach Tsibbur is there for the sake of the service, and not the service for the sake of the Sh’liach Tsibbur ;
A prayer for the Sh’liach Tsibbur l ¥A ©w Accept my prayer as if it were what it ought to be, wise, eager and worthy of one who is profound and is able to express it, a person whose good nature is known to all.
o ¥w¨f z©N ¦t §z ¦M i ¦z¨N ¦t §Y l ¥A ©w mi ¦r¨p FlFw §e d ¤`¨p Fw §x ¦tE li ¦b ¨x §e :zFI ¦x §A ©d m ¦r z©r «©c §A a ¨[r §nE
legd zenil zixgy zltz Daily Morning Service
.m ¨lFr §l i ¦l Ki ¦Y §U ©x ¥` §e .mi ¦n£g ©x §aE c ¤q«¤g §aE h ¨R §W ¦n §aE w ¤c«¤v §A i ¦l Ki ¦Y §U ©x ¥` §e :dedi z¤` §Y©r «©c¨i §e d¨pEn¡`¤A i ¦l Ki ¦Y §U ©x ¥` §e I betroth you to Me forever. I betroth you to Me with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love. I betroth you to Me with faithfulness and you will know the Eternal. The psalmist teaches that ‘it is good to give thanks to the Eternal ... to tell of Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness every night’(Psalm 92:2–3). The daily morning service focuses on the renewal of life that is possible each day, as individuals, as part of a living community, of humanity as a whole and of the natural world. This is an expression of God’s chesed , the ‘love’described by the psalmist. That love is reflected in the opening blessings and prayers which describe both our physical and spiritual reality, restored to life after sleep. The wearing of the tallit and tefillin , during the morning service alone, symbolises our wish to hold on to the spiritual in the midst of the realities and responsibilities of daily life. In the evening prayers, as the day winds down, we reflect on how God’s ‘faithfulness’has sustained us, however challenged we may have been by what the day has brought. Hosea 2: 21–22
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