Shiur Theatre: 21st Century Tefillah, Part 3

And here is the concluding act, in which we note that the Community of "Community Prayer" is not only the current generation, but inter-generational, across time. As far as the overall debate between the importance of personalization and the importance of community, it is recognized that both must be honoured, but that personalization on an individual level can be achieved without sacrificing community.

Standing at the shulchan

NARRATOR (standing): Act Three takes place at another meeting, two weeks later.

SARA: Okay. Next up on our agenda is the Contemporary Minyan and the Alternative Contemporary Minyan – and a third version that might be starting up soon.

All at once, incredulously:

ADAM: What?

RABBI: A third Contemporary minyan?

JOSH: Why?!

SARA: Well, the idea started because the girls were fed up that the boys weren't showing up on time to their minyan, so things were starting late.

ADAM: But I've been at that minyan - the girls don't show up on time either!

SARA: Yes, but when they do show up at 11:00, they want the minyan to be in musaf already.

JOSH (rolls his eyes): Just like their parents.

SARA: So they're bothered by the lateness, and they also want to make more changes to the minyan, and the boys don't like their ideas.

ADAM: Changes like what?

SARA (serious about the idea): Well, the Beiber berachah was their idea, and the boys rejected it, so they want that included. And they want a berachah for success on their exams, which the boys think is juvenile. And they think the berachah that the boys created for their NCAA March Madness pool is juvenile. So the girls want to create what they are calling the Female Alternative Contemporary Minyan.

MOSHE RABBEINU walks into shul at this point, from the doors in the back. The participants don't see him yet, as he walks to them slowly, grandly.

ADAM (upset): So now we're supposed to have a (counting on his fingers) Main Minyan, a Hashkamah Minyan, a Contemporary Minyan, an Alternative Contemporary Minyan, and an Alternative Female Contemporary Minyan?

RABBI (agitated): And the whole ברב עם הדרת מלך idea of davening in a large group is toast! Not to mention לא תתגודדו, the prohibition against splitting ourselves into micro-groups.

JOSH (even more agitated): And I want to know: What's coming next?

Moshe is now at the table

MOSHE (firmly): Ahem.

RABBI (eyeing the desert robe) : Umm… who are you?

MOSHE (matter-of-factly): I believe you usually call me Moshe Rabbeinu, but Moshe is fine.

Everyone stands back quickly

RABBI: No beard?!

MOSHE: Shaved for Lag ba'Omer.

RABBI: Oh. Um. Yeah. Um. Uhhh… What are you doing here? Are you here to solve this situation?

MOSHE: Do you really think there's a solution to this problem? This is one of those timeless challenges that Judaism presents.

RABBI: So what will you add to this "timeless challenge"?

Everyone relaxes a bit, back into meeting mode

MOSHE: I believe in personally crafting prayer to suit a particular situation – When my sister Miriam was sick, I drafted a short, five-word prayer for her. When the Jews made the Golden Calf, I prayed for forty days. It's like that boy, Jason, who you’ve been worried about; different situations call for different things.

RABBI (shocked): So you believe in the Alternative Female Contemporary Minyan?

MOSHE (pained expression): Please don't oversimplify; your point about the communal emphasis of communal prayer is right. And I want to add, from my own experience, that the goal of communal prayer is to bind Jews together across time, spanning the generations, as a single community, in a single covenant.

ADAM: Across time? What does that mean?

MOSHE: In the beginning, Gd made a pact with Avraham regarding the fate of his descendants. The covenant into which we entered on the banks of the Jordan River was for all Jews, in all generations. לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, for us and for our children, eternally.[1] We are one unit.

SARA: But Moshe – sir - how does being one nation affect our choice of davening, so long as we daven to HaShem?

MOSHE: Because HaShem wishes to view us as one nation when we daven. Just read the book of Shemot;[2] He heard our cries in Egypt, and He remembered Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. HaShem told us to use the Name, "The Gd of Avraham, the Gd of Yitzchak, the Gd of Yaakov," to invoke that crossing of the generations when we daven.

RABBI (excited): And you did that, too! That was your own experience - When you davened for the Jews after the Eigel, you asked Gd to remember Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov![3]

MOSHE: Precisely; to me, it is most important that each generation not view itself as isolated, adrift in time, but part of a chain of generations. So it is that your minhagim and text remain the same as that which your ancient ancestors used.

SARA (catching on): Right; and that's why we have midrashim about Jews of later generations coming to Rachel, or Yirmiyahu, or – or you – to daven for us. That's why some Jews will go to a grave to daven, to ask for help. Davening is about more than just making myself more connected to Gd.

MOSHE: Now you're getting it. And it's important to feel the bond with those ancestors. Don't you feel it when you daven, that link with your ancestors who said the same words, bowed the same way? Individual Jews have always recited words that conflicted with their personal emotions or experience in some way, just to be part of that group.[4]

ADAM: So it's about connecting with each other and with our ancestors.

MOSHE: Very much so. And at a time like this, a time of all those grand movements and schisms you mentioned earlier – now, more than ever, we need something that will hold us together, that all of us will have in common. Community Tefillah does that.

JOSH: So I'm confused; you endorse personalizing prayer, but you are adamant about preserving community. So what are you recommending? What would you tell our camper, Jason?

MOSHE: That I value both sides. And compromise is difficult. King Solomon's wife, daughter of the Pharaoh, tried to introduce music that she favoured into the service of the Beit haMikdash; that didn't go over well.[5] Innovations can easily lead to division, and as the Chatam Sofer noted,[6] based on a Mishnah,[7] "Unity, togetherness, benefits the righteous and those around them." Not to mention, the trust that comes from communal prayer is lost when people will not daven together.

RABBI (dejected): So then nothing we do will be right?

MOSHE: Nothing will be right, perhaps, but there is plenty that we can do. We should try to satisfy individualism, and the needs of a new generation of Jasons, to help them draw closer to Gd. And we should try to keep the community together, not innovating to the point that we defeat the Community aspect of Community Prayer. But most of all, we need to have the humility to recognize that we may never get it entirely right, and that those with whom we disagree will never be entirely wrong.

SARA: But – can you give us some practical direction?

MOSHE: First, I'd suggest learning. From what I have seen, davening isn't  treated as a serious subject for study, not at home and not at school. I don't mean the rules of davening, but the text. We can hardly expect people – children or adults – to find themselves and their needs and their emotions in the davening, unless they devote energy to the task.

JOSH: Understood.

MOSHE: And second: Jews have always specialized in mitzvot that resonated with their personality and talents, as the Netziv[8] and Rav Kook[9] discussed in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Or like the Chatam Sofer said,[10] "No two people have the same style, because no two people love HaShem in the same way." So I favour encouraging people to add personal requests. In mitzvos, beautify them in your own style.[11] In minhag, choose songs that your family will sing at your Shabbos table. The more it can be kept to the personal level, the better.

JOSH: So that we won't alienate each other.

SARA: And so that we won't alienate ourselves from our predecessors.

MOSHE: Precisely. It won't satisfy all of the Jasons, but perhaps it will give them the tools to find themselves in their own davening, and over time they might come to appreciate finding themselves in community, too. (turns to go) And now, I must go.

RABBI: Wait, Moshe! Just one second. (reaches for his phone) Could we – would you mind – could I take a selfie with you?

MOSHE: A selfie? Seriously? Haven't you heard what I've been saying? The point isn't Selfies – the point is Community.

---

[1] Devarim 29:28

[2] Shemot 2:24

[3] Shemot 32:13

[4] See an interesting article by Professor David Flusser http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/deot/floser3.htm

[5] Shabbos 56b; and see Rif 281, Darchei Moshe Orach Chaim 53:10, Radvaz 2:890, Kaf haChaim 13:6, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah 2:77, and see Yabia Omer 6:Orach Chaim 7:3.

[6] Chatam Sofer 5:Choshen Mishpat 12:3

[7] Sanhedrin 8:5

[8] Netziv to Bamidbar 24:6

[9] Poem – אל חכי שופר

[10] Chatam Sofer 1:197

[11] Shabbos 133b

Shiur Theatre: 21st Century Tefillah, Part 2

Here is Act Two. Where the first act made points promoting customization of davening, the second act responds by noting the importance of community in communal prayer. We might be overplaying the point, though.

NARRATOR: Act Two begins three weeks later, in the Camp Shul. (Join ADAM)

RABBI and ADAM are standing by the shulchan

RABBI: I don't know, Adam. I mean, this Contemporary Minyan thing… it feels separatist.

ADAM: We've been down that road, remember? Prayer helps a person talk with Gd, and to grow spiritually, in a way that makes him better. So what's the point of preserving Community Prayer, if there is no Prayer?

RABBI: Because I've come to think that the emphasis in Communal Prayer should be more on the Communal than the Prayer.

ADAM: Huh? Where does that idea come from? Of course the point is Prayer - doesn't the Talmud state that davening communally is good because Gd always hears the prayers of the community? It's about the prayer![1]

RABBI: That's not necessarily the main benefit. Communal prayer has always emphasized community. Look at the mishkan that the Jews traveled with in the wilderness; the site for talking with G-d was in the centre of the camp, the glue holding the tribes together. Or the Beit haMikdash, built on communal land owned by no single tribe, to be neutral ground on which everyone could unite.[2]

ADAM: So the community's Feng Shui is oriented around the shared place in which they daven. But that doesn't mean that communal prayer is designed to build community!

RABBI: Why not? Rambam even said that biblical rituals were designed to build community! He wrote that the purpose of עלייה לרגל, of the mitzvah of going to Yerushalayim for each holiday is to build community![3] Or look at the 40 loaves of bread brought with a korban todah, a thanks-offering, in the Beit haMikdash – the Netziv says that the Torah allows just one day to eat all 40 loaves, in order to make sure that it will turn into a community feast.[4]

ADAM: So you're telling me that the reason to daven together is community-building. Do you think that works?

RABBI: Sociologists at the University of Connecticut and Ben Gurion University in Israel think so; they've pointed out that praying in a group increases cooperation and trust among the members of the group.[5] They've found that religious men who attend shul daily are more cooperative and trusting with each other than any other group, including religious men who don't go to shul, religious women, secular men, and secular women.

ADAM: Huh? How did they prove that?

RABBI: It's a bit of a story, but for example, they did a study with 558 members from 18 kibbutzim in Israel: They paired up people, and gave each pair an envelope with 100 shekel to divide between the two of them. To make a long story short, the pairs of men who attended minyan together took less for themselves, and expressed greater trust in each other, than did any other group. The researchers even found that davening together created greater trust than eating together.

ADAM: They should come to our shul, and join the kiddush club; then they could daven and eat together – that will really build community!

RABBI: Yeah, yeah. Listen, there are other benefits besides trust, too. In a shul, davening in a large group brings the children who daven there into the community.[6] And it offers chances for people to give each other emotional support and to address communal needs.

ADAM: Communal needs? How?

RABBI: Think about it – We add elements like the Kel Malei and Yizkor for grieving, to give people the chance to cry together; that's what אב הרחמים was originally for, too, after the Crusades. We have the מי שברך for people who are sick, which raises awareness of people's needs. We recite יקום פורקן to encourage volunteerism by blessing the community's volunteers.

ADAM: Hah! That assumes the volunteers are actually back from the kiddush club in time for יקום פורקן, to hear it.

RABBI: That's two on the kiddush club; make another joke at their expense and you'll never act in this town again! But the practical aid is about more than prayers and emotional support - appeals for tzedakah have always been the norm in shul, and in older times they would announce Lost and Found and even help people find jobs in shul.[7]

ADAM: So you're claiming that this is what Gd had in mind – that tefillah b'tzibbur, communal davening, is really about community first, and davening second? You do realize that this idea encourages talking in shul, right?

RABBI: Yes, I-

JOSH enters; Rabbi stops speaking to look over at him

JOSH (agitated): Rabbi, Adam, you're not going to believe this. I just heard from some of the teens who go to the Contemporary Minyan.

RABBI: And?

JOSH: They don't find the Contemporary Minyan very contemporary; they want to break away and form an Alternative Contemporary Minyan.

ADAM: But what don't they like?

JOSH: For starters, they think the Waiters' idea of a berachah for the stock market is lame.

ADAM (sarcastic): Sure, until they want to draw on their trust funds!

RABBI: So what berachos do they want instead?

JOSH (counting on his fingers): They want one for the environment and global warming. And another for world peace – not just Jewish peace, but peace everywhere. And they want one for children in Africa, and they want one for the homeless-

RABBI (impressed): Well, it's good that they have such serious concerns. Maybe you're right – we should be encouraging the kids to take their davening so personally. If they want to talk to Gd about African children - I'm impressed!

JOSH: Um…. and they want one for keeping Justin Bieber out of jail.

RABBI: They may want growth, but I guess they're kids all the same…

---

[1] Berachos 6a, 7b-8a; Mishneh Torah Hilchot Tefillah 8:1; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 90:9

[2] Yoma 12a, and the Rambam rules this way

[3] Niddah 34a, Maharitz Chajes there; Moreh haNevuchim 3:34

[4] Haameik Davar Vayyikra 7

[5] Religious Ritual and Cooperation: Testing for a Relationship on Israeli Religious and Secular Kibbutzim (Current Anthropology 44:5 2003); Does it pay to pray? Costly Ritual and Cooperation, The Berkeley Electronic Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 7:1 (2007) ; The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual, American Scientist

[6] Prayer is a Positive Activity for Children, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality 10:3 Dec. 2005

[7] Succah 51b; and see the בית כנסת של טרסיים in Megilah 26a and Nazir 52a

Shiur Theatre: 21st Century Tefillah, Part 1

One of the various pursuits that has taken me away from this blog recently has been the effort to produce a new edition of Shiur Theatre, this one on "21st Century Tefillah". The challenge: To make the arguments for and against modern customization of communal prayer. This isn't about halachic debates regarding inventing berachot or egalitarian ritual, as you will see in the text; it's about changing the language of davening - its requests, its expressions of gratitude, and so on - to fit modern reality.

I'm not sure I am entirely comfortable with what I came up with, but I think there is a lot of truth in it. Here is Act One:

ADAM, SARA, JOSH and RABBI are all standing at the Shulchan, in the middle of a meeting. Please try to look at the crowd and each other, not the script.

ADAM (facing the Rabbi): Believe it or not, the waiters want to add a berachah for the stock market for the new Contemporary Minyan. Without Gd's Name, of course, just a מי שבירך.

SARA (also addressing the Rabbi): And the lifeguards want a berachah for the weather, too; we can have Barech Aleinu for farming weather, and Beach Aleinu for swimming weather.

JOSH (bemused): Seriously? So they want a berachah for the stock market, and a berachah for beach weather. What else?

ADAM: Personally, I think it would be a good idea to add HaTikvah.

JOSH: But we already say three separate prayers for Israel and her soldiers. And we daven for HaShem to return to Tzion, and for Yerushalayim to be rebuilt with a Beit haMikdash. So where are you going to fit in Hatikvah?

ADAM: Fine, so maybe we should just require the tune of Hatikvah. Like, the chazan for Musaf must use the tune of Hatikvah for some part of Kedushah. What do you think, Rabbi?

RABBI: I'm… (hunting for tactful words)… not so comfortable.

ADAM: What's your objection to Hatikvah?

RABBI: It's not an objection to Hatikvah; I'm uncomfortable with this whole thing, this Contemporary Minyan idea as a whole.

ADAM: But we've been through this. The kids will absolutely conform with any halachah you present, but they find it hard to relate to the davening as it is. You see them staring off into space, straggling in late, not putting on tefillin, talking to each other with their siddurim closed, don't you?

RABBI: Yes, but are they staring into space because they can't relate to the words or because they don’t think tefillah works at all?

ADAM: Probably some of both.

JOSH: He has a point, Rabbi. We expect these kids – or their parents, for that matter – to connect with words written thousands of years ago, on a different continent, in a different culture and economy and  climate. These kids are reciting words about persecution and farming and a Temple, but they're thinking Internet, reality TV and social media! The world is changing, Rabbi -

SARA (Cut off Josh): And it's not just that society is changing, but we are changing society, ourselves. We don't do things the way our ancestors did, we insist on changing them. All of the great movements of recent history – nationalism, humanism, feminism, racial equality, even Zionism – all of these express the belief that We can shape our world. We construct our own identities.[1] It's time that Judaism let us shape the way we pray.

ADAM: It's true. Look, I'll speak for myself. A few months ago, I had a friend in the hospital, facing a life-and-death surgery. Do you think I connected to G-d with רפאנו?

RABBI: So what did you do?

ADAM: I said the normal amidah, but then I added my own prayer. It was much more meaningful for me. And yes, it would have been more meaningful had I been able to do that communally, maybe having some kind of responsive reading with a tefillah I wrote myself.

SARA: And it's about more than the words. It's about the whole structure. I have a hard time growing close to Gd, or feeling moved, by a prayer that gives me rules for bowing, stepping backward, stepping forward, standing with my feet together.

RABBI: What  - you want interpretive dance instead?[2]

SARA (faux enthusiastically): Yeah! (Josh and Adam swivel around to stare at her, as if to ask, "Seriously?")

RABBI: Look, I get it. When the Shulchan Aruch[3] writes that one shouldn't even change the tunes of davening on Yom Kippur night, it does seem like he is going very far to freeze the way we daven. But if that's what Judaism is, then all of these changes are simply off-base!

SARA: Then we're going to lose these kids, Rabbi. Listen – these aren't cynical kids. These aren't the ones who are dropping out. These kids are in the system, they want to daven, they want to connect to Gd. They don't look at tefillah as some magical way to get Gd to work for them, they believe in growth and getting close to Gd. They aren’t even challenging halachah. Their only "sin" is that they want to add prayers that fit where their hearts are.

RABBI: I hear.

SARA: Look - Rabbi, do you know Jason?

RABBI: Jason Schwartz? Skinny kid in the Grade 6 division?

SARA: Yes, him. Remember how much trouble he was from the start of camp? Refusing to participate in activities he didn't like, picking fights?

RABBI: Sure; but then he seemed to adjust nicely.

SARA: He didn't adjust on his own, Rabbi. (turns to Josh) Josh, tell him what you did.

JOSH (shy about his own role): It wasn't really much; I ran into him one night, sitting in the grass by the main road in a thoughtful mood, and we got to talking. Turns out, his family was going through some bad financial problems.

RABBI: So you talked it out?

JOSH: Actually, no. He asked me… (emotional, pauses) he asked me for a prayer he could say for his father to find a job. He genuinely wanted to talk to HaShem about the situation. I told him he could add a line in Barech Aleinu, but he decided to write his own version of Barech Aleinu. And yeah, since then he does seem to have settled down.

ADAM: We all have individual needs. Look at the Torah reading from this morning, with the Jews camped in the wilderness by tribe. Doesn't Ibn Ezra[4] say that each tribal flag had a unique image, reflecting its special character? And doesn't Rabbeinu Bechayye[5] say the same thing about the unique stone that each tribe had on the Kohen Gadol's breastplate, that it was chosen to reflect their distinct traits? Judaism admits that each of us is different.

JOSH (also addressing Rabbi): And consider this: Rambam wrote[6] that the reason the sages set specific words and form for davening was only a concession to reality. Individuals didn't know how to daven, so the sages gave them a davening, but it's not לכתחילה, ossification isn't the way things were meant to be.

ADAM: So let's allow the kids to change it. Rabbi Eliezer said that one who davens in a way that is fixed, rote, is not davening an acceptable tefillah.[7] חנוך לנער על פי דרכו,[8] let each kid grow in his own way, with his own character![9]

RABBI: I hear you, and I respect what you're saying. I respect what the kids are saying. But at the same time, this sounds an awful lot like Sheilaism – you know, that woman who created her own religion around the idea that we should love ourselves, be gentle with ourselves, and take care of each other.[10] Reject the status quo and do whatever you want, right?

SARA: Rabbi, Judaism was founded on rejecting the status quo and shaping things ourselves. Avraham rebelled against his society, and was known as an עברי for it.[11] Chanah davened her own way at the mishkan in Shiloh. We charted our own path then, and we should do it again. Enough with the limits!

RABBI (growing frustrated): But there are limits! We aren't allowed to add to the Torah,[12] even a prophet can't add to the Torah![13]

JOSH: So is that your ruling? The kids can't create their Contemporary Minyan?

RABBI: (pause for thought, sigh and exhalation) No, I'm not going to block it. But I've reviewed the rest of the ideas the kids have submitted, and there is one I will have to cut.

ADAM: Which one?

RABBI: The מי שבירך for the Maple Leafs – that ought to be a קל מלא רחמים.

SARA: But they can keep the berachah for Rob Ford's political future?

RABBI: No way, Sara; that's a ברכה לבטלה if I've ever heard one.

Act Two and Act Three may follow...

---

[1] Charlotte Krolokke and Anne S. Sorensen, Gender Communication Theories and Analyses; http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/15267/religious-leaders-attack-idf-on-the-gender-battlefield/; Ilan Stavans Lost in Translation: An Autobiographical Essay

[2] http://jwa.org/blog/finding-a-jewish-feminist-home

[3] See Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 619:1; Mishneh Berurah 619:7, Maharil Hilchos Yom Kippur 11

[4] Ibn Ezra to Bamidbar 2:2

[5] Shemot 28

[6] Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Tefillah 1:4

[7] Mishnah Berachos 4:4

[8] Mishlei 22:6

[9] And see Orot haTeshuvah 5, and Rav Kook's poem אל חכי שופר, on each person's unique character

[10] Bellah and Madsen, Habits of the Heart, cited in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheilaism

[11] Bereishit Rabbah 41

[12] Bal Tosif

[13] Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei haTorah 8

The Kaddish Rules

[This is my article from this week's edition of Toronto Torah]

On its most basic level, the chazzan's kaddish is a call for the Name of G-d to be elevated, to which we respond with a similar blessing of the Name of Gd. However, our davening is dotted with "half" and "whole" versions of kaddish (aside from the mourner's own varieties of kaddish, which we will not address in this article). What rule determines where the chazzan recites kaddish?

The half-kaddish, also known as "chatzi kaddish", is the basic kaddish, and its role is to separate the various mitzvot we fulfill in the course of our davening. (Raavad, cited in Beit Yosef Orach Chaim 55)

At Shacharit:
The chazzan recites a chatzi kaddish after Yishtabach to show that the preceding paragraphs do not connect to the ensuing amidah, and then another after the amidah to show that the amidah is complete. [The latter chatzi kaddish is delayed until after tachanun because tachanun is meant to be an extension of the amidah.]

An additional chatzi kaddish is recited after the Torah reading on days when we read from the Torah, in order to demonstrate that this Torah reading is a separate mitzvah.

Shema is not followed by a chatzi kaddish to demarcate its separate identity, because this would disrupt the required continuity between Shema and the amidah.

At Minchah:
A chatzi kaddish before the amidah at Minchah demarcates this special mitzvah.

An additional chatzi kaddish precedes the Torah reading on days when the Torah is read, for the same purpose.

At Maariv:
A chatzi kaddish precedes the amidah to identify it as a unique mitzvah. Mateh Moshe 388 notes that this also demonstrates that the amidah at Maariv need not be connected to Shema and the preceding passages describing our redemption from Egypt.

A chatzi kaddish follows the amidah after Shabbat, to mark the amidah as separate from the readings (V'Yhi Noam, v'Yiten Lecha) which follow it.


The whole kaddish, also known as "kaddish shalem", is meant to conclude our formal prayer with its "Titkabel" request that HaShem accept our prayers (Terumat haDeshen 15). Therefore, the chazzan recites kaddish shalem after Uva L'Tzion at the end of Shacharit, and at the end of Minchah and Maariv. When there is Musaf, this kaddish terminating Shacharit appears after Hallel. [When Hallel is recited but there is no Musaf, such as on Chanukah, kaddish shalem is recited in its normal location after Uva L'Tzion, and the chatzi kaddish for the end of the amidah is recited after Hallel.]

What is the role of the listener? Rav Yosef Karo (Beit Yosef Orach Chaim 55) noted that we try to respond to at least seven recitations of kaddish each day, to fulfill King David's declaration, "I have praised You seven times each day." Per Rav Moshe Isserles (Orach Chaim 25:13), we should make sure that our tefillin are on when responding to four recitations of kaddish on weekday mornings, although others contend that the text should read "three recitations" (Magen Avraham 25:28, Mishneh Berurah 25:56). These quotas include recitations of the Mourner's Kaddish.

Class: How to write in your siddur

On Wednesday night I'm delivering a shiur for women on "How to write in your siddur", a development based on the blog posts that appear here and here.

Here is the majority of my source sheet, excluding passages which I'll use for a "Writing Workshop". [UPDATE: The audio of the session is now available here.]:

Why use a siddur
1. Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot 2:4

נתפלל ומצא עצמו בשומע תפילה חזקה כוין... א"ר חייא רובא אנא מן יומיי לא כיונית אלא חד זמן בעי מכוונה והרהרית בלבי ואמרית מאן עליל קומי מלכא קדמי ארקבסה אי ריש גלותא שמואל אמר אנא מנית אפרוחיא רבי בון בר חייא אמר אנא מנית דימוסיא א"ר מתניה אנא מחזק טיבו לראשי דכד הוה מטי מודים הוא כרע מגרמיה

One who prays and finds himself at 'shomeia tefillah' may assume he had proper intent… R' Chiyya the Great said: I never concentrated properly; once I tried to concentrate, and then I began to wonder who goes before the king first, the officer or the exilarch. Shemuel said: I count clouds (other editions: birds). R' Bun bar Chiyya said: I could bricks. R' Matniyah said: I am grateful to my head, for when I reach Modim it bows on its own!

2. Tosefta Shabbat 13:4

הברכות אע"פ שיש בהן מאותות השם ומענינות הרבה שבתורה אין מצילין אותן אבל נשרפין במקומן מכן אמרו כותבי ברכות כשורפי תורה

Even though blessings contain the letters of the Name and many matters of Torah, one may not save them; they are burned where they are. Therefore they said: Those who write blessings are as those who burn Torah.

3. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Tefilah 4:19

תפלות הפרקים כגון תפלת מוסף ראש חדש ותפלת מועדות צריך להסדיר תפלתו ואחר כך עומד ומתפלל כדי שלא יכשל בה

One must arrange his prayer for special occasions, such as musaf for Rosh Chodesh and prayers of holidays, and then stand and pray, so that he will not stumble.

4. Pri Megadim, Orach Chaim 53 Mishbetzot Zahav 15

ויש קהלות כותבין על קלף סידור מיוחד לש"ץ להתפלל מתוכו ונכון הוא, וראוי אף ליחיד להתפלל מתוך הסידור...

In some communities they write a special siddur for the chazan to use, and this is appropriate; it is appropriate even for individuals to pray from a siddur…

5. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 96:2

מותר לאחוז מחזור תפלות בידו בשעה שמתפלל הואיל ותופס לצורך תפלה עצמה לא טריד...

One may hold a book of prayers in his hand when praying; he will not be distracted since he holds it for prayer…

Our problems: Fixed text; Blob of text; Familiarity
6. Mishnah Berachot 4:4

רבי אליעזר אומר העושה תפלתו קבע אין תפלתו תחנונים

R' Eliezer said: One who makes his prayer 'fixed' – his prayer is not a proper plea.

7. Talmud, Bava Batra 164b-165a

שלש עבירות אין אדם ניצול מהן בכל יום הרהור עבירה ועיון תפלה ולשון הרע לשון הרע סלקא דעתך אלא אבק לשון הרע

One is not saved from three sins daily: Thoughts of immorality, examination of prayer, and [almost] harmful speech.

8. Rambam, Moreh haNevuchim 3:51

אם תתפלל בהנעת שפתיך ופניך אל הכותל ואתה חושב במקחך וממכרך... תהיה אז קרוב ממי שנאמר בהם, קרוב אתה בפיהם ורחוק מכליותיהם.

Should you pray with movement of your lips and your face to the wall but think about your commerce… you will be close to those regarding whom it is written, 'You are close to their mouths, but far from their innards.'

Writing in a siddur?
9. Mishneh Berurah 96:9

ונמצא באחרונים שאף בחזרת הש"ץ נכון הוא שיהיה הסידור פתוח לפניו להיות אזניו פקוחות על מה שאומר הש"ץ

The acharonim wrote that it is also appropriate to hold an open siddur during repetition of the amidah, so that one's ears will be open to that which the chazan says.

10. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 90:23

הבגדים המצויירים.. אין נכון להתפלל כנגדם, ואם יקרה לו להתפלל כנגד בגד או כותל מצויר, יעלים עיניו. הגה: ולכן אסור ג"כ לצייר ציורים בספרים שמתפללין בהן, שלא תתבטל הכוונה

One should not pray opposite clothes with designs… and if one happens to pray opposite a garment or wall with a picture, he should close his eyes.
Rama: Therefore, one may not draw pictures in the books from which we pray, lest that prevent concentration.

11. Alternatives: http://lauramiller.typepad.com/lauramiller/2009/03/how-to-write-in-a-book.html

Practical tips
1. Mark phrases for special concentration
2. Mark structural/poetic elements that provide greater meaning
3. Add wake-up calls
4. Mark lines requiring explanation
5. Write in food for thought

Writing notes
1. Pencil, small marks, change them regularly
2. Spread marks throughout the various prayers
3. Be ready to replace your siddur
4. Don't distract from the davening

In lieu of the Workshop, here are some examples of items I have marked in my current siddur:
* Words and phrases for special concentration - ואהבת, באהבה, והשב את העבודה לדביר ביתך, ולעבדו בלבב שלם

* Poetic/structural elements - The imperatives in Mizmor l'Todah; The 3 types of Divine action requested in Al haTzaddikim; the theme-aligned sets of lines in Avinu Malkeinu; the two halves of Emes v'Emunah (across time / Yetzias Mitzrayim)

* Wake-up calls - Alerts for Shma, Morid haGeshem, Refa'einu

* Lines that require explanation - והושיענו למען שמך, שיבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימינו ותן חלקנו בתורתך

* Food for thought - Rav Kook's explanation of בעל מלחמות זורע צדקות, the two roles of Avinu and Malkeinu, the difference between a shofar and a nes in T'ka b'shofar.

Davening with secular tunes

[Take a look at this Haveil Havalim edition, linking to tributes to RivkA, a"h, of Coffee and Chemo]

I'm teaching a class Monday night on the Music of Jews in Arab Lands, and that will lead into the general question of the propriety of adopting secular music for prayer. Here are some of the sources I will use in the discussion; note that some of the sources are about general singing of secular tunes, and others are about prayer, specifically.

Responsa of Maimonides, 12th century Egypt, #224
A question from Aram Tzova: Is it permissible to hear the Hazor Arab songs?
The answer is known: The song and tunes are prohibited even without words, as we are taught, ‘The ear that hears music should be uprooted.’ The Talmud explained that there is no difference between hearing songs or playing on strings or hearing pleasant things without words; whatever causes joy and stirs a person is prohibited. They linked this to the prophet’s prohibition, ‘Do not be joyous, Israel, like the nations.’
The reason for this is very clear: One must conquer and prevent and rein in this desire, lest it become active and arouse him. We do not pay attention to the exception, of whom there are few, who is brought to greater spiritual care and intellectual awakening or humility before Gd [by this music]; the laws of Torah were written for the many and the normal…
We have already explained in our commentary to Avot that there is no difference between Hebrew and Arabic; the prohibition is based upon the content. In truth, one is prohibited from listening to stupidity even without song, and if it is played with instruments then there are three prohibitions – stupidity and obscenity, and verbal song, and song upon strings…

Responsa of Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, 11th century Morocco, #281
Regarding the synagogue chazan, of whom they have heard that he behaves improperly, such as singing Ishmaelite songs – should they remove him or not:
The leader who speaks improper words, such as vulgarity, singing Ishmaelite songs, should be removed. Regarding this it is said (Jeremiah 12:8), ‘She raised her voice upon me, and so I hated her.’

Rabbi Moshe Isserles, 16th century Poland, Darchei Moshe 53:10
A leader who acts inappropriately, such as speaking vulgarity, such as singing Arabic songs, should be subject to protest. Should he not listen, they should remove him.

Rabbi Chaim Palaggi, 19th century Turkey, Kaf haChaim 13:6
Would that they would warn poets and singers not to sing Kaddish and Kedushah in the garb of the nations, with the maqam. One who knows it will come to bad thoughts, and so the leader sins and causes others to sin. This is an offering with inappropriate intent, and it will not be acceptable. That which is impure cannot enter the hall of Gd, and its presence causes goodness to be absent. Regarding this it is written (Psalms 39:4), ‘Fire burns when I speak.’

Rabbi Yisrael Moshe Hazan, 19th century Rome, Krach shel Romi 1
Music, even that which is dedicated for idolatry, may not be compared to a [worshipped] monument [which the Torah forbids as a Canaanite practice]… Music itself is the essence of worship, as it is written, ‘And our lips will complete our bulls.’ This is prayer with humility and a pleasant voice and joy and trembling, with glory and beauty in the house of our Gd! If the sound they use when making music in the house of their idolatry is the sound which introduces humility into the heart, with its type of music and what people are accustomed to hearing… Could it be believed that because fools corrupted it and established it in the house of their prayers, we would be prohibited from using something our nature requires, one of the body’s five senses?!... In that case, we should also prohibit the cup of wine from havdalah, since they bless upon the wine of their libations in their churches!...

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, 20th-21st century Egypt - Israel, Yabia Omer 6:Orach Chaim 7:3
Leave Israel be; if they are not prophets, they are descendants [‘students’] of prophets, and their custom is Torah.

How communal prayer helps community

[This week's Haveil Havalim is here]

Back in Weeks 1-2 we discussed how communal prayer helps prayer. This week (Week 6), our Wednesday night Tzibburology class will look at the ways in which tefillah b'tzibbur [communal prayer] helps to build community. Here is the source sheet we will use:

Community aids prayer, as well as religious practice
1. D. E. Saliers, Liturgy and Ethics: Some New Beginnings, Journal of Religious Ethics (Fall 1979)
Worship both forms and expresses persons in the beliefs, the emotions and the attitudes appropriate to the religious life.

The mitzvah of communal prayer
2. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Tefillah 8:1
תפלת הציבור נשמעת תמיד ואפילו היו בהן חוטאים אין הקב"ה מואס בתפלתן של רבים, לפיכך צריך אדם לשתף עצמו עם הציבור, ולא יתפלל ביחיד כל זמן שיכול להתפלל עם הציבור, ולעולם ישכים אדם ויעריב לבית הכנסת שאין תפלתו נשמעת בכל עת אלא בבית הכנסת, וכל מי שיש לו בית הכנסת בעירו ואינו מתפלל בו עם הציבור נקרא שכן רע.
The prayer of the community is always heard; even if there are sinners among them, Gd does not reject the prayer of the many. Therefore, one must always join himself with the community, and not pray alone so long as he could pray with the community. One must always rise early and go in the evening to the shul, for his prayer will not be heard at all times other than in the shul. One who has a shul in his city and does not pray there with the community is termed a ‘bad neighbor.’

3. Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 90:9
ישתדל אדם להתפלל בב"ה עם הציבור, ואם הוא אנוס שאינו יכול לבוא לב"ה, יכוין להתפלל בשעה שהציבור מתפללים, (והוא הדין בני אדם הדרים בישובים ואין להם מנין, מ"מ יתפללו שחרית וערבית בזמן שהציבור מתפללים, סמ"ג).
Mechaber: One should always endeavor to pray in shul with the community. One who is forced such that he cannot go to shul should specifically pray when the community prays. Rama: And people who dwell in outlying areas where there is no minyan should still pray in the morning and evening when the community prays.

4. Midrash, Yalkut Shimoni 871
מעשה באשה אחת שהזקינה הרבה ובאת לפני רבי יוסי בן חלפתא אמרה ליה רבי הזקנתי יותר מדאי ומעכשיו חיים של נוול הם שאיני טועמת לא מאכל ולא משקה ואני מבקשת להפטר מן העולם, א"ל מה מצוה את למודה לעשות בכל יום, א"ל למודה אני אפילו יש לי דבר חביב אני מנחת אותו ומשכמת לבית הכנסת בכל יום, א"ל מנעי עצמך מבית הכנסת שלשה ימים זה אחר זה, הלכה ועשתה כן וביום השלישי חלתה ומתה,
A greatly aged woman came before R’ Yosi ben Chalafta and said, “My master, I have become too old, and my life is now repellent to me. I do not taste food or drink; I wish to leave this world.”
He asked her: What mitzvah do you practice daily? She replied: My practice is that even if I have something beloved to do, I leave it and rise early for shul each day.
He said: Keep yourself from the shul for three consecutive days. She did this, and on the third day she fell ill and died.

5. Mishneh Berurah 687:7
ואפילו היתה ת"ת של חבורה גדולה של ק' אנשים שלומדים באיזה בית אפ"ה צריך לבטל ולילך לקרותה בצבור משום ברב עם הדרת מלך.
Even if there is a great group of 100 men studying in a house, they still must cease and go to read megilah in the community, because of the principle, “The glory of the king is in a great nation.”

6. Talmud, Rosh haShanah 35a
אמר רב אחא בר עוירא אמר רבי שמעון חסידא: פוטר היה רבן גמליאל אפילו עם שבשדות.
Rav Acha bar Avira cited R’ Shimon Chasida, saying that Rabban Gamliel ruled that the chazan [in repeating the amidah] even exempted the masses out in the fields.

Communal prayer is meant to draw people together
7. Bamidbar 10:2
(ב) עשה לך שתי חצוצרת כסף מקשה תעשה אתם והיו לך למקרא העדה ולמסע את המחנות:

8. Esther 4:15-16
ותאמר אסתר להשיב אל מרדכי: לך כנוס את כל היהודים הנמצאים בשושן וצומו עלי ואל תאכלו ואל תשתו שלשת ימים לילה ויום...

9. Talmud, Yoma 12a
והאי תנא סבר ירושלים לא נתחלקה לשבטים דתניא אין משכירין בתים בירושלים לפי שאינה שלהן ר' אלעזר בר שמעון אומר אף לא מטות.
That authority theorized that Yerushalayim was not divided among the tribes, as we learned, “They may not charge rent for homes in Yerushalayim, for it does not belong to them. Rabbi Elazar bar Shimon said: Beds, too.”

10. Netziv, Haameik Davar Vayyikra 7:13
דתכלית התודה שבא על הנס הוא כדי לספר חסדי ה' שגמל עליו, ומטעם זה ריבה הכתוב בלחם ומיעט בזמן אכילת תודה מכל שלמים היינו כדי שיהיה מרבה ריעים לסעודה אחת ביום הקרבה ויהיה סיפור הנס לפני רוב אנשים וארבע חלות לכהנים שהן המה תלמידי חכמים.
The goal of the todah that is brought in response to a miracle is to tell of the great generosity Gd performed for him. Therefore the Torah increased the amount of bread and decreased the time for the todah’s consumption beyond that of any other shelamim, so that he would increase his friends for one meal on the day he brought the korban, and so he would tell of the miracle before many people. Four loaves would go the kohanim, who were the scholars.

11. Tur, Orach Chaim 90
ואין די לו במה שיקבע לו ב"ה להתפלל בה תדיר אלא גם בב"ה שקובע בה צריך שיהיה מקומו קבוע וידוע ולא ישב היום כאן ולמחר במקום אחר דהכי איתמר בירושלמי א"ר תנחום בר חייא צריך אדם לייחד לו מקום בב"ה שנאמר ויהי דוד בא עד הראש אשר ישתחוה שם השתחוה לא נאמר אלא ישתחוה משמע שהיה תדיר משתחוה שם
It is insufficient to establish a shul in which one always prays; even within the shul, one should establish a known place for himself, and not sit here today and there tomorrow. This is what we learned in Yerushalmi, “Rabbi Tanchum bar Chiyya said: One must designate a place in shul for himself, as it is written, ‘And David came to the front where he would bow’ – It does not say ‘bowed,’ but ‘would bow,’ which indicates that he always bowed there.”

12. Maharil (R’ Yaakov ben Moshe Moellin), Minhagim, Hilchot Yom Kippur 11
אין לשנות מנהג המקום בשום ענין אפילו בניגונים שאין מורגלים שם.
One should not change any aspect of local minhag, even to introduce unfamiliar tunes.

13. Mishneh Berurah 619:7
כי עי"ז מבלבל דעת הקהל
Because that would confuse the congregation.

14. Machzor Vitry 190
וזוכר את המתים שרבו תורה ותקנות בישר' ואותם שהניחו שום דבר בקהל ושהניחו אחרים בשבילם.
And we remember the dead, who increased Torah and enactments in Israel, as well as those who left anything to the community, and those for whom others left something.

15. Talmud, Taanit 14a
על אלו מתריעין בשבת: על עיר שהקיפוה גייס או נהר, ועל ספינה המטורפת בים
For the following situations we are matria even on Shabbat: For a city surrounded by soldiers or an overflowing river, and for a boat that is being tossed in the sea.

16. Talmud, Rosh haShanah 34b
תניא, אמרו לו לרבן גמליאל: לדבריך, למה צבור מתפללין? אמר להם: כדי להסדיר שליח צבור תפלתו. אמר להם רבן גמליאל: לדבריכם, למה שליח צבור יורד לפני התיבה? אמרו לו: כדי להוציא את שאינו בקי.
They said to Rabban Gamliel: According to you, why does the community daven? He replied: To give the chazan a chance to order his prayer.
Rabban Gamliel said to them: According to you, why does the chazan descend before the Ark? They replied: To fulfill the mitzvah for those who are not expert.

Secular sociology shows that communal prayer helps community in general ways
17. Sosis and Ruffle, Religious Ritual and Cooperation: Testing for a Relationship on Israeli Religious and Secular Kibbutzim, Current Anthropology 44:5 (2003)
Hypotheses: If religious ritual impacts solidarity and cooperation as many anthropological theories suggest, then we should expect members of religious kibbutzim to exhibit higher levels of cooperation than members of secular kibbutzim. Although there is no agreement on the details, these theories maintain that it is collective ritual that promotes solidarity and cooperation, whereas no theory proposes a similar functional role for privately performed rituals. Private rituals appear to serve a different purpose, such as communicating with oneself (e.g., Rappaport 1999, Sosis 2003). Thus, we also expect that religious males will exhibit higher levels of cooperation than religious females because of their greater participation in collective ritual, especially daily prayer. Lastly, we expect the frequency of participation in collective ritual to affect an individual’s cooperativeness positively. Therefore we predict that men who participate in communal prayer most frequently will exhibit the highest levels of cooperation.


18. Sosis, The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual, American Scientist 92
Abstract: Why do Hari Krishnas shave their heads? Why do Mormons abstain from coffee, tobacco and alcohol? And why do so many religious groups have strict initiation rites, ranging from bathing in icy water to painful scarification, hair plucking and genital mutilation? In other words, why all the ordeals and sacrifices? Most attempts to explain religious rituals and taboos have focused on the spiritual benefits of these practices, but anthropologist Richard Sosis thinks there's a more fundamental reason. They signal commitment to the group, and prevent those who are uncommitted from gaining the benefits of membership. After all, who but a believer would engage in these costly acts?

Also see: Ruffle and Sosis, Does it pay to pray? Costly Ritual and Cooperation, The Berkeley Electronic Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 7:1 (2007)

Communal prayer helps community in highly specific ways: Communal Structure
19. R’ Yosef Teumim, Pri Megadim to Orach Chaim 94: Mishbetzot Zahav 2
עיין ט"ז דיעמדו בית הכנסת לא ממש נגד המזרח רק נטוי קצת לצד דרום, ולפי זה מקום הרב בבית הכנסת בצד דרום הארון ואינו צריך להדרים דבלאו הכי כן הוא. ומי שעושה ממש נגד המזרח טוב מקום הרב לצפון ארון הקודש, שידרים, דבדרום נראה כהופך עורף מארון קודש.
See the Taz’s statement that they should establish the shul not precisely opposite the east, but inclined a little to the south. According to this, the place of the rabbi in the shul should be on the south side of the Aron; he would not need to face south, for even without facing that way he would be in the south. One who establishes it precisely opposite the east should then have the rabbi north of the Aron, so that he will face south; if he would be south then he would appear to be turning his back upon the Aron.

20. Talmud, Megilah 32a
ואמר רבי שפטיה אמר רבי יוחנן: עשרה שקראו בתורה - הגדול שבהם גולל ספר תורה.
Rabbi Shefatiah cited Rabbi Yochanan: When ten read from the Torah, the greatest among them rolls the Torah.

Communal prayer helps community in highly specific ways: Teaching children to value community
21. Vivienne Mountain, Prayer is a Positive Activity for Children, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality 10:3 (Dec 2005)
The data displayed a sense of joy in, and appreciation of, aspects of communal worship. The sense of identity connected to communities of faith was part of the prayer experience for about two-thirds of participants. To pray together in the positive sense of praise and worship was perceived as a meaningful activity where children found a sense of identity and belonging. The praying community was also valued in intercessory prayer (prayer for others), where the community of faith was identified as a resource. As care for others was expressed through prayer, children could understand a sense of unity where prayer was also available for them.

Communal prayer helps community in highly specific ways: Coping with death
22. Sinead Donnelly, Folklore Associated with Dying in the west of Ireland, Palliative Medicine (1999)
In their grief, the community was supported by the loose formality of the wake (torramh), funeral procession, keening (caoineadh) and music. In all these, the men and women of the community and its leaders had distinct and respected roles to play.

Communal prayer helps community in highly specific ways: Announcing communal needs
23. Talmud, Bava Metzia 28b
תנו רבנן: בראשונה, כל מי שמצא אבידה - היה מכריז עליה שלשה רגלים, ואחר רגל אחרון שבעת ימים, כדי שילך שלשה ויחזור שלשה ויכריז יום אחד. משחרב בית המקדש, שיבנה במהרה בימנו, התקינו שיהו מכריזים בבתי כנסיות ובבתי מדרשות.
Initially, whoever found a lost item would announce it for three festivals, and for seven days after the third festival, so that he could travel three days, return three days, and announce one day. When the Beit haMikdash was destroyed – it should be rebuilt speedily in our days – they enacted that people should announce in the shuls and study halls.

24. Talmud, Shabbat 150a
ואמר רבי יעקב בר אידי אמר רבי יוחנן: מפקחין פיקוח נפש ופיקוח רבים בשבת, והולכין לבתי כנסיות לפקח על עסקי רבים בשבת.
And R’ Yaakov bar Idi cited R’ Yochanan as saying: They look after lives and they look after the community on Shabbat, and they go to shuls to look out for communal needs on Shabbat.