THE SIDDUR IN · The Hebrew superscriptions are taken from the computerised text of the Siddur bnei...
Transcript of THE SIDDUR IN · The Hebrew superscriptions are taken from the computerised text of the Siddur bnei...
THE
SIDDUR IN
POETRY
JEFFREY M. COHEN
Copyright, Jeffrey M Cohen 2012. All rights reserved
The author asserts his moral rights Without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, no part of this book may be copied, performed, transmitted, reproduced, adapted or changed in any way, for any purpose, or in any medium whatsoever (whether now known or developed in the future). Nothing in the preceding statement shall limit the author’s rights under copyright in any way whatsoever.
The Hebrew superscriptions are taken from the computerised text of the Siddur bnei Ashkenaz . Public permission is granted for its use (See OpenSiddur.org), subject to display of the following licence details: <a rel="license" ref="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐sa/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border‐width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by‐sa/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐sa/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution‐ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License</a>.
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C O N T E N T S
FOREWORD 7
SHACHARIT: WEEKDAY MORNING SERVICE
Mah Tovu (On entering synagogue) 13
The Tallit Meditation 14
The Tefillin Meditation 16
Adon Olam 17
Yigdal 19
Morning Blessings 23
Elohai neshamah 25
Blessings at the commencement of the Service 26 Viyhiy ratzon milfanecha 30
Ribbon kol ha‐olamim 33
Mizmor shir chanukat ha‐bayit 37
Baruch She’amar 39
Ashrei 40
Shirat Ha‐Yam (Song of the Red Sea) 42
Barchu 46
Titbarach Tzurenu 48
Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh 49
Shema 51
Emet Veyatziv 56
Ezrat Avotenu 56
Amidah 58
Ya’aleh Veyavo 67
Modim 68
Al Ha‐Nisim 68
Sim Shalom 71
Tachanun 73
Shomer Yisrael 74
Alenu 76
LeDavid Hashem Ori 77
MINCHA: WEEKDAY AFTERNOON SERVICE
Ashrei 40
Amidah 58
Tachanun 73
Aleinu 76
MAARIV: WEEKDAY EVENING SERVICE
Barchu 80
Blessings of the Shema 80
Shema 51‐55
Ve’emunah kol zo’t 82
Amidah 58‐72
Aleinu 76
LeDavid HaShem ori 77
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PRAYER BEFORE SLEEP AT NIGHT 85
KABBALAT SHABBAT: FRIDAY EVE SERVICE
Meditation before lighting the Shabbat Candles 88 Lecha Dodi 90
Mizmor shir leyom ha‐Shabbat 94
Friday night Amidah 96
Magen Avot 98
Shalom Aleichem 99
Eishet Chayyil 100
Blessing of the Children 105
Priestly Blessing (of the children) 106
Kiddush for Eve of Shabbat 108
SHABBAT MORNING SERVICE
Mizmor shir leyom ha‐Shabbat 94
Nishmat kol chai 109
Hakol Yoducha 113
El Adon 115
La’El asher shavat 117
Shabbat morning Amidah 118
PRAYERS FOLLOWING THE READING OF THE TORAH
Yekum Porkan 120
Prayer for the Congregation 122
Blessing of the new month 124
Ashrei 40
Mizmor le‐David 127
MUSAF: ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR SHABBAT
Musaf Amidah 129
Ein Keloheinu 132
Anim Zemirot 135
Hallel 141
Adon Olam 17
__________________
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FOREWORD The place of poetry in the Siddur
Why did I choose to render the Siddur into poetry? What approach did I take to the original text? Is the work intended as a Siddur? Is it meant to replace the original? What is its target readership? These are just a few of the questions that my readers will inevitable ask.
I wrote it for a variety of reasons. First, because I love poetry, especially sacred poetry – of which Judaism has a very long tradition, stretching back to the Bible. Prose is, basically, the medium of everyday speech. Poetry, with its innate economy of expression and rich and allusive vocabulary, powerfully engages the emotions and enables us to get much closer to the core of the idea. In the poetry of prayer, that is what we struggle to do: to get closer to God ‐ the core object of our adoration.
Michael Wyschogrod (The Body of Faith, 1983) observes that ‘the imagination of the poet is a reflection of his spiritual life…Poetry is one of the most powerful domains in which religious expression takes place.’
Poetry is Judaism’s preferred medium of expression. Open any Hebrew Bible, and you will find that every single word is endowed with cantillations, or musical notes, indicating that it was clearly intended to be chanted, like a song or poem. Attend any Synagogue and you will hear the Torah being read in a lyrical chant. It has all the rhythms of a poem (So much so, that I recently rendered all the episodes of the book of Genesis into rhymed verse. See rabbijeffrey.co.uk). Indeed, it is regarded as almost as important that the one reading from the Torah scroll gets the musical notes correct as it is that he makes no mistakes in the pronunciation of the Hebrew words.
It is the same with the Siddur. The distinguishing feature of a synagogue service is that the chazzan and worshippers do not ‘recite’ the prayers;
they ‘sing’ them. It is not unusual – especially in smaller congregations) to hear individual worshippers who are so ecstatically involved in their prayers that their voices are raised above all those around them, reaching a stage where they are almost in competition with the chazzan! In the larger, more formal, Anglo‐Jewish congregations, however, this is generally regarded as indecorous.
But it goes further. The Siddur lends itself to that lyrical chanting precisely because it is essentially a poetic work, whose rhythms and phraseology conform to the characteristics of biblical Hebrew poetry. These are, primarily, the employment of short lines and phrases, and the reinforcement of an idea through the use of parallelism of expression. The parallel phrase generally conceals a significant nuance of meaning – which can hardly be said for the repetitiveness of so many present‐day pop lyrics!
The poetic basis of the Siddur becomes obvious when we consider that over one half of it constitutes selections from the biblical book of Psalms. Of the other half, I would suggest that, most of the Hebrew hymns and prayers, even including the apparently prosaic blessings also conform to the poetic mode.
The rationale behind this is the Bible’s overwhelming influence on the writings and thought‐processes of all our sages and liturgists, from the 1st century onward, to the extent that even their prose writing had a lyrical quality. Furthermore, they viewed their compositions as gifts to God; and when one presents another with a gift, one does not just hand them the object, but rather one packages it beautifully, to set it off in the most aesthetically appealing way.
What was the objective of this literary project?
As a retired congregational Rabbi, I have long been aware that there is a significant proportion of regular worshippers whose Hebrew reading is, to put it delicately, rusty. Most of the bridegrooms who visited my home, in
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15
preparation for their wedding ceremony, struggled to read the one line of Hebrew prescribed for them to declare to their bride!
How, then, can the spirituality of our young adults possibly be nurtured in a situation wherein their Siddur is, more or less, a closed book, and where, instead of being a source of literary and spiritual inspiration, it is, for so many, a source of embarrassment? It is no wonder that the younger generation is woefully under‐represented on a Shabbat morning in our Modern Orthodox congregations, unless they are there to attend a simchah.
So one of the main objectives of this project is to provide those who cannot follow the Hebrew text – and who certainly do not understand what is being recited – with a user‐friendly and simply‐written paraphrase of the major prayers and hymns, written in a rhythmic, poetic style that, hopefully, they will find inspirational and informative.
But are not most Siddurim provided with an English translation? I believe that, although that is, indeed, the case, yet even our modern translations are, in truth, not easy to read in a way that will trigger interest and generate inspiration. The characteristic poetic parallelism, to which we have drawn attention above, comes over, in prosaic translation, as merely dull and irrelevant repetition. This is largely avoided with the licence granted by the exercise of paraphrase. Furthermore, our sparsely‐typed pages of poetry should prove infinitely more user‐friendly than the crowded and daunting pages of translation.
Is the work intended as a Siddur?
This is a very difficult question to answer. I would hope that most readers would be able to use it as a companion to the Siddur, or as a devotional text for use, at home, at moments of religious contemplation. However, given the high proportion of rusty Hebrew readers, I would not be surprised if it was also used as a manual of prayer.
Our Talmudic sages, legislating for a similar situation of poor Hebrew literacy, and commenting on the phrase, Shema Yisrael, ‘Hear O Israel,’ stated that the
use of the word ‘hear’ comes to teach us that we may pray in whatever language one ‘hears’ and understands.
Prayer is not meant to be mumbo‐jumbo. It was clearly intended to be a personal, urgent and spiritually satisfying exercise of approaching the Almighty and of exercising our minds and emotions to express our love of and dependency on Him. So, reciting intelligible, meaningful and edifying prayer is of primary importance. Hence the benefit, I contend, of a work such as this. I stress: It is certainly not meant to replace the original, and I would hope that, once he or she has read our brief, lyrical paraphrase of the main themes of a particular prayer or section of the service, the reader will proceed to the Siddur proper and read those passage in full translation.
What is the target readership of this work?
Anyone with the urge to pray or to express devotion to God; anyone who seeks out a Siddur during a visit to synagogue; anyone for whom daily prayer is too challenging, but who might be prepared to devote a little time to it each morning or last thing at night, anyone who would like to inject a little spirituality and meaning into their homes on a Sabbath eve; any synagogue that would like to place into the hands of gentile visitors a devotional manual that also gives a flavour of what the congregation is praying – this companion is intended for them all.
Jewish educationalists may also find some benefit in the work. Pupils at Jewish secondary schools also come from disparate levels of home observance and with differing levels of ability in Hebrew reading. Given the very demanding and varied subjects on the curriculum of Jewish Studies, fluency in Hebrew reading may not be achieved by all pupils. A school assembly that involves a regular synagogue service may also prove too challenging for many. The introduction of these poetic and devotional readings may well add interest, relevance and inspiration. A place may also be found for them as a starting‐point for lessons on the subject of prayer and liturgy. Youth leaders, especially at camps where full services are not held, may also find a place for its use.
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A general note on prayer
Prayer is instinctive within humans. Take the analogy of the inarticulate baby. From the moment of birth nature endows it with the instinctive ability to exploit the cry as a most potent and stirring vehicle of communication, complaint, and supplication. The baby senses the parent’s absence as much as its presence; and the need ‐ indeed the demand ‐ for that presence to manifest itself is expressed forcefully and volubly by means of the piercing and plaintive cry.
That cry is the baby’s greatest act of faith in the existence and proximity of ‘the absent parent’ and in its ability to supply all its needs. It has faith in that presence; it craves it, and believes passionately that its own comfort and well‐being is inextricably intertwined with it. The child that is taken away from its mother at birth will still cry out for that love and attention. It does not wait until its cognitive functions are sufficiently developed to appreciate the parents’ relationship to, and responsibility for, its well‐being.
It is the same with God’s children. Faith does not require knowledge. It is not something that we need to work at and aspire to as a prerequisite for prayer ‐ the ultimate and most developed form of that initial and instinctive infantine cry. If we have serious misgivings whether or not God is ‘out there,’ then, giving His presence the benefit of that doubt must certainly be the safest bet. If, on the other hand, we are suffused with the conviction that ‘God is close to all who call upon Him,’ or even if we only suspect that He is, or may be, ‘out there,’ then the prayerful cry should, with practice, prove emotionally and spiritually most satisfying.
Once we lose our religious inhibitions and prayer becomes a meaningful daily exercise, once the words and phrases become a familiar part of our daily vocabulary and bearer of our innermost emotions – carrying heavenward our needs, fears, pleas, hopes, dreams and gratitude – then the cry gives way to the smile of confidence and, ultimately, to the joy of faith. Then prayer becomes spiritually therapeutic and emotionally invigorating.
So, like the infant, the fact that God, ‘the hidden parent’, does not seem to be physically ‘present,’ is no reason for refraining from that prayerful cry. On the contrary: that is precisely when that cry is most needed and has the potential to be most efficacious.
שחרית THE MORNING SERVICE
On entering the synagogue, say:
אהליך יעקב מה טבו
In Jacob’s tents,
Serenity.
In Israel’s homes,
Tranquillity.
In synagogue,
Spirituality.
Before the Lord,
Humility.
ך �וא בית סדך אב� ��ב ח י בר�ואנ
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I enter Your Temple
In awe and love;
May You respond
From above.
Before the Ark
I bow my head,
With prayers
That ancestors have said
For centuries with lips so pure,
Petitioning You to reassure
Them that Your grace
Would be displayed,
And salvation
To them
Would be relayed.
* * *
The Tallit Meditation
להתעטף בציצת
God issued to Moses
His prescription,
That on cornered robes
Of any description
There be tzitzit‐fringes
To proclaim
A faith that burns
Like a flame.
So a tallit robe
I now drape
Around my body
As I shape
Words of prayer,
Praise and petition,
Expressing love,
Pride,
And contrition.
And while, here on earth,
Men struggle and fight,
Whereas, I, for my part,
In my tallit delight,
So in the hereafter,
Where peace reigns supreme,
Let my soul wear its tallit ‐
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21
That is my dream.
* * *
The Tefillin Meditation
מצות תפלין
‘Bind them on your arm
As an outward sign,
And on your head
At the hair line’ ‐
Thus said the Creator
To His nation,
That His words
Be treasured
By each generation.
So four sacred chapters
To my body I bind,
Of words that elevate
Heart and mind:
On my arm they recall
God’s protective embrace,
When my people in Egypt
Were forced to face
The impending doom
Of its entire race.
And on my head,
They bid me bend
My will to His service
That He might send
His divine aura
To guide my mind
To higher endeavours
Wherein I might find
Myself enchanted
By thoughts so pure
That sensual enticements
Lose their allure.
* * *
אדון עולם
master of the Universe,
Who alone was king,
Before His decision
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To make anything.
The prayer of man,
Though lowly in station,
Became the crown
For His coronation.
כלות הכלכ ואחרי
And after the world
Has run its course,
And the souls of man
Are returned to their source,
His glory will still remain,
Undiminished by the absence
Of man’s acclaim.
והוא אחד
Being one,
Beyond compare,
Our pale perceptions
Just lay bare
The frustration that we feel
That His essence
He won’t reveal.
והוא אלי
Yet this I know:
He is my God,
Although to many
It may seem odd,
That an unseen Being
Can be my Rock,
And lift my spirits
While others mock,
Redeeming me from adversity,
Answering my prayer
With alacrity.
אפקיד רוחי וביד
Into His hand
I commit my soul,
During sleep
And waking hours.
Fearlessly, I live my life,
Confident
In His great powers.
* * *
יגדל
The Lord is ‐
So I must praise;
He’s ever present ‐
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I must find ways
נעלם
To define a oneness
With no intrusion
Of human concepts
That sow confusion.
אין לו דמות הגוף
The physical world
I address;
The Spirit’s realm
I cannot access.
The divine essence –
How much less?
I merely declare
His holiness.
קדמון לכל דבר
His existence ever pre‐dated
The words that He enunciated,
To give the form He allocated,
And the image delineated ‐
By His Spirit elevated ‐
To the man that He created;
He whose lips He consecrated,
That Sovereignty
Be celebrated.
נבואתו שפע
On special men
That He admired ‐
Who by His spirit
Were inspired ‐
Upon them
He chose to shower
The gift of prophecy ‐
And to empower.
לא קם בישראל
No prophet in Israel
Like Moses arose.
Face to face,
God’s presence,
To him was disclosed.
תורת אמת
Implicitly trusting
His faith and skill,
God chose him,
To transmit His will,
To the Chosen People ‐
Chiselled on stone ‐
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A Torah of truth,
For Israel
Alone.
לא יחליף
He will never replace that law
Or exchange it for another;
It determines how we relate to God,
And how we treat a brother.
צופה ויודע סתרינו
He probes, in His wisdom,
Our every secret thought,
Deciding whether it will succeed ‐
Or simply come to nought.
גומל לאיש חסד כמפעלו
He rewards, with kindness,
The kind in their deeds;
Dooming to perdition
Those who sow
Evil seeds.
שיחנוישלח לקץ ימין מ
Our Messiah He will send,
When evil shall have reached its end.
Then the righteous shall attend
To His will and they shall bend
The knee before His heavenly throne ‐
Acclaiming Him,
And Him alone.
Their reward will be to earn
The eternal salvation
For which they yearn.
מתים יחיה אל
In loving‐kindness,
He’ll resurrect the dead.
The gift of reunion,
For the righteous lives they’ve led.
* * *
ברכות השחר
THE MORNING BLESSINGS
על נטילת ידים
Our thanks for Your blessings,
Designer of Creation,
Who bids us wash our hands
Before prayer for salvation.
אשר יצר את האדם בחכמה
The human body You endowed
With tubes that open or close;
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If one of them becomes impaired,
We suffer countless woes.
וצונו לעסוק בדברי תורה
Our thanks for Your blessings,
Designer of Creation,
Whose Torah is studied
By His studious nation.
והערב־נא
Make sweet the Torah wisdom
You bestowed on us alone;
May our offspring cherish it,
And observe it in their home.
אשר בחר־בנו
Our thanks for Your blessings,
Designer of Creation,
Who bestowed His Law on Israel
For its edification.
ה וישמרך �יהו �יברכך
May the Lord bless and keep you
Safe throughout your life;
May He ever smile with pride on you,
And keep you far from strife.