2009/06/03 Second Intro to Judaism Class Notes Liturgy
This class was on the Liturgy. It used the Reformed Prayer Book called Mishkan T'Filah, A Reform Siddur very heavily throughout the class so it is hard to make notes when I do not own that book. I looked on Amazon and there are several versions, such as one for Shabbat (Sabbath worship), one for weekdays, one for Festivals, etc. There was one that seemed to cover all these and it cost anywhere from $20 to $36 depending on if it were used and what condition the book was in. I think we used the Shabbat version in class since the teacher, Andy Bernard, kept referencing whether it was an evening or morning Shabbat service. Different prayers and sequences are used for different services depending on whether it is a morning or evening service. Andy Bernard is the cantor at Temple Beth-El, a Reformed Temple, and he chanted some of the prayers in Hebrew. Beautiful.
NOTES:
Judaism is a liturgical tradition, meaning it has a fixed liturgy. It goes through a fixed set of prayers at each service. Services follow the same format each time with a few exceptions. We had printouts of the order of Worship Service and the cantor began in the center of the page labeled, "The Worship Service." There was an area labeled Sh'ma there and it had 3 Hebrew letters surrounded by certain blessings. The right side of the page listed Shabbat evening prayers by Hebrew name and the left hand side listed Shabbat morning prayers by Hebrew name. We looked in the prayer book at many of these prayers and there were English translations. I am sure the cantor says them in Hebrew at their services and he chanted a few and it was gorgeous. The Chatzi Kaddish is the beginning evening prayer. Kaddish means "In Praise of God" so that is how the service begins. Even when we have great loss, Jewish people are commanded to say praise to God even if they do not fully mean it. It keeps people in relationship to God which is the most important thing. Chatzi Kaddish means Half Kaddish. It is not really 1/2 but that is what it is called. Half Kaddish or Chatzi Kaddish is a liturgical divider which tells the people we are moving on to the next part of the service. Page 146 of the Prayer book show several musical melodies of the service which change according to if morning, evening, High Holy Days, etc. The Chatzi Kaddish tells us it is okay to move on to the next part of the service.
Next comes a prayer called the Bar'chu which is a call to worship. The Leader says "Praise Adonai, to Whom praise is due, now and forever." Congregation then says "Praised be Adonai to Whom praise is due, now and forever." This is the official call to service.
Then comes the second blessing of the Sh'ma which is Revelation. God who gave us the Torah out of the people of Israel.
If a Torah scroll is opened all the way around the Temple walls, the center is "Love your Neighbor" and this is the primary theme of Judaism. It is what people are called to do here on earth.
Then I am a little lost in my notes but he says read from (Torah?) The Lord is our God, the Lord is One. So if you do a blessing, you must do the Mitzvah. In other words, put action behind your words.
Then comes a Blessing for Redemption in the Sh'ma section of the service. God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian Bondage and there is a prayer about that. This is the Sh'ma. Then there is a celebration prayer, the Mi Chamocha which is chanted responsively. This prayer is a quote after the crossing of the Sea and it is a celebration prayer done at almost all services.
Then comes the Hashkiveinu which is a bedtime prayer and is said only in the evening. It is a prayer asking for protection through the night.
This wraps up the Sh'ma and her blessings.
Then the V'sham'ru which is a transition prayer. The next set of prayers are said standing. It is the T'fillah which is a substitute for animal sacrifice. In the morning and afternoon, these are said out loud but in the evening , they are said silently. Why silent? Because no animal sacrifices were made in the evening and in ancient times, there was no light in the evening and you could not see to sacrifice the animal. Reform Jews are not after reinstating animal sacrifice.
The V'ahavta is a longer prayer - commandment to see the fringes and remember to do my commandments. Wear Taliz (shawl with fringes at the corners) only in the morning service, not in the evening because can't meet commandment to see the fringes. Darkness is there so may not meet the commandment if wear in the evening.
The V'shamru - Keep Shabbat - remind everyone saying the Shabbat version of prayers that they are to keep the Sabbath holy. Also Jews do not have programs like most Protestant Christians where services are a mosaic - sections of little tiles that come together as a whole in the end. Jews know their order of service and move through the prayers in order. There are Torah readings only on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and sometimes the rabbi may have a teaching lesson around these readings but there is not a sermon per se such as in the Christian churches. Jews have a seamless, never stop, service with no reminders of what is next. They just know from years of going to services.
The V'ahata has seven sections and I only heard talk about 4 of them: 1) was a section about ancestors. 2) was on page 165 of the prayer book, 3) was on page 166 which says be nice to us because of our ancestors and 4) is about God's might.
Jews believe that when the Messiah comes, everyone will be resurrected and the Orthodox believe this so literally that if someone has a body part amputated, they save the body part somewhere in the Temple to be buried with them when they die. This is so they will be all together and God can give them renewed life. God can give us all renewed life.
Page 168 shows the aspects of God that we are to imitate such as the compassionate aspects. But we don't imitate things like God as Creator.
Page 170 - Bless God's name. "You are Holy, your name is holy, and those who are holy praise you every day. Blessed are you, Adonai, the Holy God. " Jews say Adonai because you don't say the name of God aloud.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Prayer for Peace, the greatest prayer of all.
In the middle are 3 pieces, Merits of our (Jew's) ancestors, God's might, and Glorifying God. At the center of the T'fillah is Sanctification of the Day and Daily Petitions. The Daily Petitions are a difference between weekly services and a holiday service. There is something called the 18 benedictions (which are really 19 benedictions but still call it the 18 benedictions. Belief is that one benediction was split into two and it made the 19th). I believe these are the 3 top and 3 bottom petitions. 1) Ask for wisdom to know right from wrong, 2) ask for forgiveness, 3) ask for redemption. Then at the end 4) You are redeemed, 5) Healing is requested, and 6) Ask for abundance and by this we mean ask for enough to sustain you.
Personal prayers are then said. These are supposed to be improvised but if you want a set prayer to say instead, there is one on page 100. So there is a prayer you can use if you do not have a personal prayer in mind that day.
Other parts of the service come next: Psalms 111-118 are done on Festival Days. The Hallel/Shofar is done on Pilgramage Festivals. Certain whole books are sometimes chanted. Then there is a section for Health and Welfare issues. Then the Conclusion includes 1) Hope for a Messianic Future - Jews are to strive to work toward making the world a better place so as to hasten the coming of the Messiah. 2) Remembering the dead (Mourners Kaddish is said), and 3) Closure (Sabbath Kaddish and Adon Olam).
This concludes the evening order of service.
The morning service starts with Morning Blessings (page 30), Text from Numbers which is recited upon entering the Synagogue, then Psalms verses are recited.
Prayer of morning is to awaken with a blessing. Page 32 is about health and page 34 is about soul. You give thanks for awakening, for stretching, for moving about, because you could have died in your sleep and you are to be grateful that you are seeing another day.
Then gives thanks for Torah (Songs of praise begin on page 50).
Morning service has a whole long series of Psalms which are (read/chanted?). These are on pages 145 - 150. Ashrei prayers??? Page 52 Here you go from left page to right page (I think designated by a light blue border around the words on these pages.) The prayer book, by the way, is normally read as if from back to front with the right page being read first and then the left.
Evening services usually has the larger crowds. The Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony is done at evening services.
Jews who were in Spain had thrived for over 700 years, then were kicked out. Mystics say this calamity paralleled a calamity in the Godhead. The mystics had a concept that there were 10 aspects of God, each aspect different from another. Then the aspect of Shekhinah (from the handout sheet titled "The Ten Sefirot" - this is the bottom and last aspect) was banished from the Godhead. This means compassionate one. This one dwells with us on earth and we are responsible for keeping compassion in the world. This cutting off from the Godhead parallels the calamity of the Jews being thrown out of Spain according to the mystics.
In the morning service, 6 Psalms about creation are read. People are to reflect on these Psalms 6 days per week. The ten Sefirot (means Sabbath Bride) is basically celebrating a wedding. While prayers and readings around this are said, the congregants face the back door as if looking for the bride to enter. It is celebrating a re-uniting with Til'enet (spelling?) or the masculine aspect of God. When the world is perfect, all will be Shabbat. Psalm 92, 93 is the completion of creation.
Kabalah Shabbat Service - all 8 Psalms are recited and it takes 25 minutes. It helps put the week behind you and set the stage for worship and prayer.
Sometimes the length of the morning service means they can hardly get a minion (10 men that are required to have prayer) in a small congregation. Cantor said this is true sometimes at Temple Beth-El which is a Reform Temple.
The Reform movement threw out a lot of stuff and now are putting some back in because some of it is required to make the service more spiritual.
Some congregations chant the entire book of Song of Songs (about 15 minutes) on a certain occasion.
Nigganim - Songs without words - sometimes used since music can elevate your soul.
Page 63 (or 636 - can't read my own writing) is the Y'did Nefesh. It is chanted in Hebrew and takes 7 or 8 minutes (the cantor did some of this and it was very beautiful). It has a lilting quality which also elevates the spirit. It is a meditation on God's name. In the Hebrew alphabet, the first Hebrew Letter of each verse spells (God?) - it is an acrostic.
NOTES:
Judaism is a liturgical tradition, meaning it has a fixed liturgy. It goes through a fixed set of prayers at each service. Services follow the same format each time with a few exceptions. We had printouts of the order of Worship Service and the cantor began in the center of the page labeled, "The Worship Service." There was an area labeled Sh'ma there and it had 3 Hebrew letters surrounded by certain blessings. The right side of the page listed Shabbat evening prayers by Hebrew name and the left hand side listed Shabbat morning prayers by Hebrew name. We looked in the prayer book at many of these prayers and there were English translations. I am sure the cantor says them in Hebrew at their services and he chanted a few and it was gorgeous. The Chatzi Kaddish is the beginning evening prayer. Kaddish means "In Praise of God" so that is how the service begins. Even when we have great loss, Jewish people are commanded to say praise to God even if they do not fully mean it. It keeps people in relationship to God which is the most important thing. Chatzi Kaddish means Half Kaddish. It is not really 1/2 but that is what it is called. Half Kaddish or Chatzi Kaddish is a liturgical divider which tells the people we are moving on to the next part of the service. Page 146 of the Prayer book show several musical melodies of the service which change according to if morning, evening, High Holy Days, etc. The Chatzi Kaddish tells us it is okay to move on to the next part of the service.
Next comes a prayer called the Bar'chu which is a call to worship. The Leader says "Praise Adonai, to Whom praise is due, now and forever." Congregation then says "Praised be Adonai to Whom praise is due, now and forever." This is the official call to service.
Then comes the second blessing of the Sh'ma which is Revelation. God who gave us the Torah out of the people of Israel.
If a Torah scroll is opened all the way around the Temple walls, the center is "Love your Neighbor" and this is the primary theme of Judaism. It is what people are called to do here on earth.
Then I am a little lost in my notes but he says read from (Torah?) The Lord is our God, the Lord is One. So if you do a blessing, you must do the Mitzvah. In other words, put action behind your words.
Then comes a Blessing for Redemption in the Sh'ma section of the service. God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian Bondage and there is a prayer about that. This is the Sh'ma. Then there is a celebration prayer, the Mi Chamocha which is chanted responsively. This prayer is a quote after the crossing of the Sea and it is a celebration prayer done at almost all services.
Then comes the Hashkiveinu which is a bedtime prayer and is said only in the evening. It is a prayer asking for protection through the night.
This wraps up the Sh'ma and her blessings.
Then the V'sham'ru which is a transition prayer. The next set of prayers are said standing. It is the T'fillah which is a substitute for animal sacrifice. In the morning and afternoon, these are said out loud but in the evening , they are said silently. Why silent? Because no animal sacrifices were made in the evening and in ancient times, there was no light in the evening and you could not see to sacrifice the animal. Reform Jews are not after reinstating animal sacrifice.
The V'ahavta is a longer prayer - commandment to see the fringes and remember to do my commandments. Wear Taliz (shawl with fringes at the corners) only in the morning service, not in the evening because can't meet commandment to see the fringes. Darkness is there so may not meet the commandment if wear in the evening.
The V'shamru - Keep Shabbat - remind everyone saying the Shabbat version of prayers that they are to keep the Sabbath holy. Also Jews do not have programs like most Protestant Christians where services are a mosaic - sections of little tiles that come together as a whole in the end. Jews know their order of service and move through the prayers in order. There are Torah readings only on Monday, Thursday and Saturday and sometimes the rabbi may have a teaching lesson around these readings but there is not a sermon per se such as in the Christian churches. Jews have a seamless, never stop, service with no reminders of what is next. They just know from years of going to services.
The V'ahata has seven sections and I only heard talk about 4 of them: 1) was a section about ancestors. 2) was on page 165 of the prayer book, 3) was on page 166 which says be nice to us because of our ancestors and 4) is about God's might.
Jews believe that when the Messiah comes, everyone will be resurrected and the Orthodox believe this so literally that if someone has a body part amputated, they save the body part somewhere in the Temple to be buried with them when they die. This is so they will be all together and God can give them renewed life. God can give us all renewed life.
Page 168 shows the aspects of God that we are to imitate such as the compassionate aspects. But we don't imitate things like God as Creator.
Page 170 - Bless God's name. "You are Holy, your name is holy, and those who are holy praise you every day. Blessed are you, Adonai, the Holy God. " Jews say Adonai because you don't say the name of God aloud.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Prayer for Peace, the greatest prayer of all.
In the middle are 3 pieces, Merits of our (Jew's) ancestors, God's might, and Glorifying God. At the center of the T'fillah is Sanctification of the Day and Daily Petitions. The Daily Petitions are a difference between weekly services and a holiday service. There is something called the 18 benedictions (which are really 19 benedictions but still call it the 18 benedictions. Belief is that one benediction was split into two and it made the 19th). I believe these are the 3 top and 3 bottom petitions. 1) Ask for wisdom to know right from wrong, 2) ask for forgiveness, 3) ask for redemption. Then at the end 4) You are redeemed, 5) Healing is requested, and 6) Ask for abundance and by this we mean ask for enough to sustain you.
Personal prayers are then said. These are supposed to be improvised but if you want a set prayer to say instead, there is one on page 100. So there is a prayer you can use if you do not have a personal prayer in mind that day.
Other parts of the service come next: Psalms 111-118 are done on Festival Days. The Hallel/Shofar is done on Pilgramage Festivals. Certain whole books are sometimes chanted. Then there is a section for Health and Welfare issues. Then the Conclusion includes 1) Hope for a Messianic Future - Jews are to strive to work toward making the world a better place so as to hasten the coming of the Messiah. 2) Remembering the dead (Mourners Kaddish is said), and 3) Closure (Sabbath Kaddish and Adon Olam).
This concludes the evening order of service.
The morning service starts with Morning Blessings (page 30), Text from Numbers which is recited upon entering the Synagogue, then Psalms verses are recited.
Prayer of morning is to awaken with a blessing. Page 32 is about health and page 34 is about soul. You give thanks for awakening, for stretching, for moving about, because you could have died in your sleep and you are to be grateful that you are seeing another day.
Then gives thanks for Torah (Songs of praise begin on page 50).
Morning service has a whole long series of Psalms which are (read/chanted?). These are on pages 145 - 150. Ashrei prayers??? Page 52 Here you go from left page to right page (I think designated by a light blue border around the words on these pages.) The prayer book, by the way, is normally read as if from back to front with the right page being read first and then the left.
Evening services usually has the larger crowds. The Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony is done at evening services.
Jews who were in Spain had thrived for over 700 years, then were kicked out. Mystics say this calamity paralleled a calamity in the Godhead. The mystics had a concept that there were 10 aspects of God, each aspect different from another. Then the aspect of Shekhinah (from the handout sheet titled "The Ten Sefirot" - this is the bottom and last aspect) was banished from the Godhead. This means compassionate one. This one dwells with us on earth and we are responsible for keeping compassion in the world. This cutting off from the Godhead parallels the calamity of the Jews being thrown out of Spain according to the mystics.
In the morning service, 6 Psalms about creation are read. People are to reflect on these Psalms 6 days per week. The ten Sefirot (means Sabbath Bride) is basically celebrating a wedding. While prayers and readings around this are said, the congregants face the back door as if looking for the bride to enter. It is celebrating a re-uniting with Til'enet (spelling?) or the masculine aspect of God. When the world is perfect, all will be Shabbat. Psalm 92, 93 is the completion of creation.
Kabalah Shabbat Service - all 8 Psalms are recited and it takes 25 minutes. It helps put the week behind you and set the stage for worship and prayer.
Sometimes the length of the morning service means they can hardly get a minion (10 men that are required to have prayer) in a small congregation. Cantor said this is true sometimes at Temple Beth-El which is a Reform Temple.
The Reform movement threw out a lot of stuff and now are putting some back in because some of it is required to make the service more spiritual.
Some congregations chant the entire book of Song of Songs (about 15 minutes) on a certain occasion.
Nigganim - Songs without words - sometimes used since music can elevate your soul.
Page 63 (or 636 - can't read my own writing) is the Y'did Nefesh. It is chanted in Hebrew and takes 7 or 8 minutes (the cantor did some of this and it was very beautiful). It has a lilting quality which also elevates the spirit. It is a meditation on God's name. In the Hebrew alphabet, the first Hebrew Letter of each verse spells (God?) - it is an acrostic.
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