Tefillah 082

21:
In the previous shiur we detailed the philosophic bases for the the changes that the Siddur Va'ani Tefillati introduced into the Musaf Amidah. (Va'ani Tefillati is a prayer book of Masorti Jews in Israel.) It will be recalled that these bases were both biblical and philosophic; the philosophy being that of Rambam – Moses Maimonides – in particular. We shall now describe the changes that those bases evoked. (The relevant prayers are to be found on pages 387 and 388 of the siddur Va'ani Tefillati.)

22:
The fourth benediction, Kedushat ha-Yom begins in the same way and with the same words as its counterpart in siddur Sim Shalom. In Siddur Va'ani Tefillati these traditional words are presented with the first letter of each word in a larger font to indicate that the paragraph is, in fact, an alphabetic acrostic: each word begins with a sequential letter of the Hebrew alphabet in reverse order. The last line has been corrected because the letters are the five letters that also have a special form in Hebrew when they occur at the end of a word. The Hebrew text of this paragraph is available here for those who do not have access to the original. Here is a translation into English of the paragraph:

22:
In the siddur there now follow two different texts. The worshipper can either select one of them or elect to say both of them. The first text is similar to the solution chosen by the Conservative Movement in North America: this text makes the reference to the sacrificial cult a remembrance of what was done in times past rather than a prayer for its restitution in the future. The Hebrew text of this paragraph as it appears in Siddur Va'ani Tefillati is available here. Here is a translation into English of the first option:

There then follows the option of also adding the exact quotation from the Torah which institutes the Musaf sacrifice on Shabbat, though, as we noted in the previous shiur, it is also permissible to omit the quotation.

23
It is, perhaps, worthy of note that the text of the above paragraph not only adopts the solution of the Conservative Movement in North America but also changes the prayer for the ingathering of the dispersed. Since Siddur Va'ani Tefillati is a prayer book designed for use in Masorti congregations in Eretz-Israel the plea is that God cause the rest of the Jewish people to join them in the ancestral home. But the prayer is that the Aliya be "in joy", and not, God forbid, because of constraint or persecution.

24:
On the following page [page 388] Siddur Va'ani Tefillati offers an alternative text. This alternative text makes almost no mention of the sacrificial cultus. Instead, it looks forward to the golden age when all Israel will once again be one people in their own land with the possibility of worship in a rebuilt Bet Mikdash. The Hebrew text of this paragraph as it appears in Siddur Va'ani Tefillati is available here. Here is a translation into English of the second option:

A few comments may help understanding.

• The Land of Delight is, of course, Eretz-Israel. The designation "the land which was the delight of the ancestors" is well known in modern Hebrew.
• The reunification of the children of Leah with the children of Rachel refers, of course, to the end of the dispersion of our people and of internal fractiousness.
• The metaphor of the grafting together of the trees of Israel and Judah is taken directly from Ezekiel 37:19. Israel and Judah, of course, represent the various segments of the Jewish people dispersed over the globe.
• The plea is that in the rebuilt Bet Mikdash only prayer will be offered (not sacrifices); or, perhaps, the form of worship will be something that we cannot conceive at this time.
• At any rate, we pray that all violence cease from the earth and all people be filled with knowldge of God.

25:
The idea that the rebuilt Bet Mikdash will be a place of prayer and not animal sacrifice is suggested by the words of the prophet:

The idea that we cannot know how we shall be called upon to worship God in the Third Temple is, perhaps, adumbrated in the words of Moses to Pharaoh in Egypt: