Tefillah 006

11:
Originally, having concluded the early morning benedictions (which are private worship) the Jew would make his way to the synagogue to join in public worship. However, we have already noted that in the middle ages these benedictions were made a part of the synagogue service for the benefit of those who were not able to recite them at home from memory (prayer books being very scarce and very expensive). Once this happened ever more passages were added to the Torah study section. In this shiur and the following we shall look at some of these additions.

12:
The original impetus for the expansion of the early morning devotions seems to have come from a pietistic midrash in the middle ages. In a work called Tanna D^ebé Eliyahu Rabba [21] we find the following:

There then follows a very long prayer – whose content does not really reflect the virtues recommended by this proem. It may be found in Siddur Sim Shalom on pages 66-67 and in Siddur Va'ani Tefillati on page 20-21. (In Va'ani Tefillati the last paragraph of this long quotation is omitted – because the theme of this last paragraph is a plea to God to restore Israel to its ancestral home, which is not deemed appropriate for those who have been thus restored.)

13:
However, the explanations given in Siddur Va'ani Tefillati do suggest a good reason for continuing to include this midrashic quotation in our early worship. The passage from Tanna D^ebé Eliyahu Rabba includes the first line of the Shema (in Sim Shalom at the very bottom of page 66 and in Va'ani Tefillati almost at the bottom of page 21). When we reach the section of the service which deals with the reciting of Shema we shall see that in temporal terms it is quite clearly circumscribed halakhically. The Torah requires us to recite Shema "when you lie down and when you rise up" – every morning and every evening. Since those who rise latest in the day are presumed to have done so by the end of the first quarter of the day, according to established halakhah Shema should be recited before then. Now most Conservative congregations hold their Sabbath morning services at a comparatively late hour – 9 am and even later. In the winter time in particular there is a grave danger that the service will not reach the Recitation of Shema before the end of the first quarter (which is determined in any given locality as being one quarter of the time that elapses between sunrise and sunset on that day). For example, the first quarter today in Jerusalem is at 9:11 am, and in midsummer at around 8:20 am; in New York today that time is at 8:39 am and in midsummer it is around 8 am. This problem can usually be obviated by inclusing the passage from Tanna D^ebé Eliyahu Rabba which includes the first line of the Shema at least. The meticulous may want to add the first paragraph of Shema or even all three paragraphs.

To be continued

Bayla Singer writes:

I am thoroughly confused, trying to visualize the early-morning order at home: first washing hands, then visiting the toilet, then arising, then washing the face. I can assume a washbasin and laver next to the bed, so one could wash hands before getting out of bed – but how does one visit the toilet before arising? I should also think one would wash hands (again?) after the toilet, and before washing one's face. Perhaps the answer is some nuance in the Hebrew?

I respond:

Rather than seeking the answer in nuances in Hebrew let us assume that the reason for Bayla's confusion lies in the inept or insufficient explanations which I gave.

The order of the morning blessings does reflect the habits and customs of an earlier age. In Talmudic times the beds were so high that one had to use a ladder to climb in and out of bed and the area beneath the bed was used for storage. (The Gemara [Berakhot 62a] relates that on one occasion a student hid in the storage area beneath the rabbi's bed in order to learn how a sage behaves with his wife. On being discovered he answered the remonstrations with the excuse "it is Torah and I have to learn.") Until comparatively modern times people in the East would dress while still on their bed.

We must distinguish between the period before the morning washing of the hands became imbued with mystical overtones and the period afterwards. No doubt, originally one awoke from sleep and recited the benedictions to accompany the habitual actions in the order they usually occurred in that culture: opening the eyes, dressing, climbing down from the bed, standing upright at its foot, putting on one's shoes, sash and headgear. Then one would perform one's toilet and recite the appropriate benedictions. This would be followed by the Torah benedictions and the 'compulsory' daily study.

After the mystics made a fuss about doing nothing before washing the hands the order changed. People had a laver next to the bed so that they could wash their hands immediately upon arising; but no benediction was recited. They then repaired to the toilet. After performing their bodily functions they washed their hands again and recited the benedictions Al Netilat Yadayyim, Asher Yatzar and Elohai Neshamah. They now recited the Torah blessings and learned the 'compulsory' passages and only then recited the early morning blessings, which, of course, were now entirely displaced from their logical sequence.

I hope this has clarified the situation.

Because of the incidence of Memorial Day and Independence Day in Israel the next shiur in this series will be on Tuesday 9th May.