Tefillah 008

17:
We have seen how the 'compulsory daily study' of the traditional prayerbook was greatly influenced by a remembrance of the sacrificial cultus of the now defunct Bet Mikdash and an acute yearning for its restoration. Early Conservative prayerbooks accepted this 'study' but curtailed it considerably (the same is true of the orthodox prayerbook of the United Synagogue in London, England). However, more modern Conservative prayerbooks have abandoned this mode and taken a very different tack.

18:
The line taken by modern Conservative prayerbooks seems to be that it a Jew is to do some 'compulsory study' each day, it would be better if the study were of spiritual or ethical value, so they offer selections of biblical and rabbinic texts that can best serve this purpose.

19:
Let us first look at the selction of texts made available to the worshipper by the Siddur Sim Shalom (pages 68 – 70). A passage from Avot d'Rabbi Natan 4:5 is the preface to these selections. It was chosen, presumably, because it teaches that now that the temple ritual is defunct Jews can attain forgiveness through acts of kindness (Gemilut Ĥasadim) that one person does for another. The passage further emphasises the superiority of the latter over the former by concluding with a quotation from the prophets: "Lovingkindness I (God) desire, not sacrifice" [Hosea 6:6]. There follow five passages selected from rabbinic texts from which the worshipper is invited to choose one or more.

• The passage from the Gemara Sukkah 49b is a grand and glorious elaboration on the mitzvah of Gemilut Ĥasadim with ethical comments on some of the individual items.
• Another suggested passage is from the same source [Sukkah 49b]. In this passage Rabbi Eli'ezer expatiates on the worthiness of acts of charity and kindness.
• The third passage offered is from the halakhic midrash Sifré, on parashat Ekev: the Torah [Deuteronomy 11:22] commands us to walk in God's ways; the midrash equates this with 'imitatio Dei': "Just as God is gracious and compassionate, you too must be gracious and compassionate" and so forth.
• The fourth selection continues this same thought. It comes from the Gemara [Sotah 14a] and adds further deeds which one should do in imitation of the Divine kindess: clothing the naked, visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved and so forth.

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• The fifth passage offered [Sifra 1] is clearly intended for those worshippers for whom tradition has an irresistable lure. We mentioned this passage in the previous shiur: Sifra is a collection of halakhic midrashim on the book of Leviticus and the introduction details the expansion of Hillel's seven rules by which halakhic development may be extrapolated from the written Torah into thirteen rules by Rabbi Yishma'el. This passage, when taken in the context of those that precede it in the siddur, is so incongruous that I must assume that it was included for the benefit of those who wish to conclude their learning with something that comes from the traditional prayerbook.

20:
Siddir Sim Shalom appends to these passages two short prayers, from which the worshipper is advised to choose one. The first prayer asks God to aid us in becoming true "disciples of Aaron … loving peace and pursuing peace, loving our fellow creatures and drawing them near to Torah". The other prayer suggested, rather incredibly, asks for the restoration of the Bet Mikdash and its cultus. When appended to those beautiful passages which laud lovingkindess over sacrifice this prayer seems to be incongruous. It is copied from the traditional prayer book and, once again, I can only assume that it was included for the benefit of those who wanted the same conclusion as is in the traditonal prayerbook.

To be continued

In Tefillah 006 we mentioned that there is a time parameter for the recital of the Shema and that the latest time for the morning Shema is comparatively early in the day.

Lawrence Charap writes:

I have often wondered about the "early Shema." At least in the U.S., it is not Conservative synagogues alone that usually begin their Shabbat morning services well after 9 am; most orthodox congregations do as well. Indeed, there is a commentary in ArtScroll that recommends reciting all three paragraphs if one knows the service will start too "late" – the presumption being that many congregations do start late. Do you know why it became such a widespread custom to start at a time that is often too late to fit the halachic time requirement for reciting the Shema? It seems odd that the congregation's practice is "set up," as it were, to miss this requirement.

I respond:

Making the time of the synagogue service suit the habits of the congregation is an ancient custom. For instance, just as there is a time parameter for the recital of the morning Shema so there is a corresponding one for the evening Shema, which should not be recited before nightfall. However, on the very first page of the Talmud [Berakhot 2a] we find the Tosafists rigourously defending the custom of European communities in the middle ages to hold their evening services – including the recitation of the Shema – before sundown. This was because, presumably, people did not want to be walking abroad after dark. For these communities the morning Shema did not present a corresponding problem because everyone was up at first light anyway.

Most congregations nowadays take especial care to hold the evening service after dark – and in our modern society this presents no problem for our lifestyle. However, most people take the opportunity of snatching some extra rest on Shabbat morning, so the synagogue service starts late.

Another example that we can quote of making the time of the service suit the convenience of the congregation (rather than the strict exigiencies of halakhah) is that of the timing of the service on Erev Shabbat. With the introduction of 'daylight savings' the Friday evening service during the summer months would be held very late in the evening. However, since halakhah permits us to start Shabbat any time from plag ha-minĥah onwards most western congregations (both Orthodox and Conservative) avail themselves of this loophole and hold their services long before it gets dark. (For more information concerning plag ha-Minĥah and Erev Shabbat see Shabbat 022 and Shabbat 023.)