Reacting to the prayers in the siddur

Shma Koleinu: A Jewish People’s Commentary on the Siddur by Rabbi Steven Schwarzman, editor, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, an Amazon Company, Seattle, WA;  ISBN 978-1-50535-392-1 ©2014, $17.99, p. 202, plus contributor’s list

By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.

WINCHESTER, California — Jews communicate with God through animal sacrifice, or at least they did when the Temple stood in Jerusalem. Now, prayer substitutes for sacrifice. The first complete liturgical compilation of synagogue prayers is attributed to Rav Amram Gaon, the head of the Jewish academy in Sura, in 875 CE, called Siddur Rav Amram, or the Order of Rabbi Amram.

A siddur contains two types of prayers. The first, laudatory prayers, praises God for His wonderful world, and the second, petitional prayers, requests help for personal needs. Rabbi Steven Schwarzman, editor of Shma Koleinu, his newest book, writes that prayers need to be familiar, inspiring, and meaningful, but for lots of Jews they are not; consequently, “many of us have lost the ability to pray.”

Many people find difficulty embracing the concepts and language of prayers, as most of the prayers in the prayer book were written hundreds of years ago. Additionally, some Sabbath prayer services take as long as three hours to complete, which, as Schwarzman points out, seems to some as a huge expense of time in a fast-paced world.

Discovering that “there are ordinary people out there, just like us, who have found particular prayers that speak to them eloquently and personally,” Schwarzman took a novel approach to help Jews find twenty-first century meaning in archaic, and perhaps even anachronistic, prayers: ask mainstream Jews, Jews who do not have advanced degrees in Jewish studies, to name a prayer that is personally meaningful and tell why.

To this end, Schwarzman is only partially successful. In Shma Koleinu, twenty-nine authors identify fifty-seven meaningful prayers (some authors name more than one prayer and some prayers are named by more than one author.) Of the twenty-nine authors, about one-third have advanced degrees in Jewish studies, and unfortunately many of their discourses seem more didactic or homiletic then personal. From the others come brief, personally meaningful essays, which I believe “prayer-challenged” twenty-first century Jews can understand, find relevant, and internalize.

Schwarzman divides Shma Koleinu into seven chapters, corresponding to various sections of the prayer service; everything from the preliminary service to the Amidah and Torah service to the closing prayers. I was amazed at the selection and variety of prayers chosen by these “ordinary Jews,” and I suspect that their choices will come as a surprise to anyone who regularly attends services.

Here are some examples. Three authors, all “ordinary Jews,” identified the same prayer, which is recited in the preliminary service, as meaningful to them. In fact, the prayer they identified is also the same prayer repeated every time one goes to the bathroom! That prayer is called Asher Yatzar, which thanks God for creating a perfect human anatomy. Bettina Schwarzman writes that the prayer reminds her of “how intricately and intelligently our bodies are formed…. should any of these passages remain open or closed, we become sick, or even die.” Judy Petsonk records that this prayer gives her a “deep appreciation of the everyday miracles of ordinary life…. It is a nice long blessing, giving one ample time to become aware of the complexity and beauty of the delicately balanced inner symphony which is the body.” Erica Goldman-Brodie’s relates in a most powerful and moving way when Asher Yatzar became her favorite prayer: at the time she learned that she had endometrial carcinoma—cancer.

Gayle Golden discovered the prayer Az Yashir Moshe, the Song of the Sea, sung by Miriam and the Jewish women after the sea collapsed on the Egyptian charioteers and the Israelites stood safely on the other side, while going to synagogue to say Kaddish for her parents. “Each day, I looked forward to its haunting beauty. The rhythmic cadence and ancient melody soothed and calmed me through my journey of grief and acceptance of loss.”

One final example: an author simply identified as Jill W. found the prayer sung at the conclusion of the Torah service, Etz Chaim, most meaningful. She tells of being raped at age 17, just before the High Holidays, and then spending much of her adult life questioning God’s existence. Fifteen years later she is married with two children, one of whom is ready for religious instruction. Despite her feelings, she enrolls her daughter in religious school. “Whenever the members of our congregation would chant the last three lines of the prayer [Etz Chaim]… I would feel a strange chill throughout my body. I had no idea what the verses meant. They felt simultaneously somber, yet strangely uplifting.”

Shma Koleinu, which gives the full text of each prayer in Hebrew, but unfortunately not in English or transliterated, provides a unique perspective of Jewish prayers through the hearts of typical Jews. Perhaps there will be a second edition, with the voices of “ordinary Jews” even louder.

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Dr. Fred Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and a fiction book, Reclaiming the Messiah. You may comment directly to him via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com, or post your comment on this website, per the instructions below.

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