Halakhah zu Divrej Hajamim I 16:78

During the post-talmudic era of the Savora’im, the recitation of Hodu (1 Divrei Ha-yamim 16:8-36), the song and praise that King David recited as he returned the Ark of God to the Mishkan from its Philistine captivity, was instituted. Later, in the Temple, they would recite half this praise while offering the morning Tamid and the other half when offering the afternoon Tamid (Beit Yosef §50). In the Ashkenazic rite, Hodu is said after Barukh She-amar so that all the songs of praise and exaltation are included within the berakhot of Pesukei De-zimra (Tur §51). In the Sephardic rite, Hodu is said before Barukh She-amar because it is a continuation of the recitation of the Tamid offering (Ha-eshkol; Kol Bo).

The root of prayer is joyousness of heart in the Holy One, blessed be He,¹Berakoth 31a. as it is written, “Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord” (I Chron. 16:10). And that is why David, King of Israel, used to play on his lute all of his prayers and songs in order to fill his heart with joy in his love for God.²Shabbath 30b. And when an individual prays he must direct his heart to Him before Whom he stands.³Berakoth 28b. Five things prevent prayer even though its time has arrived. These are they: ritual purity of the hands, covering one’s nakedness, purity of the place of prayer, matters that distract, and the intent of the heart. “Ritual purity of the hands,” how so? He washes his hands with water unto the joint of the wrist, in French jointure, and then let him pray. If he has been walking and the time of prayer has arrived and he has no water, let him walk until (he reaches) a place of water, wash his hands and then pray. If there is between him and the water more than four miles⁴Hullin 122b. let him cleanse his hands with pebbles, or with sand, or on a post and pray, as it has been said,⁵Berakoth 15a. “In what case was this said ‛before him,’ but ‛behind him’ we do not oblige him to return, but only up to a mile.” But if he has gone more than a mile he then cleanses his hands with pebbles, sand or on a post. “Covering one’s nakedness,” how so? ⁶Ibid., 25a. Even though he has covered his nakedness in the manner that he covers himself for the reading of the Shema, let him not pray until he covers his bosom. And if he has not covered his bosom because of circumstance and has nothing with which to cover himself, since he has covered his shame and prayed he has done his duty. But at the outset he should not do so. “Cleanliness of the place of prayer,” how so?⁷Ibid. Let him not stand in a filthy place and pray, nor in a bathhouse, nor in a privy, nor in a dung heap, nor in a place which has not a presumptive status of ritual cleanliness until investigated. The sum of the matter is that one does not pray in a place where he cannot recite the Shema. And in the same manner that one removes himself from excrement, similarly does one remove himself from urine and from bad odors and from indecent sights for prayer, as he would remove himself for the recitation of the Shema. If during the prayer one finds excrement in his place, since he has sinned by not investigating prior to praying let him repeat his prayers in a clean place. If one has been in the midst of prayer and seen excrement in front of him, if he is able to go forward putting a distance of four cubits between, let him go forth. If he is unable to do so, let him remove it to the side and if he is unable to do this, let him cease praying. “Matters that distract,” how so? If one has had need to evacuate and has prayed, his prayer is an abomination. He repeats his prayers after taking care of his needs.⁸Ibid., 23a. If he is able to contain himself for the time needed to traverse a parasang, his prayer is acceptable. But even so, let him not pray until he has examined himself thoroughly, let him remove phlegm, mucous, all spittle and filth of the nose, and then let him pray. One who belches, yawns or sneezes deliberately during his prayers, in French, tousser, bâiller, éternuer, is disgraceful. But if he has examined himself before praying and was overcome, it is of no consequence. If during his prayer he has chanced upon spittle, let him remove it with his prayer shawl or clothing, but if he be exceedingly sensitive and troubled thereby, let him cast it behind him, in order that he not be troubled during prayer. If he breaks wind during prayer unwittingly, let him be silent until the odor subsides and then return to his prayer. If he has had need to break wind and suffered greatly being unable to contain himself, let him remove himself a distance of four cubits, wait until the odor subsides, say, “Lord of all the universes, You have created me orifices and orifices, hollows and hollows. Before the throne of Thy glory is revealed and apparent our revilement all the days of our lives and that we are worms in our death.” And he prays once again in his place. If he has been in the midst of prayer and urine has dripped on his knees, he waits until it ceases and returns to the place in his prayers where he has stopped. And if he has paused for an interval of such duration as would have enabled him to conclude the prayer, let him return to the beginning. Similarly if he has urinated, he pauses for the duration of an interval necessary to walk four cubits and then prays.⁹Megillah 27b. “Directing one’s heart,” how so? A prayer which is devoid of inwardness let him repeat and pray with inwardness. If his mind has been confused and his heart troubled, he is forbidden to pray until his mind becomes settled. In what way is inwardness achieved? He should free his mind of all thoughts as if he were standing before the Lord. Therefore he must rest a bit before prayer¹⁰The Zohar, trans. H. Sperling, M. Simon and P. Levertoff (4 Vols.; London: Soncino Press, 1931-1934), II, 28. in order to direct the prayer inwardly, and then let him pray with prayers and supplications. And let him not regard his prayer as if he were carrying some heavy burden which he casts aside and then moves on. Therefore, he should sit down after prayer and then leave. The scholars of former years tarried one hour before prayer and one hour after prayer and prolonged their prayers one hour.¹¹Berakoth 32b. A person who is drunk should not pray,¹²Erubin 64a. and if he prays his prayer is an abomination, because there is no inwardness. But when he becomes sober let him recite again his prayers with inwardness. While under the influence of drink let him not pray. But if he has prayed, his prayer is acceptable. Who is regarded as being drunk? One who cannot speak before a king. But one under the influence of drink is able to speak before a king and does not blunder, but even if this be the case, if he has drunk a quarter of wine, let him not pray until the wine wears off. And so one does not rise to pray out of laughter,¹³Berakoth 31a. in French rieur, or out of lightheadedness or scoffing, or out of conversation, or out of strife, or out of anger, only out of the study of the Law, and such law that he does not have to investigate, namely, defined laws.¹⁴Ibid. See also, “Decided laws which admit of no discussion,” in Berakoth 31a, Babylonian Talmud in English, ed. Isidore Epstein (36 Vols.; London: Soncino Press, 1935-1953), I, 188. If he has been travelling by ship, or has been in a place of danger, in a place where there are hordes of wild beasts and robbers, and the hour of prayer has arrived,¹⁵Ibid., 29b. he recites one prayer and this is it: “The needs of Thy people Israel are great and they are impatient; may it be Thy will God, our God and God of our fathers, that You assign to each and everyone enough for his maintenance and to each individual enough for his requirements, and that which is best in Thy sight do. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who hears prayer.” And he recites it as he goes, and if he is able to remain stationary he stands, and when he reaches a settlement and his mind is set at ease he repeats the prayer according to the institution of the Eighteen Benedictions. Of eight things must the person who prays be circumspect¹⁶Maimonides, Hilkhoth Tefillah, 1:1.—and do them. And if he has been pressed or overcome or if he has transgressed and has not performed them they do not hinder the matter, and these are they: standing, facing the Holy Temple, preparation of the body, modulating the voice, arranging the attire, preparation of the place, kneeling and prostration. “Standing,” how so?¹⁷Berakoth 30a. One does not pray except while standing. If he has been seated in a ship or wagon, if he is able to stand let him stand, if not, let him sit in his place and pray. One who is sick prays even though sitting, and this applies only when he is able to direct his mind. Similarly the thirsty and the hungry are classified as being ill. If it is possible for them to direct their mind, let them pray; if not, they should not pray until they eat and drink. If he has been riding on an animal, even though there is someone to hold his animal until he complete his prayer, let him not descend but rather sit in his place and pray in order that his mind be at ease. “Facing the Holy Temple,” how so?¹⁸Ibid. If he has been standing outside the Holy Land, he turns his countenance towards the land of Israel and prays. If he has been standing in the Holy Land he directs his countenance towards the Holy of Holies. A blind person or one who cannot tell directions or one travelling on a ship, let him direct his heart towards the Divine Presence and pray. “Preparation of the body,” how so? If he has been in the midst of prayer he must align his feet one beside the other.¹⁹Ibid., 10b. He casts his eyes downward and directs his heart as if looking earthward, and let his heart be turned upward as if he were standing in heaven. And let him place his hands as though bound upon his heart, the right upon the left, and stand as a slave before his master in fear and trembling. Let him not place his hands upon his loins. “Adjusting one’s attire,” how so?²⁰Shabbath 10a. He adjusts his clothing at the outset, straightens himself and adorns himself, as it is written, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Ps. 29:2). Let him not stand in prayer with his purse, nor with a bare head, nor with exposed feet, if the custom of people of that place is not to stand before a superior except with shoes. While praying it is prohibited to take hold of a Scroll of the Law or phylacteries, because his mind is engaged. Let him not hold money or an object in his hand. But during the Festival he prays with his palm branch in his hand because that is the commandment of the day. The custom of the sages and their students was not to pray except when fully dressed.²¹Ibid. “Preparation of the place,” how so?²²Berakoth 10b. Let him stand in a low place and pray. Let him turn his face to the walls. He should open the windows or the doors towards Jerusalem to pray towards them, for thus do we find in the case of Daniel, “His windows were open in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem” (Dan. 6:11). He establishes a place for prayer. One does not pray in a ruin, neither behind the synagogue, only if he directs his countenance towards the synagogue. It is prohibited to sit beside one who stands in prayer or to pass before him unless he is removed from him four cubits. He should not stand in a place higher than three handbreadths or more and pray, neither on a bed, a bench or on a chair. If he has been standing in an elevated edifice and it is four cubits in length by four cubits in width, which are the dimensions of a house, it is considered a garret and it is permissible to pray. Thus if it is surrounded with a partition on all sides, even though it lacks four cubits, it is permissible to pray there. “Modulating the voice,” how so?²³Ibid., 31a.He should not raise his voice in prayer, and should not pray only in his heart but articulate the words with his lips, sounding it to his ear. He should not cause his voice to be heard except if he has been sick or unable to direct his mind until it causes his voice to be heard; then it is permissible, except that he not be in public, so as not to disturb the thought of others hearing his voice. “Bending the knee,” how so?²⁴Ibid., 34a. He who prays should bend the knee five times; with the first blessing at its beginning and end; and at Modim beginning and end; and when he finishes the prayer he bows and prostrates himself taking three steps backwards.²⁵Midrash Rabbah, ed. H. Freedman and M. Simon (10 Vols.; London: Soncino Press, 1939), Esther, IX, 20. When he concludes the prayer, let him bow to the left which is the right of the Holy One, blessed be He, then to the right, and then lift his head from bowing. And when he bends the knee, he bends with “blessed,” and when he assumes his upright position he does so with the “Name.”²⁶Berakoth 12a. In all of these bowings he is required to bend until all the vertebrae of the spine seem to be loosened. Let him make himself as a bow, and if he has bent a bit more and caused himself pain and it appears that he is bending with all his might there is no need to be apprehensive.
“Prostration,” how so?²⁷Berakoth 34b.After he raises himself and his head,²⁸This is the preferred reading. The original read: “He sits on the right and falls on his face” (see Perush). he sits down and falls on his face to the right and prays with all the supplication that he desires. It is prohibited to prostrate oneself on stones except in the Holy Temple, as it is explained in the tractate Abodah Zarah.²⁹This should read “in the laws of idolatry,” referring to Maimonides, Hilkhoth Tefillah, 5:14. And a worthy man is not permitted to fall on his face except if he is convinced that he is as worthy as Joshua;³⁰Taanith 14b. he rather lies down on his face but does not conceal his face in the soil. It is permissible for a person to pray in one place and fall on his face in another. One who prays with the congregation let him not extend his prayer more than necessary, but he may do so privately. And if he desires to recite after his prayers even the Order of the Confessional for the Day of Atonement, let him do so. Also if he has wished to add to each prayer of the “middle benedictions,” supplications of similar content, let him add them.³¹Abodah Zarah 8a. If he has been ill or in need of sustenance, let him make additions according to his verbal ability,³²Berakoth 34a. but he should not supplicate in the first three benedictions or in the last three benedictions. One is prohibited to taste anything or do any work after dawn, until he prays.³³Ibid., 14a.
“Mutual greeting of scholars,” how so?³⁴The Perush states that the words are missing and it should read “and so it is prohibited to extend greetings to a friend before a prayer except in a case where he met him in the street and then it is permissable.” The greeter says, “A good morning to you,” and the one greeted replies, “A very good morning to you and may it last forever.” The one who replies doubles the greeting.
The prayers were instituted in place of the “Daily Offerings”³⁵Berakoth 26b. as it is said, “Shall ye observe to offer unto Me in its due season” (Deut. 28:2). From this they instituted the “Stations,” that they should stand watch over them.³⁶Taanith 27a. Therefore a man should stand at the time that he recites the Eighteen Benedictions. One is obligated to answer “Amen” to each blessing, as it is written “Open ye the gates that the righteous nation that keepeth faithfulness may enter in” (Isa. 26:2), i.e., (the faithful) that say “Amen.”³⁷Shabbath 119b.And greater is the merit of the one who answers “Amen” than he who blesses, because he affirms the blessings of the one who recites them. Also the one who blesses mentions only one Name, the one who answers “Amen” invokes two Names because “Amen” (91) totals the numerical value of yod he vav he (26) and aleph daleth nun yod (65).³⁸Tikkune Zohar, ed. Shamaryahu Zuckerman (Wilna: Fin and Rosenkranz Publisher, 1867), Chapter XVIII, p. 67. And one must direct his heart towards heaven when answering “Amen,” which is the abbreviation of El Melekh Nehman.³⁹Shabbath 119b. Talking and behaving light-headedly ⁴⁰Megillah 28a. is prohibited in the synagogue while standing before our King, Master of all the earth, blessed be His name. And woe unto the wicked who behave light-headedly, upon whom there is no fear of the Almighty; and there is neither fear nor reverence on their countenance and they will not discern or accept an example. “For pass over to the isles of the Kittites, and see, and consider diligently” that in all those lands the kings bend on their knees in their houses of prayer and they stand in awe, reverence and trembling and their hands spread out to their gods made by human hands which neither see nor hear. We who stand before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, eternal exalted and lifted up, blessed be His name and His fame be exalted, He to whom all praises are due, all the more must we stand before Him with awe and reverence, with fear and trembling. Concerning those who sit in the House of Prayer and appear to be exhausted and are unable to stand, concerning them the verse says, “Yet you did not call upon Me, O Jacob, but you have been weary of me, O Israel” (Isa. 43:22). All day he is not tired but during prayer he is tired.⁴¹Midrash Rabbah, ed. Soncino, Lamentations, VIII, 13. The entire day he stands in the market before the officer, or before some scoffer and he is not weary, but during prayer he is unable to stand.
If one is praying and a prayer book has fallen before him to earth, if his mind is distracted from concentrating, and he is unable to pray with devotion, let him pick it up and pray with devotion. But before picking it up let him conclude the benediction which he has already begun. And if he is able to direct his mind let him not pick up the book which is on the ground, for he who prays with devotion shares in the world to come. Let a man always rise to attend the synagogue in order to merit being counted among the first ten, for even if a hundred come after him he is given reward equivalent to all of them.⁴²Berakoth 47b. A man who lives in a village and does not have ten people with whom to recite divine offices,⁴³Such prayers that require the presence of a quorum, or minyan, which consists of a minimum of ten males over the age of thirteen. or lives in a place where there is a congregation and he has come late, after they have recited, “May His great name”;⁴⁴Eleazar ben Judah of Worms, Sefer Rokeah (Zalkwo: 1806), Chapter CCCLXII, p. 81. let him say, “Let the power of the Lord be great according as Thou hast spoken, saying” (Num. 14:17), “Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 38:23), “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever” (Ps. 113:2).
Let a man not leave the synagogue until they complete the entire prayer service, except for the privy or to expectorate. In the evening close to prayer let a man not take a child to his bosom lest he soil his garments. Even if he wash them in water, they will not be as clean as before. Moreover, it is possible that while searching after the water the hour for Minha will have passed, or between and betwixt they will have recited the Kaddish with him being unable to respond with the “Amen.” Moreover, perhaps the child will cry when he wishes to set him down and he will take pity on him and would not defer to the honor of his Owner and he will not go at all to the House of Assembly. “Create me a clean heart, O God,” (Ps. 51:12) i.e., a man should not imagine an indecent or repulsive thought during prayer. Let him not touch these (indecent and repulsive) things during prayer. Let him not recite Modim⁴⁵Daily Prayerbook, trans. Dr. Joseph Hertz (rev. ed.; New York: Bloch Publishing Co., 1948), p. 151, “We give thanks.” if there is saliva in his mouth. Let him not pray until the saliva is eliminated from his mouth. And if he has not recited the benedictions of Ovos⁴⁶Berakoth 34b. This refers to the section of the “Eighteen Benedictions,” which begins, “Praised be thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob.” See Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 130. with devotion until Mogen Abraham, let him repeat it and pray again. And so with the recitation of Shema if he has not recited the first verse with devotion, let him repeat it in a whisper but let him not recite it in a loud voice, for it would appear as though two powers govern the universe.⁴⁷Berakoth 33b. It would seem that he is addressing two divinities. A person who is unable to pray with devotion without a prayer book in which the prayer is written, or a person sated and unable to concentrate on the Blessings of Grace, let him read it from a book wherein the Blessings of Grace are inscribed. If he has not prayed with devotion, then when they pray quietly let him direct his heart with the reader and let him say each word with him. If you wonder about those who stammer in their speech and pronounce het as heh and shin as samekh and kuf as teth and raish as daleth, as to how they pray or how they read in the Torah and recite matters of holiness; when they reach the verse (Ps. 33:20), Nafshaynu Hikhtha, are they not revilers and blasphemers?⁴⁸Megillah 24b. Do not wonder about this matter, for our Creator, who searches hearts, does not seek anything but the heart of man that it be whole with Him, and although he cannot speak properly it is nevertheless as if he recites it properly. And so to those who read the “Verses of Praise”⁴⁹A group of Psalms read at the beginning of the morning service. See Daily Prayer Book, ed. Hertz, p. 50. in a loud voice and with melodious song and do not know the verses and recite them with error, their prayers and songs are accepted as savory odors. And also the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoices over him greatly and says, “How much he sings before Me according to his thinking.” Concerning this it is said, “And His banner over me is love” (Cant. 2:4). His faithlessness to me is love. “His mouth trespasseth not in judgement” (Prov. 16:10); we translate, “He does not deceive with his mouth.” It happened with a priest who with hands outstretched blessing the people said, Yishmadkho “let him destroy you.” There was a scholar present who removed him from before the ark, because he did not know how to pronounce the letters in the Priestly Benediction. It was shown through heaven to this scholar that if he did not restore him he would be punished because of the matter. He who prays should focus his eyes downward and his heart upward⁵⁰Yebamoth 105b. in order to fulfill those two passages, “And Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually” (I Kings 9:3), “Let us lift our heart and our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lam. 3:41). And those who raise their heads and their eyes upward as one would look at the angels we deride and call heads of thorns.⁵¹Tosafoth, Berakoth 12b, “Bend like a reed.”

They do not “prostrate themselves” (i.e., they do not say the taḥanun¹⁰The taḥanun, תחנון, prayer is the name of a prayer which is a confession of sins and a petition for grace. It is normally part of the daily Morning, Shaḥarit (see footnote 17), and Afternoon, Minḥah (see footnote 40), Services. It is recited after the reader’s repetition of the Amidah (see footnote 43). The taḥanun begins silently with a selection from II Samuel 24:14 which was uttered by King David after he was rebuked by the prophet Gad for sinning by numbering the people: “let us fall, I pray thee, into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are many, but let me not fall into the hands of man.” The prayer is referred to literally as the “prostration prayer” because the Bible mentions the fact that one prostrates oneself during petitions (Deuteronomy 9:18; Joshua 7:6), and the prayer taḥanun was therefore customarily recited in the prostrate position. Today the prayer is recited while one is seated with one’s head bowed into the bend of one’s arm when a Torah Scroll is present to indicate the sanctity of the location. The Sephardi ritual begins the taḥanun with a silent confession of sins, viddui (see footnote 39) followed by the verse from II Samuel 24:14. The central part of the prayer for the Ashkenazim is Psalm 6 and for the Sephardim the penitential psalm, Psalm 25. In addition to this there are penitential prayers of piyyutim, or liturgical poems (see footnote 149). The taḥanun prayer is omitted on the Sabbath, festivals, semiholidays, New Moons, and from the Minḥah Service preceding these special days, during the month of Nisan and on the Ninth of Av. The taḥanun is also omitted at a circumcision in a synagogue, when a bridegroom attends the service during the first seven days following his wedding, and at the prayers held at the homes of mourners since the theme “I have sinned before thee” is deemed inappropriate.
Meir Ydit, E. J., v. 15, p. 702. prayers) on the Eve of Yom Kippur.
Hagah: They also do not say “למנצח¹¹למנצח, “For the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David” is Psalm 19, and it is recited normally during the Shaḥarit, Morning prayers on the Sabbath and festivals (see footnote 17). The theme of the prayer is the double revelation of God in nature, in religion and in Torah.
Dr. Joseph H. Hertz, The Authorized Daily Prayer Book, New York, Bloch Publishing Company, 1957, p. 60” and “מזמור לתודה¹²מזמור לתודה, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving” is Psalm 100. The theme of the psalm is to let all the world join in the worship of God. The psalm is normally recited during the Shaḥarit Morning prayers on the weekday (see footnote 17). In addition to the day before Yom Kippur, it is also omitted on Sabbaths, festivals, the day before Passover, and on the intermediate days of Passover.”, (מנהגים).¹³Minhagim, מנהגים, “customs” when used by Isserles denotes an anonymous collection of Ashkenazi customs in his glosses that were not part of the customs practiced by the Sephardi Jewish community. Additions such as these gave Ashkenazi Jewry the possibility of accepting the Shulḥan Arukh as a binding and authoritative code of Jewish law in that the additions of Isserles enabled the total Shulḥan Arukh to be a work common to all of world Jewry. There was no one book from which Isserles drew his minhagim, his customs, but rather he drew them from various minhagim books available to him and from customs he was familiar with in daily life. Many of the minhagim from which Isserles drew were contained in a book entitled Minahage Maharil or Sefer Maharil published in 1556 in Sabionetta which was compiled by Zalman of Saint Goar. It contained halakhic statements, explanations, and customs that Zalman heard from his great teacher the Maharil, Jacob ben Moses Moellin (see footnote 8). Also they do not say before dawn many “seliḥot¹⁴Seliḥot, סליחות, means “prayers of forgiveness”. When this word is used in its singular form seliḥah, סליחה, it means “forgiveness” and it usually refers to a liturgical poem, piyyut (see footnote 149), who’s subject is a plea for forgiveness. When the term is used in the plural, seliḥot, it refers to a special order of service which consists of non-statuatory additional prayers which are recited on all fast days, on occasions of special intercession, and during the Penitential season which begins with a special Seliḥot Service usually held at midnight on the Saturday night immediately preceding Rosh HaShanah and concludes with Yom Kippur. The Mishna (Ta’an 2:1-4) gives the order of the service for public fasts which were often proclaimed during periods of drought and it provided for six additional blessings inserted into the daily Amidah after the sixth blessing which is a prayer for forgiveness of sins (see footnote 43).
The first mention of any kind of definite order of Seliḥot is found in Tanna de-Vei, Eliyahu Zuta (23 end). The order of Sheliḥot was not found until the ninth century in the Seder of R. Amram which included “May He Who answered” and the biblical verse “Thee Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious longsuffering and abundent in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6) along with others.
Over the centuries many more piyyutim with the theme of forgiveness have been added to the Seliḥot prayers. Because of the many liturgical poems added at various times, many Jewish communities have had their own distinct rites evolve. It became a Palestinian custom not to say the Seliḥot prayers during the Amidah but after it, and this became the custom generally accepted (Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 566:4).
Seliḥot prayers were originally confined to fast days. God was just, and it was felt that if one confessed one’s sins and prayed for forgiveness, calamities which were the result of Israel’s sins, would be averted. In modern times the Seliḥot prayers were first recited in conjunction with the six fast days prior to Rosh HaShanah and then they were extended to include the ten days of Penitence including Yom Kippur but not Rosh HaShanah in the Ashkenazi ritual. Among Sephardi Jews it was a custom to recite Seliḥot for forty days from Rosh Ḥodesh Elul (the New Moon of the month of Elul, the last month of the Hebrew year preceding the New Year beginning with Rosh HaShanah on the New Moon of Tishrei) until Yom Kippur. The Ashkenazi custom was evolved in our day to recite Seliḥot from midnight on the Saturday night prior to Rosh HaShanah or the week before that should Rosh HaShanah fall on a Monday or a Tuesday. (Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 581 with the Isserles). Only on the first night is Seliḥot recited at midnight. On all other days it is recited in the Morning Service.
Present day customs also allow individuals to recite Seliḥot on semi-official voluntary fasts.
Louis Isaac Rabinowitz, E. J., v. 14, pp. 1133-34.” (prayers of forgiveness), but there are places where it is customary to increase seliḥot. All (this should be done) according to the (local) custom. But concerning the matter of the saying of “אבינו מלכנו¹⁵Avinu Malkhenu, אבינו מלכנו “Our Father our King” is a prayer recited during the ten days of Penitence between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur immediately after the Amidah (see footnote 43). The prayer is not said during Friday Minḥah Afternoon, on the Sabbath, or on the day before Yom Kippur. If the day before Yom Kippur is a Friday then the prayer is recited during the Morning, Shaḥarit Service (see footnote 17). Each of the forty-four invocations of the prayer begins “Avinu Malkhenu”, “Our Father our King”. This litancy has the elements of a confessional and petitionary prayer. The prayer is quite old and the Talmud attributes some of the lines to Rabbi Akiba when they were spoken on a fast day due to a drought. The prayer was expanded over the centuries to include prayers for life, pardon, and the needs and trials of human existence. Toward the end are references to the terrible massacres during the Black Death in the fourteenth century where much of German Jewry was annihilated.
Hertz, op. cit., pp. 161-67.”, (Our Father, our King”), on the Eve of Yom Kippur, there is a disagreement among the aḥronim¹⁶Aḥronim, אחרונים, the later scholars or authorities. This term is used to designate the later rabbinic authorities as opposed to the rishonim or the earlier authorities. There is no clear line of demarkation separating the aḥronim from the rishonim. Some scholars date the aḥronim as early as the tosafists in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries while others start the period in the beginning of the fourteenth century where the appearance of the Sha’arei Dura of Isaac ben Meir Dueren. Most scholars agree that the period of the rishonim ends with the death of Israel Isserlein in 1460 (see footnote 96) and that the aḥronim begin with the Shulḥan Arukh including the glosses of Isserles (1525-30-1572). The later authorities are therefore thought of as the collection of all the predecessors of the Jewish world of sages in both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities included by both Caro and Isserles. When Isserles then referred to the aḥronim, he referred to his contemporaries and those authorities immediately preceding him.
Some of the greatest aḥronim were produced in Poland during the end of the sixteenth century where the study of the Torah and Talmud became quite intensive.
Aḥronim is a term now used to refer to all rabbinic authorities after 1500 who decide halakhah even to this day.
Yehoshua Horowitz, E. J., v. 1973 Year Book, pp.153-57., (later scholars). The custom in my city is not to say it unless Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat; since we do not say on the Shabbat “אבינו מלכנו”, therefore we say it in the Shaḥarit¹⁷Shaḥarit, שחרית Morning Service, or actually the dawn prayer. The Shaḥarit prayers are the most elaborate of the three daily prayer services (the Shaḥarit, Morning; Minḥah, Afternoon; and Aravit, Evening). It has been traditionally attributed to Abraham. “And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord,” (Genesis 19:27). After the destruction of the Temple the rabbis made the recitation of the Shaḥarit prayer obligatory to replace the daily morning sacrafice called the Tamid which had been performed in the Temple (Ber. 26b).
There are basically eight parts to the Shaḥarit Service and they are the following: (1) The Morning Benedictions or Birkhot ha-Shaḥar, ברכות השחר, these are preliminaries to the Morning Service and they consist of hymns, blessings, and meditations, the themes of which are generally concerned with the change of night to day and of sleep to wakefulness. There are also readings from the Torah and rabbinical writings to get the soul ready for worship. Originally this part of the service was to be read at home before coming to the synagogue for communal prayer.
Hertz, op. cit., p. 4.
(2) The Psalms and Passages of Song or Pesukai de-Zimra, פסוקי דזמרא. This section of psalms and anthems is intended to serve as the transference from private worship in the first section to public prayer. The tradition says that pious men during the days of the Second Temple would completely read the entire Book of Psalms everyday. This was an ideal that men with necessary work could never emulate, thus it became the custom to read at least six psalms in the morning, Psalms 145-150. There have been additions to this nucleus. Prior to the above mentioned psalms, are recited other psalm-like selections, I Chronicles 16:8-36, a collection of Biblical verses, Psalm 100, and more Biblical verses. Psalms 145-150 are followed by responses of adoration (“doxologies”), the benediction of David, I Chronicles 29:10-13; the prayer of Nehemiah 9:6-11; and the Song of Moses, Exodus 14:30 - 15:18. Therefore this section contains no formal prayers but only psalm-like material. It was brought into the Morning Service by Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (1230-1293).
ibid., pp. 50-1.
(3) Reading of the Shema, קריאת שמע, and its benedictions. This is truely the central part of the Morning (and the Evening) Service. It is Israel’s confession of faith in the One God. The worshipper, by reciting it, proclaims his allegiance to the Kingdom of Heaven and his submission to God’s commandments. The Shema is preceded by two blessings; (1) The Yotzer, יוצר, Prayer which is a prayer of thanksgiving for the creation of physical life, for the actual light of day and for God’s renewal of creation which is demonstrated by the fact that the sun, the light, returns; and (2) The Ahavah Rabbah, אהבה רבה, a gracious prayer of thanksgiving, gives thanks to God for the light of Torah which he gave to Israel and its moral teachings.
The Shema in the Shaḥarit Service is followed by two prayers; (1) the Emet Veyaẓiv, אמת ויציב, which means (True and Firm). The prayer confirms the faith in the declarations that were made in the Shema. (2) and the prayer Go’el Israel, גואל ישראל, the Redeemer of Israel which praises God.
ibid., p. 108.
The Shema itself consists of three Torah sections, Deuteronomy 6:4-8; 11:13-22; and Numbers 15:37-42. It is a proclamation of God’s Unity and Oneness, Israel’s total loyalty to God and his commandments, the belief in Divine Justice, the rememberance of the liberation from Egypt, and the choosing of Israel. Together these form the foundation of Jewish faith.
ibid., p. 116.
(4) The Amidah, עמידה, is the most central and important part of the service next to the Shema. It is also referred to as the Tefillah, התפילה, “The Prayer” and the Shemoneh Esreh. שמונה עשרה, or eighteen benedictions because it originally contained eighteen separate benedictions but which has come down to us as a prayer consisting of nineteen benedictions during the regular daily worship service. The Prayer is recited three times a day silently while standing, therefore the name Amidah which means “standing” became associated with it. The benedictions contain expressions of praise, thanksgiving, confession, and petition to God.
The Amidah contains three basic parts. The first part consists of three opening benedictions which are praises. They glorify God, His everlasting love and His infinite holiness. The second part of the weekday Amidah contains thirteen blessings (which were originally only twelve) which are petitions for the individual as well as for the nation. This middle section of the Amidah is different on the Sabbath and festivals. On the Sabbath there is only one benediction in the middle of the Amidah (therefore only a total of seven benedictions) and it concerns the special nature of the day. A Kedusha or a sanctification of the name of God, is included in this section of the Sabbath morning Amidah. On the festivals this is also the case with a special middle benediction which concerns the unique nature of the holiday. This is true of all festivals except Rosh HaShanah which contains three central blessings in its Musaf Amidah (see footnote 166), thus making a total of nine benedictions.
The third part of the Amidah consists of three closing benedictions whose theme is one of thanksgiving. The first three and last three benedictions never change regardless of which service the Amidah is found in or on what day it is recited. The prayer is first recited privately in silence and it is then repeated out loud by the reader (except for the Evening Service, see footnote 144) for the benefit of those who are unable to say it themselves (see also footnote 42).
ibid., pp. 130-31.
(5) The Taḥanun, תחנון, prayers of confession; see footnote 10.
(6) The Torah reading on the mornings that it is required, namely on the Sabbath, festivals, Mondays, Thursdays, New Moons, the intermediate days of Passover and Succot, Purim and public fast days. Normally, that is on most Sabbaths, Mondays and Thursdays the Torah is read according to its regular weekly division of fifty-four (on a leap year and fifty on a non-leap year) portions. On special Sabbaths, festivals, and other occasions specially designated portions are read which have a relationship with that particular occasion.
(7) Ashrei. אשרי, “Happy are they” is basically Psalm 20 and a collection of Biblical quotations. It is in essence a prophetic lesson and a second sanctification.
(8) Aleinu le-Shabbe’aḥ, עלינו לשבח, “It is our duty to praise the Lord” is recited at the conclusion of the Morning Service. It is usually preceded by a full Kaddish (see footnote 177) read by the reader and it is followed by a Mourner’s Kaddish. The Aleinu or adoration prayer since the fourteenth century has been a proclaimation of God as the Supreme King of the Universe and the God of a United Humanity. In the first part Israel aknowledges that it has been selected for service to God and the second half proclaims Israel’s faith and hope that all idolatry will disappear and that all activity will be turned to God. All will be united under the Kingship of God.
Hertz, op. cit., p. 208.
The Shaḥarit Service remains fairly constant in the prayers recited every morning except for the Amidah which changes according to the occasion as described above. There are also additions to the pesukei de-zimra (2) on Sabbaths and festivals, and on festivals and New Moons the Hallel (special psalms of praise and thanksgiving which consist of Psalms 113-118 with various Psalms omitted on certain festivals) is added. Special piyyutim (see footnote 149) are also inserted on certain Sabbaths and festivals during the Shaḥarit Service.
The Mishna and Talmud discuss when the Shaḥarit Service should be recited. The Shema must be recited from the period of time which begins with daybreak and ends after a quarter of the day has passed (Ber. 1:2; Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 58:1). One must recite the Amidah during the hours encompassed by sunrise and a third of the day (Ber. 4:1; Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 89:1). If by chance the recitation of the daily prayers was delayed they could be recited until midday (Ber. 4:1; Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 89:1). If the Shaḥarit Amidah is not recited, an extra Amidah is added during the Minḥaḥ, Afternoon Service.
During the daily weekday Shaḥarit Service the tallit, prayer shawl, and the tefillin, phylacteries, are worn. On the Sabbath and festivals only the tallit is worn. One wears neither tallit nor tefillin on the Ninth day of Av for the Shaḥarit Serivce but wears them instead for the Minḥah Service. One must not interupt one’s prayer by speaking from the prayer “Barukh she-Amar” which precedes the pesukei de-zimra until after the Amidah.
Editorial Staff, E. J., v. 14, pp. 1257-58. (Morning Prayers) on the Eve of Yom Kippur.