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A plan to schedule and systematically read the Talmud from beginning to end was formalized in 1923, and since that time tens of thousands of people have taken part in this reading program, called Daf Yomi (a page, or “folio” per day). The complete reading cycle takes about seven-and-a-half years, and after personally participating in the 13th cycle, I can say that it’s quite an educational adventure!
Throughout the ages, many illustrious and renowned Jewish scholars have contributed to the oral tradition, the Mishnah and the Talmud, and the Midrash, a collection of rabbinical questions and commentaries on the Bible (for example, “Why did God appear to Moses as a burning bush and not a tree?”). Midrash is a Hebrew word meaning “investigation,” and passages in the Midrash often take the form of a story about whatever issue is being discussed or explained.
It is not unusual to refer to this group of rabbinical scholars as a source of information or authority when describing a particular law or practice in Judaism. Some people believe that the first rabbis were the Pharisees, a Jewish group that lived in the Holy Land at the time of Jesus. Their interpretation of the Torah was liberal for that day, and they introduced new ideas and concepts that were contrary to much of what was believed at the time. For the next thousand years, these scholars, teachers, and philosophers—collectively referred to as “the Rabbis” or “the Sages”—worked on the religious books and documents that form the core of Jewish religious writings.
The entire body of Jewish law is known as Halachah, and it is this law that guides observant Jews through life, indicating what should be done at any given time or in a given situation as well as what should not be done and what is not acceptable. In other words, Halachah indicates patterns for behavior and for life in general. The root of the word Halachah means “to go” or “to walk,” and Halachah can be thought of as a person’s “path through life.” Halachah, therefore, is a set of codes based on the Talmud that regulates family relationships, legal matters, education, diet, and personal and religious observances.
During the many years when Jews were self-governed in their own communities, these codes provided a legal system, which was a guide to what was acceptable and what was punishable as a crime. After Jews were no longer subject to the discipline of their own community, the law of the land in which they lived took precedence, but the Halachah lived on as a guide to personal behavior.
Modern Jews continue to seek spiritual guidance as well as practical advice from their rabbis and scholars, just as people of other religious groups seek help and advice from their pastors, ministers, and priests. While the Jewish tradition of law and commentaries on the Torah may not always be followed to the letter, these sources, spanning thousands of years and written and collected by the great minds of the ages, provide a wealth of guidance and wisdom from the past to be used in the present.
Issues covered by these writings vary in depth and importance, from marriage to divorce, from kosher kitchen practices to experimental scientific research, and from smoking in or near the synagogue to the introduction of female rabbis and cantors in congregations. Whatever the question or issue, Jewish tradition, wisdom, and scholarship can often help solve contemporary problems. While members of the different branches of Judaism follow these sources to different degrees (or not at all), they can be spiritual (as well as secular) guides if we wish them to be.
Prayers and Blessings
Any Jew can pray on his or her own. However, to say certain prayers or to have what is considered a full worship service, there must be at least ten adults present. This group is called a minyan. The requirements for being a member of a minyan vary among different congregations.
Orthodox congregations require that the minyan comprise ten Jewish men over age thirteen. Conservative congregations will typically include women in the ten-person minyan, and Reform congregations generally do not require a minyan for group prayer.
It is considered somewhat of an honor to be the tenth person to join the group, since then the group can get to the business at hand. I remember occasions when someone had to go hustle up a tenth member, often calling someone on the phone or snatching a person from his office.
The number ten appears quite a few times in Judaism: ten commandments, ten plagues, Abraham’s ten tests of faith, the ten righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, and so forth. The congregation of “ten” comes from the Book of Numbers: ten of Moses’ spies, returning from the Land of Canaan, had distorted the truth, whereupon God proclaims, “How long shall this wicked congregation complain against me?” (Numbers 14:27).
In services where we read from the Torah, it is customary that when the Torah “stands” (is held or raised), the congregants stand; when the Torah sits (is placed on the reading lectern or returned to the ark), the congregants may sit. Whenever the ark containing the Torah scrolls is open or when the scrolls are being carried, the congregants stand. There are some exceptions, but those are the general rules. Your physical abilities and health take precedence over these rules.
Traditional Orthodox Jews pray in the morning, in the afternoon, and again in the evening (although the afternoon and evening prayers are often said in succession). Depending on how observant they are, other Jews may pray once a day, once a month, once a year, or only when they feel the need to express happiness, grief, or some other emotion.
For years I was under the impression that a person “faces east” when praying. In actuality, a person faces toward Jerusalem, specifically toward the site where the temple once stood. Thus, if you are in Turkey, you look at your compass and face south.
There are several prayers that are common to most services. The first (from Deuteronomy 6:4) is the Shema, an affirmation that announces, “Hear, O Israel!: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”
Liberal Jewish congregations now translate prayers so that they are gender-neutral. Here is such a version of the same prayer:
Hear, O Israel: the Eternal One is our God, the Eternal God alone! Blessed is God’s glorious majesty for ever and ever!
The name for God often used these days in prayer is Adonai.
A second prayer basic to the service is the Amidah, generally recited silently while standing. In this prayer we ask God to give us peace and help us solve many of the personal problems and difficulties we all face.
The Aleinu is a prayer that looks to the future as one of hope and peace while reminding us that it is incumbent upon us to give praise to God.
The Kaddish prayer, extolling God’s majesty and kingdom, is recited several times during a service. Although having nothing to do with death, the Kaddish is traditionally recited while remembering the departed. As I get older, I hear (and recite) this prayer more and more as friends and relatives die.
As you might expect, there are blessings for everyday routines, such as waking, eating, traveling, and retiring for the day. Most common is the Grace before Meals, known as the Motzi or HaMotzi. This prayer gives thanks for the “bread of the earth,” bread being symbolic of food in general:
We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, for You cause bread to come forth from the Earth.
Another standard blessing is the blessing over wine, the Kiddush, giving thanks for “the fruit of the vine”:
We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
There is also a prayer of Grace after Meals as well as one that is recited before lighting the Shabbat candles.
After thousands of years, you can imagine that special prayers have developed to respond to special needs. Some may be considered bizarre and some unnecessary. Others may actually seem inappropriate or objectionable in this day and age (“Thank you, God, for not having created me a woman” [see “Women and Judaism”]).
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