The Virtual SynagogueThe Shabbat Service

This is a representation of a Shabbat morning service, intended to introduce the non-Jew to the worship experiences of Judaism. It is not exactly l ike any actual Shabbat service – for one thing, no observant Jew should be computing on Shabbat! There are several audio portions available to help you experience as much of an actual service as possible.

Or, in English, Shabbat Shalom.

The origin of the synagogue is an academic puzzle, but it is clear that by the time the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., the synagogue was already an established reality for Jews, both in Judea and in the Gali lee. Evidence from the Mishnah and the NewTestament indicates that prayer was partof the role of the synagogue, at leastby the end of the first century.

Synagogue from Capernaum, 1 st century C.E.

Over the next 1900 years, the synagogue has been a fixture of Jewish l i fe, a center of worship, learning, and social connection – and a public reminder of the presence of the Jews.

Model of Warsaw synagogue, destroyed in 1943.

Each synagogue is distinct, as the two American synagogues on this page demonstrate.

Synagogue in Rhode Island, 1760

Synagogue in New Orleans, 19 th century

A Jewish gathering wil l typically look l ike a cross-section of the wider society: old, young, dark, l ight, wealthy and not – and a visitor could easily be surprised to f ind a co-worker or teacher they never knew was Jewish.

Jews of Kaifeng, China

“In the Shul”, painting by Stephan Zanger

Ethiopian Jew

Traditionally, Jews gather three times daily for prayer. The Torah is read three times during the week at those prayer services – Tuesday, Thursday, and Shabbat (Saturday) morning.

In all branches of Judaism, the congregational prayer is standardized and published in the Siddur (“Order” of worship).

Hamilton Siddur, published in Spain, 13 th century

There are six major sections in a Shabbat Torah service:

• The Blessings

• Verses of Praise

• The Shema: The statement of God’s oneness

• The Amidah: The standing prayer

• The Torah Reading

• The Conclusion

Mah tovu (“How good are your tents, O people of Jacob”) is the song the commonly opens the blessings section. A wide variety of songs are used in the praise section of the service, such as Shochen ad (“The one who abides forever”).

In preparation for the Saturday morning Shabbat service, the men wil l put on their prayer shawls, wrap themselves with tefi l l in, and wear a kipah (also known as a yarmulke).

Putting the tefil l in on the forehead – the

bands on the man’s left arm are the tefi l l in for

the hand.

The tall i th is the prayer shawl, and following the commandment of Deuteronomy, i t has affixed the tzitzit (fr inges).

Tallith with kipah. There are 613 knots tied in the fringes, representing the 613 commandments in Torah.

(PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THIS DETAIL!)

The typical prayer service is led by a rabbi, often with a cantor leading the singing. However, any male who has become a bar Mitzvah (that is, responsible for the commandments), may lead the prayers. In Reform and Conservative tradit ions, there is an increasing number of female rabbis as well.

One familiar symbol in the synagogue is the menorah. Menorahs were used in the Temple, and are a symbol of Judaism itself. Note that the menorah has seven l ights – the Chanukiah is a special menorah used only at Chanukah, with nine l ights instead of seven.

4 th century menorah

Seal from ancient Palestine (date uncertain)

There are three daily services in the synagogue: Shacharit (or Morning Prayer); Minchah (Afternoon Prayer); and Ma’ariv (Evening Prayer). The most basic element of each is the Shema. The Shema is composed of three passages from the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and 11:13-21; and Numbers 15:37-41. In the first passage, God commands the Israelites to hold these words constantly before them.

Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.

from http://artmuz.com/Jewish_Art_4_MAIN.htm

The synagogue’s Torah is sti l l written on scrolls, not in a book. The scrolls are kept in the ark, a cabinet at the front of the congregation. This ark brings the Temple of Jerusalem together with the beyt hakeneset (house of the gathering).

The Ark of the Torah in an Anaheim synagogue

When removed from the ark, the Torah scroll is processed by the rabbi through the congregation. The Torah is the Word of God – an incarnation of God himself. The procession is not symbolic, but actual: God is moving in the midst of the people of Israel.

People wil l touch the scroll with their prayer books or tzitzit as it passes, joining their prayers with the presence of God.

Golders Green Beth HaMedresh in London

Members of the congregation are called up to the table to say blessings over and read portions of the Torah.

While not every member of the congregation can understand Hebrew, each person who is bar or bat Mitzvah has learned how to vocalize it.

The Torah scroll is read using a yad – the text

itself is not touched with the hands.

The Torah is read on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. A different series of readings is appointed for each of the days, so that by year’s end (Rosh Hashanah in the Fall) , the complete Torah has been read.

Seven readings are included in the Shabbat service. For each, a member or family is cal led to the reading table to say a blessing (called an “aliyah” or “ascension”) before and after the reading.

Following the Torah readings is the Shemoneh Esreh – the Eighteen Petit ions. This is an individual prayer, but spoken within the community. By the time the Mishnah was compiled ca. 200 C.E., this prayer was already in place. It is actually 19 petit ions – the additional petit ion added in the face of Christian denial of the Law, call ing for God’s vindication over the heretics.

Jewish woman praying at the Western Wall

Other petit ions include a desire for repentance, the rebuilding of the Temple, the return of the exiles and the restoration of the Davidic kingdom.

But, f i t t ing the spir it of Shabbat joy, only the first three petit ions (praising God) and the last three petit ions (thanking

The temple’s western wall, with Islam’s Dome of the Rock on the Temple mount above

and departing from God) are spoken.

Also called Amidah (“Standing” prayer) or simply Tefi l lah (“the Prayer”) this is tradit ionally spoken facing the Temple mount of Jerusalem.

The service closes with the Aleinu (“It is encumbent upon us…”), a prayer that tradit ionally was attributed to Joshua.