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Jewish services are the prayers recited as part of observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book.The individual is required to recite three prayers daily, or more on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays. While prayer alone is valid, attending synagogue to pray with a minyan (quorum of ten adult males) is considered ideal. Many synagogues have a hazzan (cantor) who is a professional or lay-professional singer employed for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer.
Daven is the originally exclusively Eastern Yiddish verb meaning "pray"; it is widely used by Ashkenazic Orthodox Jews. In Yinglish, this has become the Anglicised davening. The origin of the word is obscure, but is thought by some to have come from Middle French and by others to be derived from a Slavic word meaning 'give'. In Western Yiddish, the term for "pray" is oren, a word with clear roots in Romance languages — compare Spanish and PortuguesePortuguese portugues is a Romance language predominantly spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and East Timor. With more than 200 million native speakers, Portuguese is one of the few languages spoken in such widely-distributed parts "orar" and LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma " Oratorium ".
1 The prayers and their origins
1.1 Backgrounds
There are three prayer services each day on weekdays. A fourth additional prayer service (called mussaf, "additional"), is added on Shabbat (the Jewish SabbathThis article concerns the Sabbath in Christianity. For the Sabbath in Judaism, see Shabbat. For other uses see Sabbath (disambiguation In both Judaism and Christianity, the Sabbath ( Hebrew " Shabbat") is a religious day of rest that usually occurs on the) and on major holidays. A fifth prayer (ne'ilah), is only recited on Yom KippurYom Kippur Observed by: Jews Name Hebrew: Meaning: "Day of atonement and repentance" Begins: 10th day of Tishri Ends: 10th day of Tishri OccasionJewish judgement day (for each person), day of atonement The end of the Days of Awe Symbols: Shofar and fastin.
According to the TalmudThe Talmud is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. It is a fundamental source of legislation, customs, case histories and moral exhortations. The Talmud comprises two compon (tractate TaanitTa'anit (also: Ta'anis) is one of basic tractes in the Mishnah, in the Tosefta, and in both Talmuds. In Judaism these are the basic works of rabbinic literature. The tractate of Ta'anit is devoted chiefly to the fast-days, their practices and prayers. 2a), prayer is a Biblical command: "Your shall serve God with your whole heart ( DeuteronomyDeuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, also the fifth book of the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is Devarim ("words"), which comes from the opening phrase "Eleh ha-devarim" ("These are the words. Origin of name The English name, "Deu 11:13) - What service is performed with the heart? This is prayer". The prayers are therefore referred to as Avodah sheba-Lev (service of the heart). Maimonides ( Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer 1:1) likewise categorises prayer as a Biblical command, but states that the number of prayers or their times are not. This statement is relied upon by the authorities that hold that women, while being required to pray, may pray once a day.
The Talmud (tractate Berachoth 26b) gives different reasons why there are three basic prayers.
- According to one sage, every one of the Patriarchs instituted one prayer: Abraham the morning, Isaac the afternoon and Jacob the evening prayers. This view is supported with Biblical quotes indicating that the Patriarchs prayed at the time mentioned.
- A second opinion states that each was instituted parallel to a sacrificial act in the Temple in Jerusalem: the morning Tamid offering in the morning for the morning, the afternoon Tamid for the afternoon prayers and the overnight burning of the leftovers for the evening prayers.
Additional Biblical references suggest that King David and the prophet Daniel prayed three times a day. In Psalms, David states: "Evening, morning and afternoon do I pray and cry, and He will hear my voice" (55:18). As in Daniel: "[...] his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he had done before" (6:11).
