BOOK REVIEW
Guides to the Jewish prayer service
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., Jan. 15, 2000) -- At once a thrice-daily dose of Torah, an important mitzvah, a carefully structured Kabbalistic meditation intended to lead one to states of higher consciousness, a substitute for the Temple sacrifice service, an exercise in community-building, a compendium of blessings, praises and ethical teachings, and an historically-determined collage of Judaic thought, the Jewish prayer service is a rich element of our tradition that merits study and investigation.
Fortunately for those seeking to learn more about the meaning, origins, and practical aspects of the Jewish prayer service, there is a rich body of contemporary literature that unlocks many of the secrets surrounding prayer. These guidebooks, histories, and analyses all make the standard Jewish prayer service - the service upon which our congregation bases its weekly Shabbat service -- surprisingly accessible on a practical, how-to level, while illuminating the historical, theological, and mystical underpinnings of the various elements that comprise the service.
Especially for those to whom prayer seems foreign, superstitious, even silly, it helps to have some sort of intellectual framework - to know the difference among the preliminary blessings, the pesukei d'zimra, the Shema (which, for example, is a lot longer than the two lines I used to think it is), and the Shemoneh Esrei, or Amidah - from which to approach prayer on an emotional, or non-intellectual, level.
While I'm no authority on Jewish prayer - far from it - I've dipped into several of these volumes lately, including "To Pray As a Jew" by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin (Basic Books), "The Synagogue Survival Kit" by Jordan Lee Wagner (Jason Aronson), "Entering Jewish Prayer" by Reuven Hammer (Schocken Books), and "The Structure of the Siddur" by Stephen R. Schach (Jason Aronson). My relative lack of knowledge and understanding of the prayer service before I read these books might in fact make me well-qualified to render comment on them, as they are all written with the novice in mind.
I wish I could recommend one above all others, but the fact is these are all good books. Any one of them provides the reader with a good understanding of the structure of the service, how the parts fit together and relate to each other, and what the service is trying to achieve. You could start with any one of them as an introduction (except the Schach), but I guess the Donin book would be as good a starting place as any.
Donin is straightforward and comprehensive, and while he may be approaching the topic from a rigorously traditional viewpoint, he doesn't skirt the spiritual aspects of prayer - indeed, his very first chapter is called "The Quest for Spirituality." But for anyone who would like an all-in-one reference guide to the prayer service, one that treats the meaning and architecture of the service as well as the drama surrounding it - the rituals, the customs, the "rules" -- Donin's is a great place to start. His book also includes chapters on home rituals, blessings, Shabbos prayers, and prayers for other special occasions.
Pretty much equally useful and accessible is the very unfortunately-titled "The Synagogue Survival Kit" by Wagner. Don't let the awkward title - with its shades of "prayer for dummies" -- divert you from this valuable book. It is written with dignity and care, and while it is very accessible, it is by no means patronizing or new-agey, as one might think. It doesn't presuppose that one needs a "survival kit" to be in the synagogue; rather, it describes in simple terms what's going on there, what's expected of those who attend, and how you can get more out of your time there. Like Donin, it has a how-to aspect to it, with chapters on "Fitting In," "Synagogue Customs" an "Synagogue Features," as well as detailed explications of the various elements of the worship service. It is particularly good at charting out the differences in the three daily services (morning, noon, and evening) and the Shabbat services.
Reuven Hammer's "Entering Jewish Prayer" is a beautiful, deep approach to the service, very strong on the history and development of the service, as well as the midrash behind various aspects of it. It can get heavy or dense at times, but it is worth the effort. Schach's "Structure of the Siddur" takes a very schematic approach - literally, the book is full of charts and diagrams, and in that sense it is probably the book one should least likely start with.
Of course, reading about the service in isolation is ludicrous. While they all include excerpts and translations of various parts of the service, one must have a siddur at hand when reading about the service, to see what the writers are talking about.
The official siddur of Congregation Beth-El, "Kol Haneshamah" (The Reconstructionist Press) is certainly adequate for this task, and the book itself includes some interesting commentary of its own. However, while including most of the basics and patterned along the traditional service, "Kol Haneshamah" is a revision of that service, and in order to best appreciate that service itself and what "Kol Haneshamah" has done with it, a reader might want to refer to a more traditional siddur.
For this purpose, I recommend "The Complete Artscroll Siddur" (Mesorah Publications), edited by Rabbi Nosson Scherman (who also edited the Artscroll Chumash, which I highly recommend, too). For one, like most publications in the Artscroll series (www.artscroll.com), it is a work of simple aesthetic beauty (as is also, in some ways, "Kol Haneshamah"). But the Artscroll Siddur also includes a wealth of running commentary on the service, both in footnotes on the bottom of each page and right along in the service itself. The Artscroll is both a prayerbook and a guide to prayer, with suggestions to help steer the reader toward greater kavannah in his prayers. It also includes optional Kabbalistic prayers and commentary, for those inclined to delve into some of the deeper, mystical aspects of prayer.
In the end, if I had to recommend just one of these books - the one I'd take to a desert island, if I could only take one - it would be the Artscroll Siddur. All the rest, as they say, is merely commentary.
[This column originally appeared in the Congregation Beth-El Newsetter in January 2000. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 2000. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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