PRAYER - Mothers and Daughters Interfaith Encounter Group on 1st January 2009:

Theme: Prayer in Judaism

Mayan and Batshi told us about the customs of prayer in Judaism.

First, there is a difference between men and women, regarding their obligation to pray: women are obliged to pray once a day while men have to pray three times – in the morning, afternoon and evening. On Shabbat and Holidays there are special additions and prayers.

When we pray, we face Jerusalem, where the Temple used to be. We read the prayer from the Siddur (prayer book), which contains the fixed text of each prayer.

The Jew can pray alone, but it is preferable to pray in a group of at least ten men, forming then a "Minyan" (= a group of ten men or more who pray together).

Similarly: a Jew can pray anywhere they are – at home, at work, outside, on the road etc. But if possible, it is preferable to pray in the Synagogue, which is the place of Jewish gathering for prayer.

In most synagogues, there is separation between the place of women and that of men, who run the prayer. The prayer is led by one person, who can be anyone of the praying people, who is called the cantor. He sings the prayer and leads it, while the audience repeats certain parts. In the synagogue there is also the Ark, where the Torah scrolls are kept. In each synagogue there is a least one Torah scroll and in some there are several. The Torah scrolls are decorated and are very valuable. They have a special structure – a parchment rolled around two poles. It is read during the service on the Shabbat, as well as on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Jewish men have special accessories related to the prayer: the Talit and the Tefillin. The Talit is a kind of a big scarf the man wraps himself while praying. In its four corners – special strings are tied, which are called Ztiztiot. The Tefilin are two small black boxes that contain rolled parchment with special parts from the Torah. To each of them a leather strap is connected. The praying person puts one of these boxes on his forehead (like a crown) while the other he puts on his left arm and wraps its strap around his arm.

We talked a bit about the age in which a child becomes fully obligated to all the commandments. The boys celebrate their "Bar Mitzva" at the age of 13. This marks the age in which they can equally take parts in all prayer ceremonies as well as when they are fully obliged. The girls reach adulthood at the age of 12 and it is called "Bat Mitzva". These occasions are celebrated as a very special birthday. Boys celebrate it in being called to the Torah for their first time and in reading the Torah, as well as beginning to lay Tefillin while praying. Girls do not have a special religious ceremony but they celebrate in a party which is more festive than regular birthdays.

It can be noted that today there are religious groups among the Jewish people in which women are equal to men in the ceremonies. In the synagogues of these groups men and women sit together, women can take leading role – like leading the prayer and reading the Torah. In these communities the Bat Mitzva of the girls is celebrated in the same way of the boys.

Reported by Pnina Shalvi and Mariam Hussein

(* We deeply thank the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds for their kind support to the work of this group this year)


(Back to Reports)