GeTTing Ready To PRaY

Elizabeth Applebaum

AppleTree Editor

hen it comes to the Rosh Hashanah ser-
vice, people seem to think of two
things: hearing the shofar and sitting
(or sitting and standing) through prayers that seem
to last forever.
The davening of Rosh Hashanah, especially the
Musaf service, is indeed longer than any other
holiday, other than Yom Kippur. There is, however,
a logic to the length and arrangement of the
prayers.
For the most part, the order of the service is laid
out in the Talmud, in the tractate of Rosh
Hashanah. With the exception of certain piyutim,

liturgical poems, written in the Middle Ages and
later, our modern service is very much like the
ancient order of prayers.
Although the entire service for Rosh Hashanah is
different from the rest of the year, the Amidah (the
prayer recited standing and in silence) in the
Musaf service (the part that comes after the Torah
reading) has a unique structure.
On other holidays and Shabbat, the Amidah
consists of seven benedictions (during the week, it
comprises 18 blessings — hence its common
name, Shemona Esrei). But on
Rosh Hashanah it contains nine.
The first three and the last three
are the same as in every other
Amidah. Between them, howev-
er, are three lengthy units, each
thematically different.
The three sections are based
on the themes of God's sover-
eignty, God's remembrance and
the shofar. The themes corre-
spond to the three names by
which Rosh Hashanah is known: The Day of Judg-
ment (Yom Hadin), the Day of Remembrance (Yom
Hazikaron) and the Day of Sounding the Shofar
(Yom Hateruah).
Each unit opens with a thematically relevant
introductory prayer, and concludes with a similarly
structured plea. The Talmud mandates that the cen-
ter of each section consist of 10 biblical verses:
three from the Torah (Pentateuch), three from the
Writings (all of which happen to come from the
Psalms), three from the Prophets and the 10th from
the Torah.
The verses are introduced by the word Ve'ne-
emar, "And it is said." High-quality machzorim
(holiday prayer books) show source references for
each quote, usually as footnotes.

Honda
Prayers

Just what
makes up the
Rosh Hashanah
service?

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The first section, on sovereignty (Malchuyot in
Hebrew), acknowledges God's sovereignty over
the universe and looks forward to the day when
all people will come to this understanding. As sov-
ereign, God also is the highest judge. This section
contains the well-known Aleinu prayer (because of
its stirring message, Aleinu later was lifted from
Rosh Hashanah and placed as the concluding
prayer of every service).
The second part, remembrance (Zichronot),
speaks of God remembering the deeds of every
person and every nation. From this basis, God
renders judgment upon the world. Moreover, He
remembers his covenant with Israel and will
redeem the Jews from their exile.
The third unit, shofar (Shofrot), has a mystical
quality. It recalls that the shofar was sounded
when the Jewish people received the Torah at
Mount Sinai, and reminds us that the shofar will
again be heard when the Messiah comes. The
biblical selections here refer to various times when
the shofar was sounded, and return again to the
shofar of the messianic age.
Like all daytime Amidahs, the prayer is first recit-
ed silently by the congregation and then repeated
by the cantor. The cantor's Amidah is even longer,
owing to the many piyutim that have been added
over the generations. Certain piyutim are recited
by almost all congregations, while others are stan-
aara to only certain communities.
Although the shofar is sounded during the Musaf
service, exactly when it is blown depends on
which liturgy is followed. In the Ashkenazi service,
the shofar is sounded immediately before the
I Musaf service and again during the cantor's repe-
1 tition.
In the Sephardi tradition, the shofar also is
sounded first immediately before Musaf, but then
is blown again during the congregation's silent
recitation of the Amidah. The Sefardi practice also
is followed by Ashkenazim who are hasidic or
who pray according to what Ashkenazim call
Nusach Sfard, which is an Ashkenazi liturgy with
Sephardi-derived modifications.
This year, with the first day of Rosh Hashanah
coming out on Shabbat, the shofar will not be
heard. It will be blown, however, on Sunday,
where the second day is observed. The text of the
prayer on Saturday reflects the absence of the sho-
far, and in tune with the day, speaks of "remem-
bering the sounding of the shofar" (zichron teruah).
Because of Shabbat, several extra phrases and
sentences are added to the text of the liturgy, mak-
ing the service just a little bit longer. ❑