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Why do Jews stand
(but rarely kneel) when they pray?

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

AppleTree Editor

first you're up, then you're down, then ._
Ill you're up, then you're down, then
you're up ... All this is enough to leave
you slightly confused, not to mention
out of breath.
Exactly when should you stand (and why) and
sit during davening?
In fact, standing is proper procedure for any
prayer service. This is clearly because it shows
respect: When you are in a synagogue for daven-
ing, you are addressing God and reading from His
Torah.
Initially, Jews stood throughout davening. But
over time, more and more prayers were added to
the service, and no one could stand that long.
Consequently, the rabbis determined that wor-
shippers need stand only during certain prayers.
Probably the best-known of these is the Shemonah
Esrei (which means "18,""for its number of bene-
dictions). Also called the Amidah, which, in fact,
means "standing," this prayer is said silently. To
this day, the Amidah is the longest prayer we say
while standing (with the exception of High
Holiday davening), and virtually every congrega-
tion follows this practice.
Most congregations also stand for the following
prayers: Borchu, Hallel and Kedushah, because
they are regarded as especially'important and thus
require a certain formality.
You may have wondered why we don't stand
while reading from the Torah.
This is not a sign of disrespect, of course, but
one of respect — for tradition. Learning Torah is

a long and complex process. No
I one could stand all day every day
to learn Torah. Consequently, sit-
ting is the accepted procedure for
study, and this extends to the syn-
I agogue.
A mourner will stand while
1 reciting the Mourner's Kaddish.
I Some Reform and Conservative
Jews have the tradition of stand-
1 ing for the Mourner's Kaddish
even when there has not been a
.1 death in the family:They do so as
-a way of saying Kaddish for those
Jews who have died, especially
during the Holocaust, and had no
one left to say Kaddish for them.
Some Conservative and
Reform Jews also stand when -
saying the Shema because they
regard it as such an important
prayer that they believe one is
obligated to stand as a sign of respect. Orthodox
Jews do not stand when reciting the Shema
because it is a verse from the Torah and has been
the focus of intense study and, as mentioned
earlier, sitting is the normal practice for study.
So you see a lot of sitting and standing during
Jewish services, but why not much kneeling?
When the Holy Temple was still extant, there
was, in fact,. a lot of kneeling and bowing. •
Nehemiah 8:5-6 recounts that, during the time
of the Second Temple:
"And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.
I And the people answered: Amen, Amen,' with
I the lifting up of their hands; and they bowed

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their heads, and fell down before the Lord with
their faces to the ground."
Rabbi Akiva also bowed while davening,
according to other accounts. To this day, Jews
(either the cantor alone, or the cantor with the
congregation) still kneel and prostrate them-
selves before God on - one day: Yom Kippur, -
when we recall the service from the Holy
Temple. But not on any other day. Why?
Christians incorporated kneeling and bowing
as part of their regular church service. When
they did, the rabbis ruled that it was no longer
appropriate for Jews to do so and they were
expressly prohibited during any Jewish worship
service.

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