liturgy
In First Temple times, Prayer was individual and a formulated ritual of public worship was still unknown. An exception was the prescribed biblical ceremony for the tithing of the First Fruits, Viddu'i Bikkurim. With a basket of choice harvest, the ancient Israelite approached the priest and declared, "I acknowledge this day before the Lord your God that I have entered the land which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us" (Deut. 26:3). The priest set the basket down in front of the altar as the pilgrim uttered a prayer praising God, who had freed His people from Egyptian slavery and brought them to a land of milk and honey (Deut. 26:5-10). The confessions of the High Priest found in the Book of Leviticus (16:21) were probably formalized as well, although their texts are extant only in later talmudic sources (Yoma 3:8). References to praying three times daily are found in Daniel (6:10) and Psalms (55:17), but without mention of a defined ritual. The priests of the First Temple were expected "to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord and likewise at evening" according to I Chronicles 23:30. Although selections from Psalms were chanted by levitical choirs in the course of these daily services, there is no evidence of lay participation.
The Mishnah states that priests serving in the Second Temple shared in a short liturgy consisting of the Shema (Deut 6:4), the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-17), and the Priestly Blessing (Num. 6:24-26). The first public prayer responses probably began in this setting, when those present with sacrifices would bow and praise God aloud after the officiating priests (Tam. 5:1, 7:3; Ber. 11b). It was during this era that the whole congregation began to pray at fixed times and according to an order of prayers attributed to the Men of the Great Assembly (Ber. 33a; Meg. 17b, 25a). Regular weekday services were held four times daily by the ma'amadot, the delegations of representatives from 24 districts of the country, part of whom were present at the Temple sacrifices, and the rest assembled concurrently in their home towns. These liturgies were given the names Shaḥarit (morning), Musaf (additional), Minḥah (afternoon), and Ne'ilat She'arim (evening, lit. "closing of the [Temple] gates").
Several orders of prayers coexisted until Gamaliel II forged an accepted standard after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE (Ber. 28b), when prayer services officially replaced the sacrifices that could no longer be offered (Ber. 26b). The new ritual avodah she-ba-lev (service of the heart), was conducted in synagogues wherever Jews lived by individuals distinguished by learning and not by their priestly lineage alone. The obligatory core of the liturgy, which has remained unchanged in its fundamental form from that time, includes the prayer formula "Barukh attah Adonai ..." ("Blessed are You, O God ..."), the requirement for reciting the Shema twice daily with its attendant blessings (three in the morning and four in the evening), and the daily Amidah, also known as the Tefillah, of 19 benedictions and recited twice daily in lieu of the morning and afternoon Temple sacrifices. On special occasions, such as the Sabbath and festivals, when the additional sacrifice had been offered in the Temple, an additional Amidah was included, which became distinguished in time by special prayers for the restoration of the sacrificial service and pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Ideally, prayers were recited by a quorum of ten adult male worshipers (Minyan). They could also be recited by the individual, in which case certain parts of the liturgy, including the Kaddish, Kedushah, and Reading of the Law, were omitted. It was not long before the ma'ariv or arevit (evening) amidah came to be regarded as a daily requirement as well (Ber. 27b). The Alénu prayer, originally from the New Year's liturgy, and the Kaddish, constitute the concluding prayers of every service.
In an attempt to guard against mechanical repetition of the same formulas, and also to spark the worshiper's personal meditation, Jewish liturgy encouraged private prayers and petitions, once the prescribed service had been completed (Ber. 29b; TJ,.Ber. 4:3). Talmudic examples of these devotions, known variously as devarim, teḥinnot (see Teḥinnah and taḥanunim (see Taḥanun) have been preserved in tractate Berakhot (16b-17a) and found a permanent place in Prayer Books through the ages. Psalms also served for personal meditation and became obligatory in the form of the Hallel for festivals (RH 4:7; Ta'an. 3:9).
Reflecting the Judaic attitude that study is a form of worship, portions of the Pentateuch and the Prophets were read publicly during the prayer service. This was already considered a venerated practice in the time of the Mishnah, when specific texts and the ceremonial calling of individuals to bless the readings were fixed (Meg. 3:4ff).
By the end of the talmudic period and especially in Erets Israel, the prayer service had become supplemented by Piyyutim, liturgical hymns and whole prayers rendered poetically .
Piyyutim
distinguished the liturgical rite of Erets Israel from that of Babylonia from early geonic times and flourished until the 12th century. The Erets Israel rite is also characterized by a Triennial Cycle of the reading of the Pentateuch, its particular recension of the benedictions of the Amidah, and an introductory blessing before the recitation of the Shema. The Babylonian rite is initially recorded in Seder Rav Amram Gaon (9th cent.), which serves as the first ordering of prayer texts with their halakhic requirements. This liturgical arrangement signaled the end of a ban against committing the prayers to writing but was meant exclusively for communal prayer leaders. The first authoritative siddur (prayer book) for the ordinary worshiper was edited by Saadiah Gaon (10th cent.), who produced a logical and economical order of the prayers with a commentary in the Arabic vernacular of the people.From these two ancient liturgical traditions, Erets Israel and Babylonia, various rites developed throughout the Jewish world (see Nusaḥ). The former gave rise to the Romaniot (Greek) rite of the Byzantine Empire, the Roman rite (minhag ha-Lo'azim) of Italian Jewry, and the northern French and Ashkenazi rite of Western and Central Europe. The last of these gave birth to the Sephardi rite (which beginning on the Iberian peninsula spread to Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and the New World after the Expulsion), the Provenc̣al rite of Southern France, and the Yemenite rite (minhag Teman). The Ḥasidic rite of the 18th century, although borrowing aspects of the Sephardi tradition and hence known as Nosaḥ Sefarad, utilized liturgical poems (piyyutim) that are generally Ashkenazi. In addition to the piyyutim, Seliḥot (penitential prayers) and Kerovot (hymns inserted after each Amidah benediction on festivals) distinguish all the rites from the other, since the liturgical structure uniformly follows that set down by Rav Amram. The Ashkenazi and Sephardi rites are the two most widely used today. Among Ashkenazim, it became customary to produce the liturgy for the festivals in a separate volume known as the Maḥzor. Wherever Jews lived, the language of liturgy was Hebrew (with some prayers in Aramaic).
The synagogue service was a prime focus of innovation in response to the Emancipation and Enlightenment from the early 19th century. In an attempt to stem the tide of assimilation and conversion, the reformers of Central Europe introduced new prayer forms intended to conform with the cultural, spiritual, and intellectual style of a new generation of modern Jews. Modeled after the popular Protestant worship of the day, the service was now conducted in the vernacular as well as in Hebrew, included a sermon, and was considerably shortened by altering and/or eliminating prayers, piyyutim, and study portions. New Western melodies to the accompaniment of a choir and organ were introduced (see Music), as well as the reading of the Pentateuch and prophetic portions without the traditional chant. Prayers that were seen as representing anachronisms were abandoned, such as the Aramaic Yekum Purkan (asking for the blessing of the Babylonian exilarch), the Priestly Blessing (the blessing of the congregation by the kohanim [priests]), and even the Kol Nidré in the liturgy for the Day of Atonement, though the last was reinstated (after rephrasing) by popular demand. In addition, this universalistic attitude dictated various changes, such as alteration of the prayers in which men thank God for not having been made a woman or a non-Jew, and the deletion of references to Zion and its rebuilding and to reinstating the Temple's sacrificial service (and also to resurrection).
The Conservative movement has also produced prayer books suited to its particular theological position. For the past half-century it has published several editions for daily use, for Sabbath and festivals and for the High Holidays as well as special prayer booklets for Tishah Be-Av and for Seliḥot (penitential prayers) and its own editions of the Passover Haggadah. In general, the Conservative liturgy follows the accepted traditional Ashkenazi prayer book, with the following main differences: (1) References to the hope for the restoration of sacrifices are either omitted or changed to the historical past tense. (2) The early morning benediction to be recited by a male worshiper thanking God "Who has not made me a woman" is amended to a perhaps earlier text: "Who has made me in His image"---to be read by women as well as men. The next two blessings are couched in the positive, "Who has made me a Jew" and "Who has made me free." (3) There is a more explicit reference to universal peace by adding the word ba-olam (in the world) in the daily prayers for peace, Sim Shalom. (4) The Yekum Purkan prayer for the schools and the sages of the ancient academies of Babylon has been omitted. On the other hand, several new prayers, meditations, and readings have been added as supplementary passages for contemplation, study, or responsive reading. (5) In most Conservative synagogues the kohanim (priests) do not ascend to the Ark to chant the priestly benediction. (6) There is a reluctance to repeat the Amidah. This certainly applies to the Additional Service Amidah, which is not repeated by the reader following the silent prayer of the congregation. However, on the High Holidays, the usual traditional practice is followed.
As Judaism in all its denominational manifestations spread to North America, Jewish liturgical development progressed in far-reaching directions, especially during the last half-century. Pioneers in creative liturgy have provided the worshiper with an entire spectrum of prayerful compositions, from the most avant-garde innovation and adaptation to the most faithful preservation of the traditional forms. Historical events inspire new liturgies, as in those that commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel Independence Day, and Jerusalem Day marking the city's reunification after the 1967 Six-Day War.. Prayer books have been edited and issued by every major Jewish denomination, each illustrating a distinct interpretation of Judaism through its weaving of classical, medieval, and contemporary texts. A plethora of occasional liturgies exists for camps, youth groups, ḥavurot, and other informal settings, as well as for the highly choreographed synagogue service. Vital issues facing the Jewish community find themselves translated liturgically, making for a renewed emphasis on Israel and Hebrew in the Reform liturgy, a growing sensitivity to egalitarian, gender-free language, and a more democratic sense of responsibility, with less reliance on traditional figures of authority.