Beit Tefilah --- Jewish Living

Under Jewish Law (Halacha), prayer can be"congregational" or not. Prayers become "congregational" when a specified minimumattendance is achieved or exceeded. The Hebrew term for "congregational prayer" is T'fi-lah b'Tsi-bur. The minimum attendance required for"congregational prayer" is ten "Men of Duty" (Bar Mitzvah;literally "Son of Commandment"). This quorum is called a minyan. (Ten is the number of righteous men that would have justified saving thecommunities of Sodom and Gomorrah as the result of Abraham's negotiation with God.[i])

In all Reform temples, and in most Conservative synogogues,women now are counted to "make a minyan". It seldom makes a difference at Sabbath services, since thosecommunities tend to build large synagogues. The congregation usually gets far more than a minyan with nodifficulty. (Large synogogues also meanthat most congregants can't expect to be called up to participate, which is anhonor). But many non-orthodox communities haveproblematic "close-calls" on weekdays.

Under Jewish Law (Halacha), congregational prayer hasspecial significance. In this setting,a person who does not know how to pray can listen to the Reader and respond"A-mein" after each benediction. "A-mein" signifies agreement[ii],and corresponds to "Amen" in English. One does not say "A-mein" after reciting a blessing,only after listening to one. Halachically, it is the same as if they were praying themselves. The presence of the community"enables" the individual to pray effectively. (In addition, there are certain prayers thatcan only be said when a minyan is present.[iii])

Thus, it is a mitzvah (good deed) to go out of your way to help make a minyan when a group needs helpreaching ten. This typically happens at the homes of mourners, or occasionally in synagogue on weekday mornings. If you are a member of asynagogue, you can expect occasional "minyan calls". This is like jury duty.

Jewish tradition emphasizes congregational prayer in glowingterms:[iv]

"When a oneleaves the synagogue, one should not take hasty steps ... but in coming, it is right to run". [v]

When an individual prays, God sees the faults of the individual; when the community prays, Godsees the merits of the community.[vi]

"One who doesnot pray in the synagogue of one's own town is called a bad neighbor". [vii]

"In acommunity of not less than ten, one makes up for the forgetfullness or error of the other."[viii]

It is good luck tobe the tenth at a minyan.[ix]

"The prayerof the community is always heard."[x]

"Ninetsaddikim (saintly men) cannot make a minyan, but if one common man joins them,he completes the minyan". [xi]

Even when prayingalone, one benefits from praying simultaneously with one's community.[xii]

When you go to services, you will quickly notice three recurring patterns that reflect this emphasis on community:

1. Personal Petitions Are Not Made Individually

All fixed prayers are in the plural. Even when praying alone, a Jew says prayersin the plural. For example, when a sickperson recites a prayer for healing, they do not say, "make me well". They say "heal the sick". Furthermore, everyone recites such prayers,even when they are not affected. A Jewis always part of the community. Evenif a particular prayer doesn't apply to oneself, there are others for whom theprayer does apply.[xiii]

2. Communal Benedictions

When fixed prayers are sung in the context of congrega�tionalprayer, the congregation prays communally by relying on the Reader. You will readily recognize this patternafter hearing it a few times.

Prior to reaching the cha-ti-ma(the climactic formal concluding statement[xiv]),the Reader may be chanting the prayer solo. Or the congregation may be praying "silently" (actuallyquietly mumbling independently). Ineither case, the Reader chants the climactic cha-ti-ma aloud and solo. The Reader says: "Ba-ruchA-tah A-do-nai...". The con�grega��tionthen inter�jects: "Ba-ruch [huu-v'ruch] Sh'mo" which means "Blessed [is he and blessed] is hisName". Then the Reader com�pletesthe benediction with its specific ending, depending on the function of theprayer. Then the congregation sings"A-mein". This is the classic form of"congregational prayer".

It is important to understand that, in very traditionalsynagogues, all Jews follow this for�mula even though most know how to recitethe blessings themselves (and many are comfortable leading the service asReader). Otherwise, some�one's lack oflearning might be exposed by reliance upon the commu�nal formula. This could cause public shame, or evendiscourage some�one from joining in future communal prayer. So everyone constrains them�selves to saying"amein" (or repeating the words after the Reader sings them).[xv]

In modern times, the congregation is often singing alongwith the beginning of the prayer. Butif singing, the congregation stops singing be�fore they reach the cha-ti-ma. Most synagogue melodies take this into account, with the cadencecoming just before the cha-ti-ma. A less traditional modern practice is tohave the congregation read an English adaptation of the prayer aloud, and thenhave the Reader sing just the cha-ti-ma.

3. The sound of "Nu"[xvi]

To understand the third pattern, we'll need to under�standHebrew grammar a little bit. Hebrew isbrief and con�densed. Example:"Ein Keloheinu" means "There is none like our God". ("Ein" rhymes with Spain).

The core of a Hebrew word is in the middle, surrounded by aprefix and/or suffix. When you see aHebrew word that has a long English translation, look at the middle part for akey to the central idea. Here is atable of a few He�brew prefixes and suffixes:

Reconsider "Keloheinu", and you'll now see:"K-Elohei-Nu" = "like our God". (There are no words for "is" in Hebrew. "Ein" means"none"). In Hebrew,consonants and vowels are not of equal im�portance. In prefixes and in root words, vowels may change according tocomplex rules of grammar. This does notchange the meanings of words. Butconsonants and vowel-suffixes are decisive.

In synagogue, you will notice that the sound "nu"("Noo") permeates the atmosphere of the liturgy. This is more than a point of grammar. It is a Jewish ethnic and ethical message --an assertion of our mutual interdepen�dence. The life and hopes of the individual are intertwined with those of thecommunity.

Jewish prayers are full of "we" and"our". There are very few in�stancesof "I" or "my" in the prayer book. It is nearly all communal prayer aimed ateffecting visible trans�forma�tions in the world. This is very different from classical Christian tradition, whichemphasizes a personal salvation evidenced by an inner transformation. We speak more frequently of "our"God than of "my" God. Jewishprayer comes mostly from the Jewish community.