(2015/5775)

Kol Torah is honored to present this excellent essay from Rav Hayyim Angel, a leading teacher of Tanach.  We  thank Rav Angel  for permitting us to reprint this essay  which was originally presented as a Shiur to Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck. 

Music And Mood During The High Holy Days

One notable practice in many Sephardic communities is to sing several tunes during the High Holy Day season that are lively, exciting, and even joyous. One of the most dramatic examples is the refrain in the Selichot (penitential prayers), Chatanu Lefanecha Racheim Aleinu, we have sinned before You, have mercy on us! Amidst our confession of sinning, this tune is rousing and upbeat. If an Ashkenazic Jew heard some of these Sephardic tunes, he or she might intuitively feel that the happiness of the music was inappropriate for Yom Kippur. If a Sephardic Jew heard some of the solemn Ashkenazic tunes, he or she might wonder why the music lacks this happiness. Yet, both sets of tunes are consistent with different aspects of the day.

Rabbi Ovadyah Yosef discusses whether one should use joyous or fearful tunes on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur (Yechaveh Da’at 2:69). Among many authorities, he quotes Rabbi Hayyim Vital, who stated that his teacher, Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (Ari), used to cry while praying on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Rabbi Yosef also quotes Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna (Gra), who ruled that people should not cry but rather should use festive holiday melodies. Rabbi Yosef concludes that if one is overcome with emotion, one certainly may cry. However, one otherwise should try to be in a festive, happy mood.[i]

 Not only do melodic differences elicit different emotions, but the words do, as well. To take one prominent example, a central prayer of the Ashkenazic High Holy Day liturgy is the “UNetaneh Tokef,” during which the congregation contemplates the gravity of being judged. Yet, this prayer—composed during the medieval period—is not part of the liturgy in most Sephardic communities.

 Rabbi Simchah Bar Yehoshua, an Ashkenazic rabbi, traveled on a ship with Sephardim to the Land of Israel. He wrote:

“On the entire voyage we prayed with the Sephardim. The Sephardim awoke prior to daybreak to say Selichot with a quorum as is their custom in the month of Elul. During the day they eat and rejoice and are happy of heart. Some of them spend their entire days in study (In J. D. Eisenstein, Otzar HaMasa’ot, 1969, p. 241).”

When Jews of different backgrounds live together, they have the opportunity to learn from the practices of one another, thereby appreciating other aspects of our rich tradition.

The Censored Verse in Aleinu

The Alenu prayer is ancient, and initially was recited only during the High Holy Days. It appears to have entered the daily prayers around the year 1300. In the original text, we contrast ourselves with pagans, “Who prostrate to vanity and hollowness, and pray to a god who cannot save, Sheheim Mishtachavim LaHevel VaRik, UMitpallelim El Eil Lo Yoshi’a.” This line derives from two verses in Sefer Yeshayahu:

For the help of Egypt shall be vain and empty (Hevel VaRik). (Yeshayahu 30:7)

No foreknowledge had they who carry their wooden images and pray to a god who cannot give success (UMitpallelim El Eil Lo Yoshi’a) (Yeshayahu 45:20).

Around 1400, an apostate claimed that this line in Aleinu was intended to slur Christianity. He observed that the numerical value (Gematria) of VaRik is 316, the same as Yeshu, the Hebrew name of the Christian savior. This accusation led to the Christian censor striking this line from the Aleinu in France and Germany. In 1703, the Prussian government even placed guards in synagogues to ensure that Jews would not recite that line.

In their attempts to defend the original prayer, rabbis protested that the line is anti-pagan, and cannot be anti-Christian. Among other arguments, they noted that the verses are from Yeshayahu, who long pre-dates Christianity. Nevertheless, the censor required Ashkenazic Jews to remove that line, whereas Sephardim retained the original text. Today, several Ashkenazic communities have restored that line to their Siddurim.[ii]

Conclusion

Most aspects of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic liturgy are strikingly similar. The biblical passages, ancient rabbinic prayers, and the structure of the service, are largely the same with minor variations.

In those areas where there were choices left to later generations, such as the order of the psalms, choosing between rabbinic interpretations, Piyutim, Shabbat Haftarot, and music, we can gain a better sense of what choices different communities made to shape their prayer experience. Occasionally, we also see evidence of persecution of Jews through the censorship of ancient prayers.

This article offers a small window into how we can gain a better understanding of the distinctive features of Sephardic and Ashkenazic prayer liturgies. More importantly, a careful comparative study of prayer should help us appreciate prayer itself more, and enable us to grow in our relationship with God.

[i] R. David Brofsky, Hilchot Mo’adim: Understanding the Laws of the Festivals (Jerusalem: Maggid, 2013), pp. 93-94.

[ii] Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, pp. 24-26.