Guide to Saturday Morning Services
Welcome to our synagogue! We’re glad that you are here. Here are a few things to know that will help you better navigate this evening’s services.
The Prayerbook
The smaller red book, titled Lev Shalem, is our book of prayers, called a siddur in Hebrew. Hebrew is an ancient Near-Eastern language that is read from right to left. That means that the book will seem to open backwards relative to most books in America. In order to show that the Hebrew on the right side and the English on the left side are the same prayer, the same page number is on both facing pages. Under the English on the left side of the page, there is red print with the Hebrew words transliterated into English letters for most prayers that are sung aloud by people in the congregation. In the right margin there are commentaries about the prayer, and on the left margin there are alternative readings that relate to the prayer.
Shacharit - P. 103-167
We start with Birchot HaShachar/Nissim B’chol Yom (p. 103-4), thanking God for daily blessings like being able to see. Next we warm up with P’sukei D’Zmira (p. 122-148), a section of Biblical quotes preceded by Baruch She’amar and followed by Yishtabach. We stand for Barchu (p. 149), our call to worship. This is followed by Yotzer Or (p. 150), a prayer praising God for creating the world, and Ahava Rabba (p. 154), a prayer thanking God for revealing the Torah. Next is the Shema (p. 155-56), where we acknowledge that there is only one G-d. Many people will cover their eyes for the first line of the Shema to help them focus on these words. After this we sing Mi Chamocha (p. 158), thanking God for redeeming us from Egypt; this is followed by a long silent prayer called the Amidah (p. 159-167). This prayer, said standing, is an opportunity to read the English and/or just silently speak your own prayers to G-d.
Torah Service - P. 168-184
The Torah Service is our chance to study God’s word to us. It is often used to mark moments of joy and sadness in the lives of people in the community, including a prayer for healing. A general rule is that when the Ark is open or the Torah is up, you are standing. We begin with the prayers for taking out the Torah (p. 168-171). As the Torah is processed around, people touch it with their books and kiss the books as a sign of respect. The weekly section of the Torah is then read (p. 171-2), followed by showing everybody what was read and re-dressing the Torah (p. 174). A section from the Prophets, called the Haftarah, is chanted next (p. 175), and the Torah is returned to the Ark (p. 176-184). A sermon will also be given.
Musaf - P. 184-211
Because of the extra Temple sacrifice on Shabbat, we have an extra standing Amidah (p. 184-203), followed by concluding prayers (p. 204-211). These include Aleinu (p. 205-6) where we pray for the healing of the world, a Mourner’s Kaddish (p. 207), a prayer recited by those mourning or observing the death anniversary of a loved one, and Adon Olam (p. 211) a hymn that paraphrases Jewish philosophy’s descriptions of God’s attributes.