Question: Did we have a siddur and a holiday machzor before Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press? Is it possible to give a historical perspective on our prayers as found in the siddur and the machzor?
Jerry Gross
(Via E-Mail)
Synopsis: Last week we discussed the requirement for prayer (tefillah) and noted that the siddur predated the Gutenberg invention of the printing press in Germany, in 1440, by five centuries, as the siddur’s texts were handwritten by scribes. We also noted that G-d Himself engages in prayer – on behalf of us, His children. We quoted from Rambam in his Sefer HaMitzvot and the Chafetz Chayyim in his Sefer HaMitzvot Hakatzar who both codified the commandment to pray. Now we continue with our discussion.
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Answer: Drawing on many sources, Rambam in his Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillah chap. 1) provides us with a clear understanding of the post-Sinaitic requirement for prayer, stating: “On the basis of tradition [of what we were instructed at Mt. Sinai], we have learned that the avodah [i.e., the service referred to in the Torah] means prayer… The number of prayers in itself is not derived from the Written Law, nor is the order of the prayers [nor is their text, adds the Kesef Mishneh]. Also [from the Torah], there is no set time [of day] for prayer. Women and slaves are therefore required to pray, since it is a positive precept that is not dependent upon time. [If it were dependent on time they would not have the obligation to pray.]
“The requirement of this precept is that a person implore [G-d] and pray [to Him] daily, and recount the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, and afterward ask for all his needs in a manner of entreaty and supplication. [Finally], he is to give praise and thanks to G‑d for the good that He has given him. Each individual [would do] according to his capabilities…”
Rambam continues with a historical description of the situation: “Such was the manner of prayer from the time of Moses until Ezra. However, since the Children of Israel had been exiled in the days of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, they were interspersed in Persia and Greece among other nations. In these lands, children were born to them whose language became a mixture of many languages. When they wished to express their needs, they could not do so in any one language, as it is written (Nechemia 13:24), ‘And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the language of Yehuda, but according to the language of various other people.’
“…When Ezra and his Beit Din saw [the state of affairs], they instituted for them the Shemoneh Esreh [the Eighteen Benedictions of the Amidah] (Megillah 17b and Berachot 33a). They decreed that the number of [daily] prayers should coincide with the number of sacrifices [in the Holy Temple]: two daily prayers corresponding to the two Temidim (the two daily offerings), and, for days on which there was a Korban Musaf (an additional sacrifice, such as on the Sabbath, the New Moon, and the Festivals), they instituted a third prayer for the Musaf sacrifice. The prayer corresponding to the daily offering of the morning was called the Morning prayer (Shacharit); the prayer corresponding to the daily offering of the afternoon was called Mincha; and the prayer corresponding to the additional Sacrifice was called Musaf. They also established the requirement for an evening prayer since the limbs of the afternoon sacrifice would continue to burn and be consumed throughout the night. The evening prayer (Maariv) is not of the same obligatory standard as Shacharit and Mincha. However, all Israel, wherever they resided, followed the custom of reciting the Maariv prayer and took it upon themselves as an obligatory prayer.”
We see from all of the above that Ezra the Scribe and his court established the text as well as the times for all of these prayers.
Rambam (Hilchot Tefillah 8:9-12) proceeds to discuss variations in the prayers, namely, additions depending on special occasions as well as various laws pertaining to prayer. He also deals with the function of the sheliach tzibbur, the reader (or cantor) who leads the congregation in prayer, and the required qualifications of one who is appointed to exercise that job. He states that the sheliach tzibbur is delegated to fulfill the obligation of the congregation – that is to say, those of the assembled who listen and respond “Amen” at the conclusion of each beracha.
But this function of the sheliach tzibbur was established only for those who do not know the prayers, whereas those who know how to pray fulfill their obligation only if they themselves recite the prayers. The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 35a) relates that Rabban Gamaliel also used to allow those working in the fields – which were prevented by their work from coming to the synagogue at the required time, and were therefore considered anusim in that respect – to have their obligations of prayer fulfilled by the reader.
The fact that a distinction was made between those who “know how to pray” and those who do not is proof that some had memorized the text while others had not mastered it. A reader who was well-versed in the prayers was therefore needed to fulfill their obligations.
The first true prayer book we know of is the Seder Rav Amram Gaon from the 9th century C.E., an “order” of prayers (hence, later, the term siddur, from the root of the word seder, meaning order) whose preface stated that it contained “prayers and blessings for the entire year… according to tradition… as laid down by the Tannaim and Amoraim.”
In the 10th century, there was the Siddur Saadia Gaon, also based on the rites of the Babylonian Geonim.
The Machzor Vitry was compiled in the 11th century by Rabbeinu Simcha b. Samuel of Vitry, who was a pupil of Rashi. It contains the text of all the regular prayers as well as laws of prayer, the latter based on the authoritative decisions of Rashi as found in Siddur Rashi (which is not a prayer book but a compilation of prayer laws with Talmudic explanations). The term “machzor” refers to the “cycle” of prayers, according to the cycle of the year.
The Mechaber (Rabbi Yosef Caro, 16th century) refers to a “machzor,” i.e., a prayer book (see Orach Chayyim 96:1-2), stating that it is permitted to hold a machzor during prayer since it is used for praying (as opposed to holding extraneous items). The Rema adds that one should not search for a machzor while engaged in prayer, unless it is simply a matter of picking it up from its accustomed place.
The Shelah and the Ba’er Heitev specifically refer to the “siddur,” stating that one is required to follow, in the siddur, the repetition of the Amidah recited by the sheliach tzibbur. It is obvious that the person is also required to do so when he is reciting the silent Shemoneh Esrei.
While prayer books circulated at first only in manuscript form, their availability became greater with the advent of printing. Prayer books differed according to the rites followed by various communities, crystallizing into two main traditions: Nusach Ashkenaz (the “German” version), followed by European Jews, and Nusach Sefarad (the “Spanish” version), adopted by Jews of Spanish descent and Jews from other Mediterranean and Oriental countries.
Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (Ha-Ari HaKadosh), a kabbalist of the 16th century, preferred the Sephardic tradition. He posited that the 12 Tribes each had their own special entrance into Heaven via their prayers; therefore, he considered the various versions and rites to be equally holy, and that one was not superior to the other. In the 18th century, chassidic communities in Poland and Russia also adopted the Sephardic tradition with certain modifications.
A carefully edited version eventually became known as Nusach Ha-Ari, which is popular among Chabad and certain other chassidic communities. Another similar version, which was adopted and heavily promoted by the likes of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (18th century, author of Noam Elimelech, and this writer’s 6th maternal great-grandfather), became known as Nusach Sefard. In fact, unique to this Nusach is the Tefillah lifnei ha’tefillah of Rabbi Elimelech and the Yehi Ratzon in Elokai Netzor that concludes the Shemoneh Esreh. These latter two nuscha’ot, though they bear certain similarities to the nusach of the Spanish and Oriental communities, have underpinnings which are nevertheless based on the European Nusach Ashkenaz.
As long as printed material was expensive and scarce, many had to rely on memorizing not only prayers but other religious texts as well. It is known of the Rogatchover Gaon, who was quite indigent and did not possess much of a library, that he was able to memorize whole tractates of the Talmud and entire volumes of novella and responsa.
The ardent desire to commit texts to memory is, of course, of primary importance, but very few are able to accomplish that feat. Thus, when prayer books were unavailable, some could master the prayer text and commit it to memory while others could not. Unfortunately, that left many disenfranchised in the realm of prayer. Gutenberg’s innovation had great bearing on the Jewish masses in this regard, and indeed history gives him great credit.
Today we are even more fortunate to have printed siddurim according to every tradition, in a multitude of translations, and enriched by commentaries as well. These enable us to understand the text of the prayers, and as rabbi yaakov klsuch we are able to better serve our Creator.