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GUIDE TO SERVICES cont'd
By Rev. Dr. Louis C. Gerstein Passover Passover is another occasion for special prayer and thanksgiving, for then we celebrate our redemption from slavery in Egypt. The evening service of the first two days of Passover is the only occasion when the Hallel songs of praise are recited at night. The prayers, as is customary on all festive and important occasions, are chanted to the special melodies of the day. The order of service is much the same as on other festival days. There is a special addition to the reading for the Musaf service on the first day of Passover. It is known as the Tikkun ha-Tal, the prayer for dew, and it expresses the hope that the year will be filled with an abundance of the blessing of God. In the Holy Land, Passover marks the beginning of the summer drought. In the absence of all rain the land depends on the dew without which vegetation would wither. This is another section in which congregation and choir participate with the reader in the chanting of the beautiful prayers set in lovely poetic form. As the prayer for dew is recited on the first day of Passover, so is the Tikkun ha-Geshem, the prayer for rain, recited on the Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly which comes at the end of the Succoth festival. In the Holy Land the close of the Succoth autumn harvest festival marks the end of the summer drought and the turning point for the coming of the former rain and the latter rain to fields, wells and streams which revive the parched soil and give promise of harvests. Shabuoth Another occasion for rejoicing is afforded by the festival of Shabuoth, the Festival of Pentecost. Since this is an occasion commemorating the feast of the first fruits, the entire synagogue is bedecked with greens, and the steps leading to the "Hehal," the holy Ark, are covered with an abundance of beautiful and colorful flowers and plants reminiscent of the fruits that were brought as offerings in Temple days. There is spirit of festivity that is immediately communicated to the worshippers through the graceful setting of the rich decoration and the joyous song in which the entire congregation joins in the special prayers of thanks, the Hallel, and the other prayers which make the entire service a wondrous symphony of praise, as well as a heartfelt thanksgiving to God for all the good with which He has blessed us. For it is both the material things no less than the spiritual gifts for which we are humbly grateful. As Passover commemorates the redemption from physical slavery, so does the Festival of Pentecost remind of of the first spiritual gift, the Torah, which was given as the moral treasure to bring warm spiritual redemption and the sense of fulfillment in life. An additional service takes place during the afternoon of Shabuoth when preceding the Minhah service the Asharoth are chanted followed by the reading of the Book of Ruth. On the first day, the traditional two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments of our Torah, in the poem composed by Solomon in Gabirol, are read followed by the cantillation of the first half of the Book of Ruth. The second day, the three hundred and sixty-five negative commandments are read, and in their turn they are followed by the reading of the second half of the Book of Ruth. This Biblical story with its picture of the barley harvest in Bethlehem in ancient days has been associated with this festival of the first fruits throughout the many centuries of Jewish life. Both the Asharoth as well as the Biblical reading take place with the participation of all the congregants present, each consecutively reading a single verse. This custom of reading from the Biblical book associated with the particular festival is followed on Passover as well. Prior to the afternoon service, the first half of the book of the Song of Songs is read on the first day and the reading is completed on the second. < Previous | Next > |
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