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OUR TEFILAH
Congregation Shearith Israel has maintained its distinctive and reverently beautiful religious services for more than three hundred years. Its membership of some four hundred and fifty families finds its worship uplifting and stimulating, the outward expression of an inner spirit of reverence and abiding faith. The influence of this oldest congregation in America extends far beyond the immediate confines of its regular worshippers for it attracts literally thousands of visitors from the far reaches of our own country as well as the men, women and children who come from various parts of the world to view it and to attend its services. One who comes to worship and pray in this synagogue for the first time may find some of the practices different from those to which he is accustomed. The most apparent one is that the prayers are read in Sephardic Hebrew. There are of course far more similarities than differences between the traditional Ashkenazi service and the Sephardi "Minhag". Prayer is one of the most sublime expressions of the human heart. The Jewish people regard prayer not as an obligation imposed upon human beings but as a privilege bestowed upon men and women and children to come closer to God, the source of all power and strength, the source of all goodness and kindness in the universe. Words of prayer often come spontaneously to one's lips. When we are deeply grateful for some blessing or profoundly moved by some display of nature we may find prayerful words coming instinctively to our lips. But not all of us have the great gift of expressing and articulating prayer that developed over many centuries of Jewish living was meant to give expression to the power of the Almighty, to His goodness and mercy, to the gifts of understanding and knowledge that He bestowed upon us, to the very gift of life which is ours to enjoy. These and many more are among the thoughts that are expressed during the service of prayer. |
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