She-Heyeyanu

SHE-HEHEYANU: By : Joseph Jacobs Judah David Eisenstein


The benediction "Blessed be the Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who has kept us alive ["she-heheyanu"] and sustained us and welcomed us to this season"; in actual usage the blessing begins with the words "She-heheyanu,"the preceding clause being suppressed. The benediction was originally recited on meeting a beloved one after a separation of more than thirty days or less than a year (after a longer period the benediction is "Mehayyeh ha-metim" = "Who revivest the dead"); on hearing good news in which one is personally concerned; also on acquiring and first making use of a new house, new utensils, new garments, or new books. The benediction was omitted when one acquired trivial objects, except in the case of a poor man, who felt happy in their possession. In modern times the blessing is pronounced only on eating fruits for the first time in their respective seasons—especially on the second night of Rosh ha-Shanah—being recited after the regular benediction. "She-heheyanu" is recited after kiddush on the first nights of the festivals; at the blowing of the shofar on Rosh ha-Shanah, at the lighting of the hanukkah candles, and the reading of the Scroll of Esther in public on Purim.

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Shofars - Akedah

'AKEDAH By : Max Landsberg


This Biblical incident plays an important part in the Jewish liturgy. The earliest allusion to it in prayer occurs in the Mishnah (Ta'anit, ii. 4) in the litany for public fast-days, "May He who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah listen to our supplication." In the Gemara (R. H. 16a) the use of a ram's horn on New-year's Day is explained as a reminder of the ram which was offered in place of Isaac. Hence the following passage was inserted in the musaf arranged by Rab in the third century (Zunz, "S. P." p. 81; B. Beer, "Leben Abraham's," p. 186) for that day (see Gen. R. lvi.; Lev. R. xxxvi.):

"Remember in our favor, O Lord our God, the oath which Thou hast sworn to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah; consider the binding of his son Isaac upon the altar when he suppressed his love in order to do Thy will with a whole heart! Thus may Thy love suppress Thy wrath against us, and through Thy great goodness may the heat of Thine anger be turned away from Thy people, Thy city, and Thy heritage! . . . Remember to-day in mercy in favor of his seed the binding of Isaac."

Gen. xxii. was taken as the Biblical lesson for the second day of the New-year festival (Meg. 31a; compare Rashi, ad loc.).

In the course of time ever greater importance was attributed to the 'Akedah. The haggadistic literature is full of allusions to it; the claim to forgiveness on its account was inserted in the daily morning prayer; and a piece called "'Akedah" was added to the liturgy of each of the penitential days among the German Jews.

Before the first blasts of the shofar are sounded there is sung in the Sephardic liturgy a hymn which narrates the 'Akedah; this was written by Judah ben Samuel ibn Abbas, rabbi in Fez in the twelfth century.

This turn given to the attempted sacrifice of Isaac is certainly in conflict with the prophetic spirit. The occurrence is never again mentioned in the Bible; and even in the Talmud voices are raised in condemnation of its conception as a claim to atonement. The injunctions in Jer. xix. 5 and in Micah, vi. 7 against the sacrifice of children are explained as referring to the sacrifice of Isaac (Ta'anit, 4a; Yalk., Micah, § 555).

These protests were silenced by the persecutions in which Jewish fathers and mothers were so often driven to slaughter their own children in order to save them from baptism. This sacrifice is regarded as a parallel to that of Abraham (Zunz, "S. P." pp. 136-138). The influence of the Christian dogma of atonement by vicarious suffering and death, it has been suggested, induced the Jews to regard the willingness of Isaac also to be sacrificed in the light of a voluntary offering of his life for the atonement of his descendants (Geiger's "Jüd. Zeit." x. 170; "Nachgelassene Schriften," v. 352).

From the point of view of some advocates of reformed Judaism the great importance of the Biblical story of Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac consists in the lesson that God does not desire such a sacrifice; accordingly many American reform rituals have abolished the 'Akedah prayers. At the same time stress is laid even by reformers on the typical character of the story as expressing the spirit of martyrdom which permeates Jewish history and has maintained the Jewish faith.

AKDAMUT (see image)

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Adon 'Olam

ADON 'OLAM by : Francis L. Cohen Kaufmann Kohler

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

• ADON 'OLAM.

One of the few strictly metrical hymns in the Jewish liturgy, the nobility of the diction of which and the smoothness of whose versification have given it unusual importance. According to the custom of the Sephardim and in British synagogues generally, it is congregationally sung at the close of the Sabbath and festival morning services, and among the Ashkenazim also it often takes the place of the hymn Yigdal at the close of the evening service on these occasions, while both hymns are almost universally chanted on the Eve of Atonement. Because of this solemn association, and on account of its opening and closing sentiments, the hymn has also been selected for reading in the chamber of the dying. It is likewise printed at the commencement of the daily morning prayer, that its utterance may help to attune the mind of the worshiper to reverential awe. In the Sephardic version the hymn comprises six stanzas of two verses each, but the fourth (which is but an amplification of the third) is omitted by the Ashkenazim. For so wide-spread and beloved a hymn, the traditional tunes are singularly few. Only four or five of them deserve to be called traditional. Of these the oldest appears to be a short melody of Spanish origin (see A below).

Of similar construction is a melody of northern origin associated by English Jews with the penitential season (see B below).

This melody is often sung antiphonally, between precentor and congregation, although it was obviously intended for congregational rendering only, like the Spanish tune given above it. The best known of the other traditional antiphonal settings exists in two or three forms, the oldest of which appears to be the one given below (C).

Every one of the synagogal composers of the nineteenth century has written several settings for "Adon 'Olam." Most of them—following the earlier practise of the continental synagogues during the modern period (see Choir)—have attempted more or less elaborately polyphonic compositions. But the absurdity of treating an essentially congregational hymn so as to render congregational singing of it impossible is latterly becoming recognized, and many tunes in true hymn form have been more recently composed. Special mention should be made of the setting written by Simon W. Waley (1827-76) for the West London Synagogue, which has become a classic among the British Jews, having been long ago adopted from the "reform" into the "orthodox" congregations, of England and her colonies. It is here excerpted from the music-book of that synagogue by the wardens' kind permission (see D below).F. L. C.

The Adon 'Olam is one of the most familiar hymns in the whole range of the Jewish liturgy, employed in the various rituals all over the world, though not always at the same period of the service or on the same occasions; thus in the Roman Mahzor it is placed at the end of the Sabbath service andsung together with Yigdal (Zunz, "Ritus," p. 80). In the Sephardic liturgy it has twelve strophes; in the German, only ten. Baer, in his commentary on the "Prayer-book" (Rödelheim, 1868), says that the hymn seems to have been intended to be recited before retiring, as it closes with the words: "Into His hand I commit my spirit when I fall asleep and when I awake." It may be, however, that the beauty and grandeur of the hymn recommended its use in the liturgy, and that it was chanted indiscriminately at the beginning or the close of the service. The date and the name of the author are unknown.

ADON 'OLAM
(see image)

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Alenu

'ALENU: By : Kaufmann Kohler

ARTICLE HEADINGS:

• Original Form of the Prayer.
• Additions to 'Alenu.
• Its Use by Martyrs.
• Calumnies Directed Against It.

Original Form of the Prayer.

The last prayer of the daily liturgy in most congregations, so called from its initial word, "'Alenu," which means "It is incumbent upon us,"or "It is our duty." It is one of the most sublime prayers of the entire liturgy, and has a remarkable history, almost typical of the race from which it emanated. It became the cause of slanderous accusation and persecution, as a result of which it was in part mutilated through fear of the official censors. But having been thus mutilated, it is difficult to present it in its original form. To restore it and render it at least intelligible, recourse must be had to old books and documents. The following is a literal translation from the original so far as it can be restored:

"It is incumbent upon us to give praise to the Lord of the Universe, to glorify Him who formed creation, for He hath not made us to be like the nations of the lands, nor hath He made us like the families of the earth; He hath not set our portion with theirs, nor our lot with their multitude; . . . for they prostrate themselves before vanity and folly, and pray to a god who can not help. . . . But we bend the knee and prostrate ourselves and bow down before the King of the Kings of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He! For it is He who stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and the seat of His glory is in the heavens above, and His mighty dwelling-place (Shekinah) is in the loftiest heights. 'He is our God, and there is none other.' In truth, He is our King, there is none besides Him, as it is written in His Torah: 'And thou shalt know this day and lay it to thine heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: and there is none other.'

"Therefore do we wait for Thee, O Lord our God, soon to behold Thy mighty glory, when Thou wilt remove the abominations from the earth, and idols shalt be exterminated; when the world shall be regenerated by the kingdom of the Almighty, and all the children of flesh invoke Thy name; when all the wicked of the earth shall be turned unto Thee. Then shall all the inhabitants of the world perceive and confess that unto Thee every knee must bend, and every tongue be sworn. Before Thee, O Lord our God, shall they kneel and fall down, and unto Thy glorious name give honor. So will they accept the yoke of Thy kingdom, and Thou shall be King over them speedily forever and aye. For Thine is the kingdom, and to all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory, as it is written in Thy Torah: 'The Lord shall reign forever and aye.' And it is also said: 'And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord shall be One and His name be One.'"

Evidently this prayer was originally recited with the prostration of the whole assembled congregation before their departure from the house of God, or after the benediction given by the priests. In such solemn language (drawn from Jer. x. 6-16; Isa. xxx, 7, xlv. 23, li. 13; Deut. iv. 39) the congregation gives expression to its faith in the One Universal Ruler of the World, and to its hope for His universal kingdom when all the idolatrous nations around Israel shall have been converted to His truth. The omission of a personal Messiah from the expression, of the Messianic hope points to a pre-Christian era; and the very title, "King of the Kings of Kings"—found in Dan. ii. 37—shows that the formula used at the prostration goes back to Persian times when kings bore the title of King of Kings.

Additions to 'Alenu.

The 'Alenu prayer had already been in use when there were attached to it the three portions of the liturgy of the New-year: (1) the Malkiyot (the Glorifications of God as King); (2) the Zikronot (the Divine Remembrances); and (3)the Shofarot (the Trumpet-blasts): these were probably originally prayers of the hasidim (Watikim), recited on public fast-days (see Ta'anit, ii. 3, and R. H. iv. 5, 6). Zunz and his followers—who ascribe the prayer to Rab, simply because in his school the Jewish liturgy received its permanent form—disregarded the fact that it stands in no organic connection with the rest of the New-year's prayer. An old tradition, referred to by Simon ben zemah Duran in his responsa on Prayer 253; by Eleazar of Worms, in his "Rokeah"; and afterward in Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen of Lunel's "Orhlot hayyim," in "Kol Bo," i. 17, claims that it was written by Joshua upon his entrance into Canaan. Manasseh b. Israel, in his "Vindiciæ Judæorum," iv. 2, ascribes the 'Alenu to the men of the Great Synagogue. Moses Mendelssohn also, in his memorandum (see below), declares the 'Alenu to be one of the oldest prayers of the nation, adducing as proof of its ancient and pre-Christian character the fact that no mention is made in it of the restoration of the Jewish Temple and state, which would scarcely have been omitted had it been composed after their destruction. It was obviously written, he says, at the time when the Jews still lived in their own land. The fact that neither Maimonides nor Abudarham mentions its separate recital at the close of the daily prayers, as does the Mahzor Vitry, merely proves that it was not generally recited as part of the service. On the other hand, it is indisputable that during the Middle Ages it was invested with especial solemnity and awe.

Its Use by Martyrs.

The following is related by Joseph ha-Kohen in his "'Emek ha-Baka" (ed. Wiener, p. 31), based upon contemporary records: During the persecution of the Jews of Blois, France, in 1171, when many masters of the Law died as martyrs at the stake, an eye-witness wrote to R. Jacob of Orleans that the death of the saints was accompanied by a weird song resounding through the stillness of the night, causing the Christians who heard it from afar to wonder at the melodious strains, the like of which they had never heard before. It was ascertained afterward that the martyred saints had made use of the 'Alenu as their dying song. It is quite probable, then, that it became the custom in those tragic days for the martyrs to chant the 'Alenu song in order to moderate the agonies of their death.

Calumnies Directed Against It.

But this very fact seems to have given a welcome pretext to maligning persecutors, who claimed that the 'Alenu was a malicious attack upon the Church, whose Savior was characterized therein as "a god who can not help" and as "vanity and folly." In 1399, Pesach Peter, a baptized Jew, went so far as to assert that in the word ("and folly"), () Jesus was alluded to, because the Hebrew letters of both words are equal in numerical value, amounting to 316. Antonius Margarita, in 1530, was the next to repeat this charge, in a book entitled "The Belief of the Jews." Seventy years later Samuel Friedrich Brenz, a converted Jew, repeated it in a book to which he gave the characteristic title "Jüdischer Abgestreifter Schlangenbalg" (The Jewish Serpent Slough). In vain did the leading rabbis, Solomon zebi Uffenhausen in his "Theriak" and Lippman Mühlhausen in his "Nizzahon," protest against such misinterpretation of their ancient prayer, composed long before Jesus was born, and having solely idolaters in view. Even the learned Buxtorf in his "Bibliotheca Rabbinica" repeated the charge; but he was successfully refuted by Manasseh b. Israel, who devotes a whole chapter of his "Vindiciæ Judæorum" to the 'Alenu; and relates among other things that Sultan Selim, on reading the 'Alenu in the Turkish translation of the Jewish liturgy presented to him by his physician Moses Amon, said: "Truly, this prayer is sufficient for all purposes; there is no need of any other." But the acme of misrepresentation was reached by Eisenmenger ("Entdecktes Judenthum," i. 84), who pointed out that the words, "they bow to a god who does not help," were accompanied by spitting as a sign of utter contempt, and he asserted that reference was thereby intended to Jesus. In consequence of this charge, the indecorous practise of spitting while reciting the prayer was denounced by Isaiah Horwitz and other rabbis. Butthe charge was renewed again by Professor Kypke, government inspector of the Königsberg Synagogue, in a memorandum presented to the government in 1777, on the occasion of a memorial service held by the Königsberg Jews in honor of the Russian empress. This was refuted by Mendelssohn in a counter-memorandum presented to the government, the result of which was that, despite Kypke's protest, the matter was laid ad acta. Both documents were afterward published from the archives by L. E. Borowsky, pastor of Königsberg, in 1791 (see Mendelssohn, "Gesammte Schriften," vi. 418; Jost, "Gesch. der Israeliten," ix. 38).

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