Siddur Class 5782 (2021-22)
Hear Our Sabbath Prayers
Thursdays, 8:40 am
Candlelighting, Kabbalat Shabbat, Lekha Dodi and Ma’ariv (The Evening Service), Shalom Aleichem … Did we always say the unique psalms that make up the preliminary service on Friday night? Sing for our Sabbath meal? Which prayers were central to our ancestors’ experiences of Shabbat? How did poetry woven together from biblical allusions and medieval mystical texts become central to Jewish worship throughout both Ashkenaz and Sephardic lands? How do modern prayerbooks compare to siddurim from ages past, when it comes to Sabbath evening services and table liturgy for Shabbat dinners?
Come explore the history of Shabbat over the Jewish ages and the liturgies that were recited, in addition to those we use today. During Siddur Class we explore the prayers’ language, discuss their meanings and dig into their histories. Our conversations this year will surely take us into exploring the meaning of Shabbat in our lives and what the liturgy suggests as points of focus. Class meets at 8:40 am on Thursday mornings. ZOOM participants are encouraged to have their cameras on, to add their presence on screen to the learning community.