In the Maaribh the part beginning ברוך יי לעולם and ending על כל מעשיו was originally a substitute for the Amidah, and the conclusion of the Evening Service for those who considered the tefillah in the evening optional. Similarly, on Friday evening the contracted tefillah was originally a substitute for the tefillah for those who came late. In both these and similar cases the substitute and its original have been retained as integral parts of the Service.
3. On Page 442 (2).
In the public Service the tefillah is repeated by the Reader after the silent prayer (בלתש) of the congregation. This minhag must have been introduced very early. In the Talmud (end of Rosh ha-shanah) it is spoken of as a regular institution, its purpose is discussed, and the reason stated why we should not dispense with the Reader’s repetition or with the silent tefillah. It seems that there was, on the one hand, a desire on the part of the congregants to have an uninterrupted silent tefillah in which they could give suitable expression each one to his personal and peculiar wants and wishes. On the other hand, there was also a desire felt by many to be guided in their devotions by the Reader. Our minhag satisfies both requirements. But it is a grave error to think, as unfortunately many do, that, while the Reader repeats the tefillah, the congregants may turn their heart and mind to other things, however holy these be. The congregation and the Reader must be united in devotion during תפלה בצבור, and where the continued concentration of thought during the tefillah and its repetition seems unattainable, it would be better to sacrifice the minhag of repeating the tefillah rather than to have the repetition of the prayer without the participation of the congregants, or even without decorum.
In the repetition of the tefillah the kedushah forms an important addition. The essential idea of the kedushah is repeated thrice during the Morning Service, viz., in the first of the benedictions preceding the shema, in the tefillah or Amidah, and in the concluding section commencing ובא לציון.
In the first kedushah (called קדושה דיוצר), while praising God [[448]]as the Creator of light and of the heavenly luminaries, we introduce these, as proclaiming, as it were, the holiness and glory of God in the words of the Prophets. In the last kedushah (called קדושה דסידרא or סידרא דקדושה) we merely read, among other passages from the Prophets, those verses of Isaiah and Ezekiel which contain the chief sentences of the kedushah. In the kedushah of the tefillah the Reader summons the congregation to proclaim the sanctification of God in the manner of the angels above; it has therefore its place only in Public Worship, whilst as to the other two kedushoth there is no difference whether a person prays by himself or in a congregation of worshippers.
As regards קדיש וברכו, two prayers generally united, it must be remarked that in their meaning they are disunited: the half-kaddish is the conclusion of the mizmorim or pesuke dezimrah, and ברכו is the commencement of the next section: shema, with its benedictions. The half-kaddish, wherever it occurs, concludes some section of the Service. In shacharith, after Amidah, or after “Supplications,” or after the Reading of the Law; at Musaf, Minchah, Neïlah, and Maaribh after the introductory psalms. The half-kaddish before the Amidah in the Maaribh is probably a remnant of the whole kaddish that used to be said when the Service ended there and the Amidah was considered optional (רשות).
4. On Page 442 (3).
An important element in the Service is religious instruction. The means adopted were the reading of the Torah and Haphtarah, the introduction of moral lessons, principles of faith, exposition of Divine precepts into the Service, and lectures containing various lessons, exhortations, and explanations of the Biblical and Post-Biblical Sacred Literature. These lectures are an ancient institution. The prophets instructed the people, especially on New-moon and Sabbath (2 Kings iv. 23); the Scribes and the Rabbis of the Talmudic age expounded the Torah and other Biblical and Post-Biblical writings; they were followed by darshanim and maggidim, the modern preachers and ministers. The aim of these lectures is to create, maintain, or intensify the fear of God and the love of the Torah (אהבת תורה ויראת שמים).
The Sermon has lost much of its original force and influence. The cause of this fact is probably to be sought chiefly in the [[449]]materialism and scepticism of the age, but to some degree also in the character of the sermon. It cannot be denied that the pulpit, instead of being made a place from which Love of Torah and Fear of God receive life, encouragement, and strength, is frequently turned into a platform for discussing communal or personal quarrels or theological controversies, or creating a discontent with existing institutions, without sufficiently considering the result of such discontent. Themes like these are not outside the province of the preacher, but they must not be the staple of his discourses, which must principally seek to foster אהבת תורה ויראת שמים in the hearts of the congregants. As to the history and literature of this branch of the Service, see Zunz, Die Gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden. Berlin, 1832.
5. On Page 420.