CARR 196-197

CCAR RESPONSA

Contemporary American Reform Responsa

133. Abbreviating the Service

QUESTION:

What are the minimal prayers to which shabbat or daily service may be abbreviated

when the occasion demands a very abbreviated service? (Rabbi H. Waintrup, Abington,

PA)ANSWER: As we review the simplification of the religious services undertaken

by our Reform forefathers we shall see that they were primarily interested in removing archaic

piyutim which were no longer understood, avoiding repetition, introducing ideological

changes, and substituting vernacular prayers. Sometimes this was accomplished by spreading

the historic liturgy over several services as in the American Union Prayer Book and

Gates of Prayer. The history of our liturgy has been beautifully discussed by Jakob

Petuchowski (Prayerbook Reform in Europe, New York, 1968). The reformers, however,

did not wish to limit the service to the absolute minimum; in fact many added prayers which they

considered appropriate for their age. Let us therefore turn to the basic structure of

Jewish service for guidance; it is simple and consists of the following sections: 1. the

shema and its benedictions (M. Tamid 5; M. Ber. 1; Ber. la

ff); 2. the amidah and and tahanun; the amidah has 18 or 19

benedictions on weekdays and 7 on Shabbat and holidays (M. Ber. 6.3; M.

Taanit 2.2; Ber. 33a; R. H. 32a). 3. On Shabbat, holidays, Monday and

Thursday, a Torah reading is added. 4. The concluding prayer and the

qaddish (Pes. 50a; Sifrei to Deut.306; Ber. 3a). The practice of recital

of the qaddish for all deceased was at first limited to great teachers, but eventually in a

move toward democracy it was recited for everyone (Nachmanides Torat Ha-adam, p.

50; Kol Bo 114; Siddur of Amram Gaon). The outline presented

above is much akin to the briefer services in the Gates of Prayer; they would provide an

adequate minimal service for the occasions you have described.November 1986

If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.