Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayers recited as part of observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Siddur

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The individual is required to pray three times daily and four times daily on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays (five times on Yom Kippur). While prayer alone is valid, praying with a minyan (quorum of ten adult males) is considered ideal. Many synagogues (particularly Reform and Conservative, and large Orthodox ones) have a hazzan (cantor) who is a professional or lay-professional singer employed for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer.

Related Topics:
Sabbath - Jewish holiday - Yom Kippur - Minyan - Reform - Conservative - Orthodox - Hazzan

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Daven is the originally exclusively Eastern Yiddish verb meaning "pray"; it is widely used by Ashkenazic Orthodox Jews. In Yinglish, this has become the Anglicised davening. The origin of the word is obscure, but is thought by some to have come from Middle French and by others to be derived from a Slavic word meaning "give". In Western Yiddish, the term for "pray" is oren, a word with clear roots in Romance languages — compare Spanish and Portuguese "orar" and Latin "Oratorium".

Related Topics:
Yiddish - Ashkenazic - Orthodox Jews - Yinglish - Anglicise - French - Slavic - Romance languages - Spanish - Portuguese - Latin - Oratorium

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