Jewish Prayer

Jewish prayer (Hebrew: תְּפִלָּה, tefilláh; plural Hebrew: תְּפִלּוֹת, tefillos or tefillót; Yiddish תּפֿלה tfíle, plural תּפֿלות tfílles; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish דאַוונען davnen ‘to pray’) are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book.

Traditionally, three prayer services are recited daily:

1. Shacharit or Shaharit (שַחֲרִת), from the Hebrew shachar or shahar (שַחָר) "morning light,"
2. Mincha or Minha (מִנְחָה), the afternoon prayers named for the flour offering that accompanied sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem,
3. Arvit (עַרְבִית) or Ma'ariv (מַעֲרִיב), from "nightfall."

Additional prayers:

• Musaf (מוּסָף, "additional") are recited by Orthodox and Conservative congregations on Shabbat, major Jewish holidays (including Chol HaMoed), and Rosh Chodesh.
• A fifth prayer service, Ne'ilah (נְעִילָה, "closing"), is recited only on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

According to the Talmud, prayer is a Biblical commandment and the Talmud gives two reasons why there are three basic prayers: to recall the daily sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem, and/or because each of the Patriarchs instituted one prayer: Abraham the morning, Isaac the afternoon and Jacob the evening. A distinction is made between individual prayer and communal prayer, which requires a quorum known as a minyan, with communal prayer being preferable as it permits the inclusion of prayers that otherwise must be omitted.

Maimonides (1135–1204 CE) relates that until the Babylonian exile (586 BCE), all Jews composed their own prayers, but thereafter the sages of the Great Assembly composed the main portions of the siddur. Modern scholarship dating from the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement of 19th century Germany, as well as textual analysis influenced by the 20th Century discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, suggests that dating from this period there existed "liturgical formulations of a communal nature designated for particular occasions and conducted in a centre totally independent of Jerusalem and the Temple, making use of terminology and theological concepts that were later to become dominant in Jewish and, in some cases, Christian prayer." The language of the prayers, while clearly from the Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE), often employs Biblical idiom. Jewish prayerbooks emerged during the early Middle Ages during the period of the Geonim of Babylonia (6th–11th Centuries CE)

Over the last two thousand years variations have emerged among the traditional liturgical customs of different Jewish communities, such as Ashkenazic, Sephardic, Yemenite, Hassidic, and others, however the differences are minor compared with the commonalities. Most of the Jewish liturgy is sung or chanted with traditional melodies or trope. Synagogues may designate or employ a professional or lay hazzan (cantor) for the purpose of leading the congregation in prayer, especially on Shabbat or holidays.