Aleinu

Aleinu (Hebrew: עָלֵינוּ, "upon us") or Aleinu leshabei'ach ("[it is] upon us to praise [ God ]"), meaning "it is upon us or it is our obligation or duty to praise God," is a Jewish prayer found in the siddur, the classical Jewish prayerbook. It is recited at the end of each of the three daily Jewish services. It is also recited following the New Moon blessing and after a circumcision is performed.

The traditional view of its composition, based on a geonic account, is that this prayer was created and proclaimed by Joshua in biblical times. However, the modern scholarly view is that the prayer was composed in Talmudic times for the mussaf liturgy on Rosh Hashanah. The Aleinu praises God for allowing the Jewish people to serve him, and expresses their hope that the whole world will recognize God and abandon idolatry.

Contents 1 Text 2 Use in the synagogue 3 Censored passage 3.1 History 3.2 Restoration 4 Other variations 5 Notes 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Text

The following is the first half of the current Ashkenazi version of the prayer (there is also a second paragraph, which some traditions omit, though it is a standard part of the Ashkenazi orthodox liturgy). Translation by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, from the Koren Sacks Siddur, Copyright 2009.

[edit] Use in the synagogue

The original context of this prayer was as part of the middle paragraphs of the Amidah prayer in the additional service on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), and more specifically in the passage known as Malchuyot (the kingdom of God). In this context it includes both paragraphs of the prayer. The first paragraph is also included at the equivalent point in the liturgy for Yom Kippur.

In the Middle Ages the custom grew up of reciting the first paragraph every day, at the end either of the morning service alone or of all the prayer services for the day. In the 16th century the kabbalist Hayim Vital, recording the opinions of Isaac Luria, ruled that both paragraphs should be included in all services, and should end with the verse "on that day the Lord shall be one and His Name one". This has been accepted in all communities except for the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who retain the "short Alenu".

[edit] Censored passage

The earlier form of this prayer contains an additional sentence:

It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to exalt the Creator of the Universe, who has not made us like the nations of the world and has not placed us like the families of the earth; who has not designed our destiny to be like theirs, nor our lot like that of all their multitude, For they worship vanity and emptiness, and pray to a god who cannot save.

The sentence in italics is a quote from the Bible, Isaiah 45:20. "Come, gather together, Draw nigh, you remnants of the nations! No foreknowledge had they who carry their wooden images and pray to a God who cannot give success." (New JPS) The line is still set out in full in Sephardi and Italian prayer books, but was omitted in most of the older printed Ashkenazi prayer books. In some older editions of other rites (e.g. the Maḥzor Aram Soba, 1560) a blank line was left in the printing, leaving it free for the missing line to be filled in in handwriting. In most current Orthodox Jewish siddurim (prayer books) this line has been restored, and the practice of reciting it has increased.

[edit] History

Ismar Elbogen, a historian of the Jewish liturgy, held that not only this line, but the early form of the entire prayer pre-dated Christianity. Conservative and Masorti Rabbi Reuven Hammer comments on the excised sentence:

Originally the text read that God has not made us like the nations who "bow down to nothingness and vanity, and pray to an impotent god," ...In the Middle Ages these words were censored, since the church believed they were an insult to Christianity. Omitting them tends to give the impression that the Aleinu teaches that we are both different and better than others. The actual intent is to say that we are thankful that God has enlightened us so that, unlike the pagans, we worship the true God and not idols. There is no inherent superiority in being Jewish, but we do assert the superiority of monotheistic belief over paganism. Although paganism still exists today, we are no longer the only ones to have a belief in one God.

(Reuven Hammer, Or Hadash, The Rabbinical Assembly, NY, 2003)

[edit] Restoration

Some Orthodox Rabbinical authorities, prominently the 19th century Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Leib Diskin (Maharil Diskin), have argued that the disputed phrase should be recited in communities that previously omitted it.

[edit] Other variations

Reform and other communities rephrase the opening to make it read more positively. For example, the British Reform version borrows words from the blessings over the Torah, and begins "It is our duty to praise the Ruler of all, to recognise the greatness of the Creator of first things, who has chosen us from all peoples by giving us Torah. Therefore we bend low and submit.." Reconstructionist Judaism changes the lines which reference the chosen people.^[1]

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://www.jrf.org/edu/faqs.html

[edit] See also

• List of Jewish prayers and blessings
• Jewish services

[edit] External links

• Audio file "Aleinu" (first part); MP3
• Audio file "Aleinu" (second part); MP3

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