“Interieur van de Portugese synagoge te Amsterdam by Emanuel de Witte (circa 1680)

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The impetus for writing this monograph came from a long-time observation that most worshipers and, by extension Shalechei Tzibur [prayer leaders], are either generally unaware of certain basic Laws regarding Public Prayer and Conduct in the Synagogue or simply lax in their proper observance. As such, I felt that there is a need to refresh in the minds of the general public certain fundamental regulations in these areas.

I have chosen to translate the prefatory pages relating to these matters from the classic Siddur Avodas Yisroel by Dr. Seligmann Baer, published in Rödelheim in 1868. His summary is terse, yet comprehensive, and very closely aligned with the accepted Halochoh. Although, in those instances where there is a difference from commonly accepted practice and custom, I have tried to augment his text with instructions found in the popular Siddur Tefilas Kol Peh (TKP, Shaliach Tzibur edition, published by Eshkol, Jerusalem, and which was prepared in accordance with the Mishne Berura) and other sources.

A Few Concise Rules Regarding Public Prayer and Guidelines for the Shaliaḥ Tzibur
As Translated from Siddur Avodas Yisroel by Dr. Seligman Baer, 5628 [1868]
Comprising: Laws of Going to the בית הכנסת [Beit Knesset], General Laws of Prayer, Laws of אמן [saying “Amen“], Laws of קדיש [saying Kaddish], and Guidelines for the שליח ציבור [Shaliaḥ Tzibur — Prayer Leader]

Translated 5762 (2002). We are grateful to Reuven Brauner for contributing his translation of the rules for public prayer explained by Dr. Seligman Baer in his Seder Avodat Yisroel (1868), a critical edition of a prayerbook witnessing the Nusaḥ Ashkenaz (liturgical tradition of the Jews of Ashkenaz).

“Rules of Etiquette for Public Prayer, by Isaac Seligman Baer (1868)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isaac Seligman Baer

Seligman (Isaac) Baer was a masoretic scholar, and an editor of the Hebrew Bible and of Jewish liturgy. He was born in Mosbach, the northern district of Biebrich, Sept. 18, 1825 and died at Biebrich-on-the-Rhine, March, 1897. He belonged to the school of Wolf Heidenheim, and had in his possession some of Heidenheim's original manuscripts and personal copies of his published works with handwritten marginal notes. Baer's monumental edition of the Jewish prayerbook according to the Ashkenazic rite, Seder Avodat Yisrael (Rödelheim, 1868), accompanied by a critical commentary, became the authoritative model for numerous editions published subsequently in the 20th century. His editions of the Jewish liturgy also include Kinnot for the fast of the ninth of Av. He never occupied an academic position, but was content with the office of Hebrew teacher to the Jewish community of Biebrich. In recognition of his services to the Commission for the History of the Jews in Germany, the honorary degree of doctor of philosophy was conferred upon him by the University of Leipzig.

Reuven Brauner

Reuven Brauner is a writer in Ra’anana, Israel. He has published numerous e-books of Jewish texts which are available for download at Tzvee Zahavy's website, halakhah.com.

Works of related interest:

 

📄 שחרית לשבת (אשכנז)‏ | Shaḥarit (Shabbat) Nusaḥ Ashkenaz, from Seder Avodat Yisrael (Isaac Seligman Baer, 1868)

📖 סדר עבודת ישראל (אשכנז)‏ | Seder Avodat Yisroel, a critical text of the Siddur annotated by Isaac Seligman Baer (1868)

📖 תפלות בני ישורון (רפורמי) | Hymns, Psalms & Prayers in English and German, by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, et al (Minhag America, 1868)

Ḥanukkah, a hymn by Isaac Mayer Wise (1868)

Prayer for the United States on Thanksgiving Day, by Rabbi Sabato Morais (27 November 1868)

Confirmation (Father, see Thy suppliant children), a hymn for a Confirmation ritual by Felix Adler (1868)

Thanksgiving, a hymn by Felix Adler (1868)

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