Questions tagged [nuschaot]

liturgical wording and syntax

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What are the differences between Teimani and Ashkenazi/Sefardi sifrei torah?

I have heard that there is a small number of textual differences between Teimani torah scrolls and Ashkenazi/Sefardi ones. What are these differences? If I encounter a manuscript of unknown origin ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
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And let who say Amen?

In light of this answer, why do we say V'imru amen and V'nomar amen at various points in bentching and davening when saying that passage alone? (eg. bentching by yourself, or oseh shalom at the end of ...
Double AA's user avatar
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Proper bracha on Chanuka candles: lhadlik ner (shel) Chanukah

Why do some people have the custom to say, in the blessing on the Chanukah lights, the word "Shel" before "Chanukah" and some do not? And I have been told some people put the words together as "...
simchastorah's user avatar
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18 votes
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Proper recitation of Hamakom Yenachem

Is the proper phrase to console a mourner always the plural המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים or should it be changed depending on whom it is said to (singluar, feminine, etc.)?
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Why do we comfort a mourner with Hamakom Yenachem Eschem?

Why, when comforting a mourner at the completion of a Shiva visit, do we refer to G-d as Hamakom? We say Hamakom Yanachem Eschem - why not Hashem Yenachem or Elokim Yenachem?
Gershon Gold's user avatar
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Saying kaddish when davening in a minyan that isn't your nusach

I have been to many minyanim where people are saying kaddish of a variety of nuschaot. What should one do with regards to this? Some examples: In a sephardi minyan, should an ashkenazi person remain ...
bondonk's user avatar
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Does anyone pray according to Rambam's Seder Tefila?

I wonder if among the new wave of Talmidei haRambam, there might be anyone using a siddur that uses Rambam's language of prayer exclusively, as recorded in the Mishneh Torah (here).
izmargad's user avatar
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Titkabbel vs. Titkabbal

In קדיש תתקבל, most Ashkenazi siddurim I've seen say "תִּתְקַבַּל." ArtScroll, however, has "תִּתְקַבֵּל." Why did this difference arise?
Argon's user avatar
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What was the formulation of the Bracha about Yerushalayim in the times of the Temple?

In Shemona Esrei we pray that Hashem should return to Yerushalayim. Obviously while the Jews were in Yerushalayim during the time of the Bais Hamikdash this Bracha had to be different as it would not ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
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Versions of HaNeros Hallalu

There seem to be many variations of the text of HaNeros Hallalu, the explanatory paragraph that people recite while lighting Hanukkah lights. Is it possible to list the major versions? What are the ...
paquda's user avatar
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What do we know about the Yemenites adding (deleting?) Maimonides from their prayers in the 1100s?

I've always heard that the Yemenite Jews of the late 1100s were so grateful for the theological support they were given by Maimonides' writings (Rambam's Igeret Teiman), that where their kaddish ...
Shalom's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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Does Sim Shalom use orthodox text for maariv, and, if so, is it usable for maariv?

I was in a Jewish Community Center recently for a meeting, after which a bunch of people wished to say orthodox maariv. Someone went to the JCC's chapel to borrow sidurim (prayer books), and brought ...
msh210's user avatar
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16 votes
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Why does almost every community say Lecha Dodi?

The prayer Lecha Dodi was composed in the 16th century which is relatively recent as the general Nusach of prayer was founded between 516 BCE – 70 CE by the Anshei K'neset Hagdolah, and its rare that ...
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K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim: why that order?

When a baby boy has his Bris we wish him "K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim" - just like you entered the covenant so to should you enter into Torah, marriage, and ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
11 votes
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Should we say Al Naharos Bavel?

Tehillim 137 is printed in several bentchers before birkas hamazon, but from what I have seen most people do not say it. What is the correct thing to do: say or omit? Are there different minhagim?
none's user avatar
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10 votes
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Why do we start minchah, mussaf, and neilah shemoneh esrei differently?

Before reciting the verse from Psalms 51:17 that precedes the silent prayer, many traditions add the sentence from Haazinu (Devarim 32:3) before the minchah, musaf and neilah: כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם יְהוָ֖ה ...
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V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - does a lady say this?

In Bentching (grace after meals) - both in the Ashkenazic and in the Sefardic version - we say V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - "and for Your covenant, which you sealed ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
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Which Tachanun should I say when davening in a minyan with a different Nusach?

I daven Nusach Ashkenaz but I often daven mincha in minyanim with a different nuasach. Should I say my ashekanzi tachanun or is there a minhag ha'mokom? Moreover I have noticed sefardim davening their ...
yesodei613's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
451 views

"Chaparat Pesha" just through Adar II

We know that the phrase ולכפרת פשע is added to the Musaf Amidah of Rosh Chodesh during a leap year. However, in most minyanim I've davened in, the custom seems to be that one only adds it from ...
Noach MiFrankfurt's user avatar
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1 answer
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כּרְעוּתֵהּ (with a dagesh in the כּ) or כרְעוּתֵהּ (without the dagesh) in Kaddish?

Kaddish starts: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. אמן:  בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ The siddur HaGr”a has כּרְעוּתֵהּ (with a dagesh in the כּ) and all my other siddurim have כרְעוּתֵהּ ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
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Did Rav Saadiah Gaon really phrase the bracha as "Sim shalom b'olam . . ."?

In Or Hadash, the commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom (the American Conservative siddur), it states that the nineteenth bracha of the Amidah was intentionally reworded from the the standard ...שׂים ...
Mike's user avatar
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V'Nomar Amen (וְנאמַר אָמֵן) vs. V'Imru Amen (ואמרוּ אָמֵן)

In Bentching by the end of the Harachamon's we say וְנאמַר אָמֵן and at the end of Magdil we say ואמרוּ אָמֵן. Is there a difference? What is the difference? Why the difference?
Gershon Gold's user avatar
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What siddur do Satmerer Chasidim use?

Many Chasidic groups have a particular siddur that is used by most in that group. Does Satmer have such a siddur?
yoel's user avatar
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6 votes
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Does 'atah chonantanu' replace the first line of 'atah chonein,' or is it said in addition?

In my Koren Sacks siddur, the reader is instructed to substitute the first line of the usual אתה חונן with the אתה חוננתנו paragraph on Motzaei Shabbos and Motzaei Yom Tov. In my Artscroll siddur, ...
C_D's user avatar
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What does בהם refer to in some texts of אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ?

In Maariv after Shabbos we insert אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ into the Amidah. In some siddurim the word בהם is introduced making it read אַתָּה חונַנְתָּנוּ לְמַדַּע תּורָתֶךָ. וַתְּלַמְּדֵנוּ לַעֲשות בהם ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
166 views

What is the source of the additions before תתקבל צלותהון, יהא שלמא, עושה שלום in Kaddish Tiskabel?

In Kaddish Tiskabel, there are parts to be said (see page 131) by the congregation just before the three phrases that begin: תתקבל צלותהון, יהא שלמא, עושה שלום. These do not appear in all siddurim ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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Formulation of blessing on individual tithes

When separating all the relevant tithes from one's produce, one can include all the various obligations in one collective blessing before the entire process (Tosefta Brachot 6:19 (note variant ...
Double AA's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
456 views

Vehu Rachum and Selach Lanu for Maariv after Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the day that Jews repent. It is a day that we are cleansed from our sins. Yet immediately after Yom Kippur is over we pray Maariv which starts with "Vehu Rachum Yechaper Avon". Then by ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
2k views

Differences between siddurim of the same nusach

In nusach Sefard siddurim, there are pronounced differences between nearly every one, each reflecting the particular view of its author as to how to properly reconcile the Arizal with nusach Ashkenaz. ...
yoel's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
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Birkat Haminim, order of requests in Nusach Sfard

In the Birkat Haminim following the Nusach Sfard, the prayer is to exterminate, humiliate and submit the Apikorsim. תעקר ותשבר ומגר ותכלם ותשפילם ותכניעם My question is the order of the requests. ...
kouty's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
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Why do we vary the form of the attributes of HaShem in the selicho "Kail Rachum shmecho"?

In the selicho "Kail Rachum shmecho" we ask HaShem to do things because of ("lema'an") - a list of things. Some are in the masculine form eg shemecho and some in the feminine form eg amitoch, brisoch. ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
473 views

Why don't we follow the Shulchan Aruch's nusach of the blessing on a rainbow?

Background: The Talmud (Berachot 59A) and the Rambam (Berachot 10:17), and Tur 229 tell us the blessing of the Rainbow is as follows: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֶלוֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם זוֹכֵר ...
Menachem's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
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No mention of Korban Tamid in Amida

During Musaf, the specific sacrifices that were brought for Musaf are always mentioned, quoting the specific verses in the Torah that involve those sacrifices. However, even though תפי­לות במקום ...
Yishai's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
190 views

Can you pray something that isn't true or (at least) that the petitioner doesn't believe to be true?

In the Aruch HaShulchan OH 581:4, he writes regarding the selichos we recite before Rosh HaShanah: האחת: דאלו שאינם מתענים, ובהסליחה מוזכר לשון "תענית" או "צום" – לא יאמרו זה, דלא ליהוי כדובר שקרים. ...
Curiouser's user avatar
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Why does Mishneh Torah have Shem uMalchut for Yishtabach?

I was looking into the Seder haTefillot as well as other siddurim based on it, and something always bothered me about Birkat Yishtabach, which as most of you know "closes" the Pesuqei deZimra section ...
B.BarNavi's user avatar
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1 answer
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"Uvesorascha kasuv lemor shema Yisrael..." before Yishtabach

Some siddurim have the following phrase in between "ושמו אחד" and "ישתבח": ובתורתך כתוב לאמר שמע ישראל ה׳ אלקינו ה׳ אחד "And in Your Torah it is written to say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem ...
Joel's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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"Hayom yom X b'shabas" or "bashabas"?

A sidur I used this morning had the introductory line of the shir shel yom as "hayom yom sheni b'shabas". When I checked the two sidurim I trust the most for excatitude in these matters, one had "...
WAF's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Order of words (Oizer U'Moshia) in Shemona Esrei

In Shemona Esrei in the first Bracha it ends with Melech Oizer U'Moshia U'Magen מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן, however towards the end of the Bracha of Modim it says HaKail Yeshuasainu V'Ezrasainu Selah האל ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
842 views

multiple versions for Baruch She'amar

Being that Baruch She'amar fell from the sky (as said in the Baeir Heiteiv Orach Chaim 51:1), how is it that the Rambam (seder tefilos kal hashna) has a different version than what we have in our ...
negul vaser's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
156 views

Why is "Tzidkas'cha" ordered as it is?

Toward the end of mincha on Shabas, nusach S'farad and S'faradim say Psalms 36:7, 71:19, and 119:142, in that order. However, nusach Ashk'naz says the same verses in the reverse order: 119:142, 71:19, ...
msh210's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
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Chabad beginner visiting a Modern Orthodox shul

I have been practicing my observance with a super-friendly Chabad congregation but my area, predominantly secular and Modern Orthodox, has a bunch of MO congregations that I'm very curious to visit, ...
Yosef M's user avatar
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1 answer
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Are there different nusachos for the kinnos?

Follow up to my previous question about Lubavitch kinnos. I often see kinnos books labeled "Ashkenaz," "Sfard," etc. but are there really differences between the kinnos or are these labels referring ...
ezra's user avatar
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Shortened version of birkat hammazon

Anecdotally, I've eaten with people before who have recited birkat hammazon to themselves quietly and who are either record-breaking speed speakers or who are using a shortened version. I suspect the ...
Shimon bM's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
240 views

Why would a siddur choose תתברֵך instead of תתברַך?

My siddur of choice is the סדור תפילת השלם but I am wondering about one bit of vocalization used therein. In the davening of shacharit for both weekdays and shabbat, there is a sentence before shma ...
rosends's user avatar
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Bracha change on Tevilas Keilim

Yoreh Deah 120:3 one who Toivels a vessel should make the Bracha "Al Tevilas Keli". However if one Toivels two or more vessels they should make the Bracha "Al Tevilas Keilim". Aruch HaShulchan Yoreh ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
428 views

Sefira Nuschaos Differences

What are the differences between the various Nuschaos in Sefiras Haomer (e.g. Ashkenaz says this, Sefard says that...)?
yydl's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
291 views

May a shul change its nusach?

I think I had heard or read somewhere in O.C. that a shul must keep its nuscha'ot and minhagim indefinitely. I have, OTOH, seen shul buildings change demographics and sometimes, owners. A shul that I ...
DanF's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
576 views

Song while dressing the Torah

As we dress the Torah in my congregation and many congregations I've been to, we sing (from the siddur's liturgy on putting away the Torah): Mishlei 3:18,3:17 עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ, ...
Charles Koppelman's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
241 views

The father's or mother's name in the "Ribbono Shel Olam" (Yom Tov)

In the "Ribonno Shel Olam" prayer which we say on Yom Tov prior to taking out the Torah, there seems to be a major difference of opinion between certain siddurim (prayer books). Some have the ...
rosends's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
338 views

Why does the Chabad nusach omit "Tzur Yisroel" before Shemoneh Esrei?

In the bracha right before the Amidah during Shacharis, Nusach Ashkenaz and many variations of Nusach Sefard have: שִׁירָה חֲדָשָׁה שִׁבְּחוּ גְאוּלִים לְשִׁמְךָ עַל שפַת הַיָּם. יַחַד כֻּלָּם ...
ezra's user avatar
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