How do the Jews Pray?

Abraham is the founder of monotheistic religions including the Jewish religion. It was Abraham through whom God delivered all the practices including the prayer. God told Moses and Aaron, his brother, to follow the Religion of Abraham and observed their Prayers the same as Abraham, maintain their homes in Egypt for the time being, and turn their homes into synagogues. 

The prayers as practiced by the original Jewish are practiced now only among some minorities for example in France and Middle East. This original form of Jewish prayer involves standing in front of God, bowing and falling prostrate. Like all the rituals, these practices were passed down to Children of Israel from Abraham. However, the Contact Prayer was lost over.

Losing the prayer involved changing it in every aspect. The Prayer as practiced today by most of the Jews is different from what was practiced by Moses. Very few Jews kept the inherited practice of the Contact Prayers given to Abraham, the grandfather of Jacob and the ancestor of Moses.

In a book entitled “To Pray As A Jew” by Hayim Donin (1980), one can find a lengthy explanation of the Prayers as done by the ancient Jews and a few of the contemporary Jews. In this book the author includes diagrams showing the movement and positions during the prayer. A look at these diagrams is enough for the people to realize the original prayers of the Jews.

In his comments about these positions the author wrote: “In most contemporary congregations very few people keep to the tradition of falling prostrate. Sometimes it is only the Prayer Leader and the rabbi who does so. In more traditional congregations, however, some worshipers, men and women, will join the Prayer Leader and rabbi in the act of prostrating themselves. In Israeli synagogues, the practice is more widespread than in synagogues elsewhere. Since this is a position that we are unaccustomed to, one who has never done this before might very well demur. But once accomplished, the experience provides such a spiritual uplift that one looks forward to repeating it. Those willing to try this ancient ritual form on the rare occasions that call for it might welcome the following diagrams of the correct procedure.”

It is also interesting to learn from this book that the prayers of the Jews involve washing before the prayers, and the call for Prayers.

Reference:

Donin, Hayim, 1980, To Pray As A Jew: A Guide To The Prayer Book And The Synagogue Service, Basic Books, New York, 384 pp.