A Milestone in Jewish Life

In Jewish life, prayer is daily, actually thrice daily. For those who follow Torah Law prayer isn't just when visiting a synagogue, following the instructions of the rabbi, listening and sometimes singing along with the cantor.  Prayer isn't a performance to be observed.  It's participatory.  The traditional text is set, written in a Siddur, prayerbook.

Like the Jewish Calender which combines, synthesizes the lunar and solar calendars, our prayer is preferably said with the community, but simultaneously individually.  To create a loyalty and familiarity with the prayers, it's best to have one's own siddur.

The custom in Israel, at least in the religious schools is to have a large moving ceremony to celebrate receiving a Siddur at the end of the First Grade.




This week I was in Ofra to attend the "Missibat Siddur" of the girls elementary school.  Most of the program was by the students themselves who were extremely excited to have their own siddur and to join the older students at prayers every morning.

The audience was full of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and other family members.

I guess it's a combination of my own personality and the fact that I'm not only an immigrant, but I'm not from a religious family, but I sometimes observe these things as if I'm doing a sociological study.  I didn't fully comprehend the significance of it when I was a young mother and my children got their siddurim.  Maybe that's because I was thrown off-balance when I was thrust with some fabric and told to embroider a cover for the siddur.  I just wasn't properly psyched up for it.   Thank G-d, a generation later, I can just enjoy these things and fully appreciate the importance and religious significance.