Askmoses-A Jews Resource
If G-d can't be proven, then why believe in Him and do what He tells us to?
Browse our archives

The Scholar is ready to answer your question. Click the button below to chat now.

Scholar Online:

Type in your question here:

How did the prayers come to include so many biblical passages?

  

Library » Mitzvot » Prayer » About | Subscribe | What is RSS?

PRINT EMAIL COMMENT

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: Welcome. I'll be with you in a moment...what's on your mind?

Sasha: prayer

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: ok

Sasha: More specifically - The Siddur contains many passages from the Tanach including Psalms and other portions. Do you know, in general, how the siddur came to include so many biblical passages?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: It was bound to happen :-) The Siddur is Jewish prayer - since Tanach is a fundemenatl work in Judaism, naturally when the Rabbis compiled Jewish prayer they turned to the Tanach for many verses

Sasha: Why was what the Rabbis did "natural" in including portions from the Tanach? Why didn't they just author prayers, as is also reflected in the siddur?

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: They did author prayers - but it is natural that they would seek inspiration and actual quotes for the Tanach itself since it is so fundemental in Judaism

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: I mean what better place to look for words to praise and beseech G-d then from his own books

Sasha: thanks very much

Rabbi Shlomo Chein: sure

All names, places, and identifying information have been changed or deleted in order to protect the privacy of the questioners. In order to preserve authenticity, the chat sessions have been posted with a minimum of editing. Please excuse typographical errors, missing punctuation, and/or grammatical mistakes which naturally occur in the course of informal chat sessions.

ADD A COMMENT

Please email me when new comments are posted (you must be  logged in).
Tanach
Acronym for Torah, Nevi'm (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Holy Writings). Tanach refers to the 24 books of the Bible: the 5 books of Moses, the 8 books of the Prophets, and the 11 books of Holy Writings.
Psalms
The Book of Psalms. One of the 24 books of the Bible. Compiled by King David; mostly comprised of poetic praise for G-d. A large part of our prayers are culled from this book.
Siddur
Prayer book.
G-d
It is forbidden to erase or deface the name of G-d. It is therefore customary to insert a dash in middle of G-d's name, allowing us to erase or discard the paper it is written on if necessary.