Where the hell are we is all I can think about during kedusha for musaf. I know it by heart, but once we get to the end I am lost. This year I just laughed about it, seems that I’m not the only one that is lost, seems like everyone can feel my pain.
Seems that after all the main stuff right around Yimloch in musaf kedusha is where it gets hairy. You see, some people do Ubedivrei, and some people do Ader Adireinu, and no one really knows what’s supposed to happen. Even if you know what to do, it seems that I am not alone when I say that no one knows when you could sit down, is it after Yimloch or Ader Adireinu, or do you wait until the dude up front starts the new bracha.
Then I started thinking about all the other complicated parts of davening when the question, where the hell are we, pops into my head. The number one most confusing part of davening is Hoshanos. Don’t even get me started on hoshana rabba, that is hell for the slow davener – but lets get back to hoshanos. After the main section does anyone really know where we are? I always just pick something and say it until the leader of the pack starts up his chanting again.
How about the first response answering section during Hallel? All those Hodu’s and Yomar Nuhs, I could never figure out what exactly your supposed to answer. I hear lots of people just answering Hodu to each of the stanzas, but then sometimes I hear the person saying the actual stanza. Then on succos when you try to match up your lulav shakes with all the Hodus and other responsive stuff it just drives me nuts because a lot of the time the words don’t match to the shakes – so you run out of words but you have more shakes, or you run out of shakes and have more words, or you have to stretch the words to encompass more shakes and that never feels right.
Avinu Malkeinu is another confusing part of davening for me, why cant Artscroll just tell you where the silent one’s end and the Chazzan kicks in, how the hell am I supposed to know where to stop and let the chazzan bust in? Usually I am rushing to finish up so I can join the chazzan and all of the sudden he shuts it off and we are back in silent mode.
Slichos may rival hoshanos as the most confusing part of davening, if you have one of those skip to your own ending slichos pamphlets that you have to keep going back to Vayavar Al Panav then its even worse. I was always told that all those things you say multiple times were the core of slichos, so once I would get in my groove with all the regular stuff I would find myself being shuffled along and trying to figure out if it was more important to skip around or stay where I was.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
This was designed by the intelligentsia to keep the elite superior, no? Artscroll was supposed to even out the playing field. They did a fair job.
How about the MO making page announcements and ‘Don’t forget to insert Yaaleh vyyovoh…’ Like those kavannah flow breakers better? Oh yeah, you prefer a whack on the shtender.
Waiting for the C/O coreligionists to hold forth on why they do not have this issue.
Another confusing piece, just occurred: Yom tov musaf korbonos du jour…especially sukkos. Don’t forget one for Shabbos!
Hesh
I sympathize with your dillema. I use an artscroll and follow step by step.Sometimes it gets tricky because the shuls minhag is different trom artscroll.Also it’s very important to use the same siddur- nusach as the shul’s.I lot of shul’s stick decoy siddurim on the shelf for the hardcores who want to stick to their nusach no matter what.However I am usually able to tell what nusach the shul davens based on the overwhelming majority of sidurim’s nusach
Avinu Malkeinu=join Lubavitch. The chazzan says none of them out loud!
What’s kedusha?
TRS – thats not a good reason to join the cult
You’re absolutely right! When it comes to the end of kedusha by “uvidivrei” and “ani hashem elokeichem”, I get so confused because it seems like everyone is saying something else, and even chazzunim seem to differ on what they say and when.
Selichos for fast days wins hands down, especially when it falls on a Monday or Thursday when you don’t say tachnun for something like a bris or chassan in shul. For some reason, the Tehillas Hashem siddur doesn’t mention anything.
In Lubavitch, you have “selichos hockers” with their books marked off with what they did in 770 when the Rebbe was around.
Heshy, you said it right – Chabad is a cult! (Although the part that they don’t say Avenu Malkeinu out loud is actually quite a widespread custom in Israel.) Rabbi Belsky was quoted saying the same thing in the Mishpacha magazine for which the Lubabs retaliated by banned the mag in Crown Heights.
after 26 years you havent realized that by avinu malkenu the chazzan ALWAYS chants starting from “hachzirenu betshuva?” Cmon.
And kedusha you wait for the chazzan, if he says adir adirenu then you say it too. If not, its over..
As for the rest, just don’t say selichos or hoshanos. There’s no point going every year and not knowing what to do and then writing about it. We all have the same problem. its ok
I love how the lubavitch guy / gal says “join”.
Join?
great choice for a pic!
lol Aaron, lately i’ve learnt to laugh at ppl like you…it would be too sad if I would get het up every time…..seriously it’s like ppl forget that a Jew is a Jew is a Jew….
P.s. Wanna know a Chabad tip?
If you want to be higher than someone else, (prove that you’re worthy). You don’t need to push him down, you just need raise yourself up ………………………………….getting me?
I get you, Lubi girl. I follow that advice with my girlfriend…;)
Lubi Girl:
I didn’t say it first, the blog author was the one who said it. I just happen to agree with him. If you would take a hard look at your self, you would realize it too. I don’t have a problem with that – its just putting down the facts the way they are.
Aaron, the difference is Heshy doesn’t mean in it in the same way that you do, and we all know that…Hey don’t pass the buck now by saying you’re only ‘agreeing with him’, it doesn’t show you off very well, it implies that you don’t have confidence in your own opinions.
P.s. I’ve taken a good hard look….
In life, there are always certain factors that push you to believe a certain way, that’s life, we get influenced by our suroundings, and within those influences we choose our own way – doesn’t really fit the bill of a cult does it?
Huh? I can’t believe that a bunch of mostly FFBs are having a harder time at this than a BT. Of course, if you’re using an Artscroll, there’s half of your problem (the other half is WHY you are using the Artscroll). For many decades, Tehillas HaShem has had fairly good unpointed notes, and even better ones in the H-E version. The new shaliach siddur is mostly even better. And the Lubavitcher Sefer Minhagim has been around in English for quite a while.
Of course, that covers only one view of one nusach, but, still . . . .
Of course, all the ladies have to do is marry a Lubavitcher and buy a couple of books.
Neeedless to say, you are not hearing all of this from a Lubavitcher Chosid; rather, it is the wise-mouthed secular tradition of a BT speaking.
Good Shabbos!