The evidence that there have been variations in the format of prayers is very old. At the beginning, in the time of the Mishnah, the text of the prayers was not particularly taken care of. No written version of the prayers is known from that time. Everyone had to know them by heart and this inevitably led to variations in the structure and content of the prayers.

The existence of different versions of the prayers is comparable to the existence of variations in halachic practices. The rabbis said that everyone had to follow the custom of their parents or of the place where they lived. The differences were accepted as long as they did not violate the provisions of Halacha and were given the status of religious “custom.” Rabbi Isaac Luria said that this is why there were twelve different gates to enter Jerusalem, one for each rite.

The changes occurred due to the continuous expulsions and migrations of Jewish communities that dispersed in different directions and took their rite to other communities, sometimes maintaining it, other times adopting the one from the new place and other times creating a new one. Today there are basically 5 different rites (Nusakh) in use: The Ashkenazi Nusaj, the Hasidic Nusaj, the Sephardic Nusaj, the Yemenite Nusaj and the Italian Nusaj. The last two are used only locally.

The Ashkenazi Nusaj is based on the rite established by Rav Amram Gaon, following the customs of Eretz Israel. It seems that a group of Jews left Israel for Italy, from there to France, especially to the Franco-German border and from there to the countries of Eastern Europe. The Ashkenazi rite began in France in the 12th century, when that country was the main center of Judaism in Western Europe. It was consolidated in a more definitive version in Germany, at the time of the Tosafot, the sages who followed Rashi, the great commentator of the Tanakh and the Talmud.

The Hasidic Nusaj, practiced by the students and followers of the Baal Shem Tov, is based on the Ashkenazi Nusaj, but with important changes in the order of the service and with additions and deletions influenced by the Kabbalah of Rabbi Luria. It is distinguished by duplicating many of the prayers, a result of not eliminating texts that were repeated in Rabbi Luria’s changes.

The Eastern or Sephardic Nusaj is derived from that used by the Jews in Spain before their expulsion. Babylon was the origin of the Jews who came to the peninsula through North Africa. The «Golden Age» of Spanish Judaism produced religious poetry of the highest intellectual and literary quality. After the expulsion from Spain, Spanish Jews settled in the Ottoman Empire where they brought their rituals. The increasing influence of Kabbalah in later generations helped spread this Nusach to countries such as Iraq and Persia.

This diversity in rituals enriches the experience of praying. In this respect, too, Judaism is plural. So it is good that they pray differently.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: “A Guide To Jewish Prayer” by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.