Shalom!
I am Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg. I know that for a stranger, coming into a synagogue, seeing the body movements of people can be kind of confusing, so I want to explain a few of them.
First of all, there is a point in the service, in the Emita called the Kaddusha, where we kind of imitate the angels sanctifying God. And one of that movements, you do it standing with your heels together, you do not move that way. One of the things you do when you are saying that, you say the angels (foreign language), you see people go zap to this side and zap to this side. In addition, when they say (foreign language), Holy, Holy, Holy, you will see them on their heels push up on the soles of their feet and move their heels up and then they will go up a little bit higher, and then the second (foreign language) and a little bit higher in the third (foreign language), Holy, Holier, Holiest. In addition, when the first two blessings of the Emita when they bow, they will say (foreign language), they will bow (foreign language), you stand up straight, you will see that a couple times.
Another thing they do, before they even start, is they will walk up two and a half feet then they will walk back two and a half feet. Well, why do they do that? We believe it is because in ancient times when you address the king, you moved up, you had to move back, but you can move back in your pew, unless you move up first, so, you move up two and a half feet and then you move back two and a half feet.
Also, at the very end of every service we have, we have a prayer called the Alenu, and there is a verse that says, (foreign language), that is we bend the knee and we bow. So, when you say (foreign language), you kind of bend the knee, and the (foreign language) you go, you bow your head forward like this, when you are standing up and then in (foreign language), you stand up straight.
Also, when we have the prayer (foreign language)and you get to the last line, (foreign language), you will see people again, take a few steps back and then turn to one side and turn the other side, (foreign language) back a little bit, (foreign language) to one side, they all call you Israel, the other side, (foreign language). So those are some of the motions.
Also, you will see people take little strings, which are part of the Tallit, and when they say the last paragraph of the Shema, I have talked about this on other videos, about the Tallit and the Shema. Every time they say fringes, tzitzit and the last paragraph of the Shema, they will take the fringes wrapped it around their finger and kiss it, tzitzit, tzitzit, tzitzit.
Another movement is, when the Torah is on parade during the Torah service, on Monday and Thursday morning, Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon. When it walks by, people will take their talids, if they are rabbi with a tzitzit and touch the Torah as it goes by and kiss it. There is not idolatry to the Torah, simply venerating the Torah. And if they are not wearing a talid, they will take the sedur and touch the Torah and kiss it like that.
Another Jewish move is when you are going into a room which has a mezuzah, you touch the mezuzah, kiss your finger like that, just to show that you are aware the mezuzah is there and tot try and bring the holiness of that. Now sometimes, you will see, if you go especially to an older orthodox synagogue, people on fervent prayer, they will be chucked, they call it chuckling, and they are moving back and forth. It is actually a meditative trance. People who have done it actually increase their spiritual intentionality, their kavanat and their prayer.
Also in certain orthodox synagogues, you will see, during certain prayers, where people will take the prayer shawl and wrap it all around their head, so it is completely covered by it. The prayer for Tallit is the (foreign language), to be wrapped, and they want to increase their spiritual intentionality. I mentioned on my tape about the Shema that when people are saying Shema Israel, (foreign language), but often cover their eyes like this, again to increase their spiritual intentionality, their kavanah. So they are only thinking about God being one when they do that prayer. The only time you will see Jews ever completely down on the ground, the high holidays when the canthur and the Rabbi will lie down flat in the arc, or halfway in the arc, and that is simply role playing, reminding us of the time when the high priest would enter the holy of holies only at that moment in Yon kipor.
Those are some of the basic movements that you will see, best thing is to kind of watch what people do and copy and you will get a hang of it. Also, as I have explained on my tape about the talise, when people are putting the Tallit on, first thing they will grab hold of it, both edges, with the Atarah, the thing on the top facing them and when they say the (foreign language); they will often bring both sides, kiss it and put it on, like that.
Those are a lot of the notions of Jewish practice, actually Jewish calisthenics between, you get a little exercise, all the sitting and standing and Jewish prayer, the person who has to lift the heavy Torah up, and turn it around, that takes some strength, all the bending and stuff. But any case, those are some of the movements of Jewish prayer worship and you will just see it and get familiar with it, if you are not, no.
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