Edot Hamizrach and Ashkenaz

Last Shabbat, I had the pleasure of staying with one of my teachers in the yishuv of Tzur Hadassah. Throughout Shabbat I had the opportunity to daven at a mizrachi synagogue who davened nusach edot hamizrach, and an ashkenazi shul who davened nusach ashkenaz. I just wanted to share a couple of observations that I think can be applied to tfillah in general.

First, the general layout is similar, which should not come as a surprise. After davening, I was speaking with one gentleman from the mizrachi synagogue (in Hebrew). He told me that he had been watching my friends and me struggle through the siddur. I explained to him that we were just looking for the correct page. Although I did concede that not being familiar with the siddur itself was a bit of a challenge when the kahal shifted from one section of the davening to another.

Second, despite the lack of familiarity with that particular siddur and nusach, I found it relatively easy to participate. There was a general flow to the davening that I take for granted when I am using nusach ashkenaz. Furthermore, as I mentioned above, since I have a general familiarity with the t'fillah structure, it was less complicated to navigate my way.

The lesson here, I believe, is to strive for a general outline of t'fillah because it opens up our ability to daven in other communities and serves to enhance our understanding of the project of prayer. Finally, really knowing your siddur is key. I like to feel at home in my siddur, although not at the expense of being able to uses others.

Timed

Some contemporary halakhic debates about prayer are often couched in language of obligation and time-caused mitzvot. Usually we see such language when discussing the role of women inside the halakhic framework. Wrapped into the discussion of time are "halakhic hours" by which we measure the day, which becomes especially critical when discussion t'fillah. Another language of time exists however, that of sacred time. As we get set to embark on the holiday of Pesach, we will encounter "zmanim" as an important theme of our t'fillah.

In kiddush for the festivals we are sanctifying time. In reciting kiddush we are setting apart time from time. While this is also the case on Shabbat, the words zmanim or moed are not found in the Shabbat kiddush. Furthermore, we identify the festivals as a specific time.
Pesach- Zman cheruteinu (time of our freedom)
Shavuot- Zman matan Torateinu (time of the giving of our Torah)
Succot- Zman simchateinu (time of our happiness)
In other areas of t'fillah we include appropriate seasonal additions, further marking the change of seasons in our prayer, and also in our lives.

Davening when seen through the eyes of zmanim, can help us serve the purpose of marking stages in our year and our lives. It should not be just a halakhic language that gets bandied about. So as you make kiddush and say t'fillot on the upcoming holiday, take a moment to think about what it means to mark time in our davening.