TheAvodah (Hebrew:עֲבוֹדָה,lit. 'service') is a poetic description of theYom Kippur Temple service. It is recited as part of theMussaf service ofYom Kippur, and is often considered one of the most solemn and impressive portions of the Yom Kippur prayer service. Different poems (all sharing the same structure) are recited in different communities, for exampleAmitz Koach among mostAshkenazi Jews andAtah Konanta among mostSephardic Jews.
TheAvodah usually begins with a prayer for the synagogue reader, followed by a selective review of the Biblical history fromAdam down toAaron. A number of reasons have been suggested for the addition of this historical introduction:[1]
OneAvodah text composed byMoses ibn Ezra is notable for beginning with the giving of the Torah, rather than with creation.
Then the wholeYom Kippur Temple service is described in detail: the preparation of the High Priest during seven days preceding the festival, the appointment of a substitute to meet the emergency of the High Priest's becoming disqualified, the preparation of the holy vessels, the offering of the regular morningsacrifice, the baths and ablutions of the High Priest, his different changes of garments, and thescapegoat ritual.
During the recitation of the Avodah, Jews "imagine themselves in place of the priests when the Temple stood".[3] As such, the custom is for worshippers to bow down on the ground at specific points in the recitation, and to recite the confessions along with the prayer leader. Some individuals have other customs, such as hand gestures to mime the sprinkling of blood (one sprinkling upwards and seven downwards per set of eight).[4]
The prayer of the High Priest after the completion of the service is then recited. Next is theMareh Kohen poem, a glowing description of the splendor of the High Priest upon finishing his Temple service. This poem strongly resembles the description of the High Priest in theBook of Sirach (Sirach 50), and apparently was influenced by that passage.
Then follows the declaration "Happy is the eye which saw all this. When the ear hears it, is our soul not aggrieved?" A series of prayers lamenting the destruction of the Temple, the exile, and the distancing from God are then recited. The service closes with ardent prayers forthe re-establishment of the Temple service.
The recitation on Yom Kippur of a detailed description of the Temple service is already mentioned in theTalmud.[5] Modern scholars suggest that it may date earlier: according to some, such a recitation was already customary in theSecond Temple period;[6] others suggest that the custom of synagogue recitation evolved later, but that it is based on the High Priest's recitation of Leviticus 16 in the Temple.[7]
In the time of the Talmud, the recitation was probably based on the text ofMishnah tractateYoma.[8][9] One example of such a text isShivat yamim, the oldest surviving Avodah text, which follows the Mishnah text while occasionally adding material from theTosefta andSifra.[8] Nevertheless, from an early period the poets of theLand of Israel began to compose more original texts, in which most of the service is described in original poetic language rather than the Mishnah's language, and the entire passage is prefaced with an introduction recounting biblical history from creation, to the choice of Levi, to the choice of the High Priest to perform the service. The first such text, and the model for all later ones, wasAtah Konanta, which is recited to this day among Sephardic and other congregations.[8]
By thegaonic period the recitation was considered obligatory, and since then it has remained a part of the standard prayer service.[8] In many communities it was recited not only in Mussaf, but also in theShacharit andMincha prayers, and in a few even inMaariv.[10] In some communities, this practice lasted until the 14th century,[11] but nowadays the recitation is only performed during Mussaf. InYemenite Jewish custom, it is recited after Mussaf, as reciting it during Mussaf was considered an unacceptable interruption to the standard prayer text.[12]
Among the northern Jews it was the function of theḥazan not merely to lead the liturgical song of the congregation, but rather, by his singing, to interpret and elucidate the liturgy to the congregation. Even in medieval times the cantors were inspired by a subconscious sentiment of this kind, to voice in theAvodah all of Israel's longing for rest and liberty; and at times they would approach to the expression of sublimest emotion. Whenever the contrast between the servitude they knew and the glory they read of was more than usually keen, a particular intensity was lent to the Atonement liturgy; and there developed, probably before the modern period, a rhapsody replete with inarticulate vocalization. These main lines remained distinct under the growth of improvised cadences.
In theGerman andPolish rituals the verses ofMeshullam ben Kalonymus are divided off into sections of irregular length at the six points where a quotation from the Scripture or the Talmud occurs. The quotationsוכן היה אומר ("Thus did he say")—containing theconfession of sin, first of the High Priest personally, then of theAaronites, then of all Israel—andוכן היה מונה ("Thus did he count")—where Aaron counts the sprinklings on the altar—are chanted responsively, each phrase by cantor and congregation in rotation. Compositions of the modern masters have largely taken the place of the old plain-song chant, itself mainly a rising modulation and then a falling tone.
But the Talmudic passage commencingוהכהנים ("Now the priests"), which occurs after each confession, and describes the scene when theTetragrammaton was pronounced, reverses this order. It is first uttered by the congregation (usually led by some individual), whoprostrate themselves when reciting the words describing that action. Then comes the turn of theḥazan, who intones the passage. In this transcription the opportunity is afforded by the repetition of the melody to present both the chief forms of ornamental development, the first being rather German, the other rather Polish, in tradition. The cantor commences calmly to intone the words of the Mishnah in the major mode, but when describing the mystic solemnity of the scene in the Temple court, he breaks away into the strenuousness of theOriental chromatic scale at the thought of theDivine Presence. He attempts a return to the calmness of the original key, but the thoughts conjured up by the words again overwhelm his intention, and drive him on to an ecstatic climax.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Landsberg, Max (1901)."'Abodah of the Day of Atonement". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 75–76. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Cohen, Francis L. (1901)."'Abodah, Music of". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 76–79.Authority control databases: National |
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