The Book of Seasons

It is also the custom nowadays in our region, on Sabbaths and festivals, when Jews rise from their beds upon awakening from sleep, to attend to the call of nature, wash their hands, recite the blessings “over the washing of the hands” and “who fashioned,”¹ and continue [with the morning prayers] until the passage of the daily offering [see Numbers 28:1–8]. Each individual completes in his house the weekly Torah portion, in keeping with the rest of the community, reading it twice, once with the Aramaic translation [see b. Berakhot 8a]. They then go to the synagogues and recite their complete prayers, in order.

However, this custom is also not a good one, and if someone has the authority to prevent Jews from acting in this manner, and to return them to a better custom, his reward will be preserved for him by the Omnipresent. For this custom involves a prohibition to a certain extent, since when each and every Jew wakes from his sleep, he should attend to his bodily functions, wash, fix himself up, and then rush to the synagogue to pray the Shema‘ and the Amidah with the reddening of the sun [at sunrise]. But when each person lingers at home to review the weekly portion, everything is delayed so much that the proper time for the Shema‘ and the Amidah has passed. Sometimes, the prayers can be deferred by as much as two hours on festivals. Now, it is possible for one who observes this custom to rise very early, at dawn, complete the portion and then come early to prayers, but even so, it is preferable to go to the synagogue early and complete the portion with the congregation.

In contrast with the above, the better practice at the current time—and this is an excellent custom that has been adopted by towns and villages with clever residents—is to go early to the synagogue for songs and Pesuke de-zimra² and take as long as necessary over them so that the Shema‘ can be read at its proper time, and one can also pray the Amidah at the correct hour. Then the prayer leader takes his spot on the platform, recites Kedushah and completes [his repetition of] the Amidah of the morning service and the Priestly Blessing before ending with Kaddish at the line: “He who makes peace in His heights” [i.e., the end of Kaddish]. Next, the entire congregation takes their seats and recites the [Torah] portion of the day, reading it twice, once with the Aramaic translation. Some make a break here with Kaddish, whereas others maintain that it is necessary to study a tannaitic teaching. Alternatively, the Torah is immediately taken out from its place, and they stand before it, read it with the Aramaic translation, and then also read the Haftarah, and subsequently complete the Musaf prayer. R. ‘Amram wrote likewise, and the gaon also writes: the people have the custom to complete their portions after the morning prayer.

R. Matatyah, said: Since they complete their portions in the presence of ten [adult males], one recites, “May He be magnified and sanctified” [i.e., Kaddish]. And even though a Torah scholar would prefer to review his studies on Sabbaths, he should complete his portions together with the congregation. He also states that it is permitted to complete one’s portions when fewer than ten are present, as ten are required only for a declaration of sanctity.³

R. Hay [Hayya Ga’on] added that if there are ten present, and some are busy studying while others are not studying, since this group is not occupied with studying, they may read even Pesuke de-zimra and Kedushah de-sidra [see b. Sotah 49a, that begins:] “A redeemer will come to Zion . . . and as for Me, this is My covenant with them,” and they can respond to Kaddish without a problem. It can be inferred from here that it was their custom to recite Kedushah de-sidra after studying.

We also found the following comments in a responsum of R. Hay, which deals with the lottery [conducted in the Temple, to decide which priests would perform the various services; see m. Yoma 2:2–4]: even with regard to the lottery, there are aspects of it that do not depend on extending fingers.⁴ Rather, once it is established from which individual the count will start, there are verses [of ten words] that can be read in timing so that there is a word for each person. This is what people do nowadays when they gather together as a congregation, and they need to determine whether or not ten are present, so that they can recite the blessings before the Shema‘, or to have a prayer leader, or for the “standing up and sitting down” [i.e., the delivery of eulogies], or for the blessings of mourners or bridegrooms, or to recite the zimun [“invitation” to recite grace] over food with the mention of God’s name. They do not count the people, “one, two, [etc.],” but instead recite a verse, such as: But as for me, in the abundance of Your lovingkindness I will come into Your house (Psalms 5:8). This verse is recited one, twice, or three times over, if necessary. We too can see that this is a fine custom, since when people come together in the synagogue, and they want to start the prayers, they need to know whether ten are present before they can do so. For it is an established rule that it is forbidden to count Jews [directly], even for the purpose of a commandment, as stated in the first chapter of Tractate Yoma [22b]: R. Isaac said that it is prohibited to count Jews even for the purpose of a commandment, as it is written: And he numbered them by means of shards (1 Samuel 11:8).

Therefore, when people in the synagogue are uncertain whether or not they amount to ten, in order to prevent them looking round at each other and start adding up, one of them should begin with va-’ani [“and as for me”], and then the next should say be-rov, the third ḥasdekha, the fourth avo’, the fifth betekha, and so on. When they have completed this verse in order, they will know that there are ten present. We find that it is similarly stated in an aggadah that the counting of ten for a synagogue can be determined through va-’ani be-rov, and twice el,⁵ as this amounts to ten. It is evident that this verse is well-suited for counting the requisite ten men in synagogue. To this day, it remains our custom that whoever arrives in the synagogue recites this verse in a whisper.