The Book of Compendium of Prayers and Praises

Preface

The author [Se‘adya] begins by saying: Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, [who is] beyond all description and praise. Now, behold, since the prayers of the children of Israel and their praises to God, exalted be His name, were not committed to writing in scripture, as is the case with many of the religious laws and precepts which are unelucidated [by scripture], we rely for this matter [i.e., the religious precept of prayer] on the tradition of the prophets. And even sources in scripture that appear to be prayer in fact cannot be [so interpreted], as scripture conjoins them with [categories of] precept, prohibition, promise [of reward], and admonition, in every place. One cannot conceive of the inclusion of any word from these sources in prayer, in accordance with that which we have explained in the book Proof of Prayer [i.e., the introduction to the Siddur]. But one must rely for the two of them, that is, prayer and praise, on that which the [Jewish] people have preserved and transmitted from the tradition of the prophets of the Lord.

Now there are two orders [of prayer]. One belongs to the time of the polity, and the other to the period of the exile. And there is a need [now] to compile the prayers and praises of the current era, that is, the exile, and verify them, particularly due to three matters that have affected them: neglect, accretion, and deletion. For I fear lest the people forget, and lest the changes become permanent. And I saw it was of great importance to enter the breach [opened by] these three matters, which have motivated and called me to supervise their correction. This is because there are, in the traditions of our people regarding prayer, things that have been neglected in practice until they have been forgotten and completely erased except [to the knowledge of] the few. And there are things that have been added to them or deleted from them to such an extent as to change and corrupt the purpose for which they were originally written. And there are [also] things that have been added to them or deleted from them that do not alter the purposes for which they were written.

Therefore, I saw fit to compile in this book the original prayers, praises, and blessings according to their first form, including what appears from [both] before and after the exile. I will make them an established order [of prayer]. I will add to them what occurs to me as accretions or deletions in accordance with what I accept from the experts of villages, cities, regions, and countries. But I shall prohibit [the inclusion of] anything that corrupts the intended meanings. And for that which does not corrupt them, I have noted that there is no source for it in the tradition.

And I shall add to this the manner of performing the obligatory [ritual] observances during each season of the year, after having described the performance of the annually ordained [ritual] observances. And I shall further establish these divisions: that which is standard for each day versus that which is special for different periods of the year. And I will add the supplementary prayers, comprised of beautiful petitions and perfect praises, which the worshiper may offer daily in order to draw near to his God and His glory. But I have not made these obligatory as is the case with the written order.

I do not obligate myself to establish, concerning anything I include on this subject, a verifiable proof of its prescriptive nature from scripture. Nor shall I provide proofs concerning its elucidation from the [authoritative] guardians of the tradition, that is, the Mishnah and the Talmud. Rather, I bring only an unrestricted and free opinion because I have not put forth this work as a proof, but [only] for learning and [intellectual] acquisition. And moreover, because I have included most of the existing proofs concerning these matters in the other book I wrote, the long Tafsīr on the Torah [his Arabic translation of and commentary on the Bible], and others. And one who wants something from it may seek it there. But here there are mere opinions only. And my help is from God, for all my needs, and for the needs of those who seek Him; and I pray He shows me the way of the good.