In The Liturgy
The second blessing before the Shema speaks of how God “loves His people Israel,” reflecting the statement of Exodus 19:5 that Israel is God’s people.
The fire surrounding God’s Presence in Exodus 19:16–28 is reflected in Psalm 97:3, which is in turn one of the six Psalms recited at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service.
Reuven Hammer noted that Mishnah Tamid 5:1 recorded what was in effect the first siddur, as a part of which priests daily recited the Ten Commandments.
The Lekhah Dodi liturgical poem of the Kabbalat Shabbat service quotes both the commandment of Exodus 20:7 (Exodus 20:8 in the NJPS) to “remember” the Sabbath and the commandment of Deuteronomy 5:11 (Deuteronomy 5:12 in the NJPS) to “keep” or “observe” the Sabbath, saying that they “were uttered as one by our Creator.”
And following the Kabbalat Shabbat service and prior to the Friday evening (Ma'ariv) service, Jews traditionally read rabbinic sources on the observance of the Sabbath, including Genesis Rabbah 11:9. Genesis Rabbah 11:9, in turn, interpreted the commandment of Exodus 20:7 (Exodus 20:8 in the NJPS) to “remember” the Sabbath.
The Kiddusha Rabba blessing for the Sabbath day meal quotes Exodus 20:7–10 (Exodus 20:8–11 in the NJPS) immediately before the blessing on wine.
Among the zemirot or songs of praise for the Sabbath day meal, the song Baruch Kel Elyon, written by Rabbi Baruch ben Samuel, quotes Exodus 20:7 (Exodus 20:8 in the NJPS) and in concluding paraphrases Exodus 20:9 (Exodus 20:10 in the NJPS), saying “In all your dwellings, do not do work — your sons and daughters, the servant and the maidservant.”
Similarly, among the zemirot for the Sabbath day meal, the song Yom Zeh Mechubad paraphrases Exodus 20:8–10 (Exodus 20:9–11 in the NJPS), saying, “This day is honored from among all days, for on it rested the One Who fashioned the universe. Six days you may do your work, but the Seventh Day belongs to your God. The Sabbath: Do not do on it any work, for everything God completed in six days.”
Many Jews study successive chapters of Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers) on Sabbaths between Passover and Rosh Hashanah. And Avot 3:6 quotes Exodus 20:20 (20:21 in the NJPS) for the proposition that even when only a single person sits occupied with Torah, the Shekhinah is with the student.
Read more about this topic: Yitro (parsha)
Famous quotes containing the word liturgy:
“You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion.... Dogs do not ritually urinate in the hope of persuading heaven to do the same and send down rain. Asses do not bray a liturgy to cloudless skies. Nor do cats attempt, by abstinence from cat’s meat, to wheedle the feline spirits into benevolence. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, quite intelligent enough.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)