The Italian Nusach [a] [b] is the ancient prayer rite ( nusach ) of the long-standing Italian Jewish (Italkim) community on the Italian Peninsula, used by Jews who are not of Ashkenazi or Sephardic origin.
The Italian Nusach [a] [b] is the ancient prayer rite ( nusach ) of the long-standing Italian Jewish (Italkim) community on the Italian Peninsula, used by Jews who are not of Ashkenazi or Sephardic origin.
The Italian nusach has been considered an offspring of the ancient Land of Israel minhag and it has similarities with the nusach of the Romaniote Jews of Greece and the Balkans. However, the documents discovered in Cairo Geniza reveal that the influence of Minhag Eretz Israel on Benè Romì is less extensive than believed. [1]
Italian Jews have their own unique prayer rite that is neither Sephardic nusach, Nusach Ashkenaz, nor Nusach Sefard, and to a certain extent is not subject to Kabbalistic influence. In Italy, there were also communities of Spanish origin who prayed in the Sephardic rite and communities of German origin who prayed in the Western Ashkenazic rite, which were mainly in northern Italy. The Italian rite, therefore, is not the rite of all Jews in Italy, but the rite of the veteran Italian Jews, called "Loazim".
Despite being a dominant prayer rite among Italian Jews, the Italian rite rarely spread beyond its borders, unlike other prayer rites such as the Sephardic rite, which Spanish exiles brought to many places, or the Ashkenazic rite, which also reached new regions starting from the 19th century. The Italian rite hardly left the borders of Italy, except for a few cases where it reached other communities in the Middle East. For example, in the cities of Constantinople and Thessaloniki, several Italian synagogues operated until World War II, as well as in the city of Safed in the 16th and 17th centuries. [2] Today, communities using the Italian rite are active in Jerusalem and Netanya, the main one being in the main Italian synagogue on Hillel Steet in downtown Jerusalem. These synagogues in Jerusalem and Netanya are the only Italian rite synagogues in the world outside of Italy.
Due to waves of immigration of Jews from Libya to Italy, after the establishment of the State of Israel until the end of the 1960s, the Sephardic rite became the dominant rite in southern and central Italy.
Jewish prayer is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the Siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book.
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root ס־ד־ר, meaning 'order.'
Selichot are Jewish penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on fast days. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are a central theme throughout these prayers.
Shacharit, or Shacharis in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning tefillah (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers.
Mincha is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism.
Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers.
In Judaism, Nusach is the exact text of a prayer service; sometimes the English word "rite" is used to refer to the same thing. Nusakh means "formulate" or "wording".
Italian Jews or Roman Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the Italian liturgy as distinct from those Jewish communities in Italy dating from medieval or modern times who use the Sephardic liturgy or the Nusach Ashkenaz.
Mussaf is an additional service that is recited on Shabbat, Yom Tov, Chol Hamoed, and Rosh Chodesh. The service, which is traditionally combined with the Shacharit in synagogues, is considered to be additional to the regular services of Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv. In contemporary Hebrew, the word may also signify a newspaper supplement.
Tachanun or Taḥanun, also called nefilat apayim, is part of Judaism's morning (Shacharit) and afternoon (Mincha) services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services. It is also recited at the end of the Selichot service. It is omitted on Shabbat, Jewish holidays and several other occasions. Most traditions recite a longer prayer on Mondays and Thursdays.
Geshem (גשם) is a Hebrew word for "rain," and is the name of a prayer for rain recited on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret.
Musta'arabi Jews were the Arabic-speaking Jews, largely Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews, who lived in the Middle East and North Africa prior to the arrival and integration of Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews of the Iberian Peninsula, following their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Following their expulsion, Sephardi Jewish exiles moved into the Middle East and North Africa, and settled among the Musta'arabi.
Pesukei dezimra, or zemirot as they are called in the Spanish and Portuguese tradition, are a group of prayers that may be recited during Shacharit. They consist of various blessings, psalms, and sequences of other Biblical verses. Historically, reciting pesukei dezimra in morning prayer was a practice of only the especially pious. Over the course of Jewish history, their recitation has become widespread custom among all of the various rites of Jewish prayer.
Nusach Ashkenaz is a style of Jewish liturgy conducted by Ashkenazi Jews. It is primarily a way to order and include prayers, and differs from Nusach Sefard and Baladi-rite prayer, and still more from the Sephardic rite proper, in the placement and presence of certain prayers.
Baruch HaShem Le'Olam is a compilation of 18 verses from Tanach that is recited by some Jewish communities during weekday Maariv between Shema and Amidah. Its name is from the first 3 words of the first verse.
Maariv or Maʿariv, also known as Arvit, or Arbit, is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening Shema and Amidah.
The Eretz Israel minhag, as opposed to the Babylonian minhag, refers to the minhag of medieval Palestinian Jews concerning the siddur.
Minhag Morocco refers to the religious customs adopted by Moroccan Jewry, from the Hebrew "Minhag", or custom. Although in the Middle Ages, there was a unique Nusach Morocco, unrelated to Sephardic liturgy, this original minhag has not been practiced since shortly after the Expulsion of Jews from Spain, and it is not well documented. Since this time, the Moroccan rite has been a subset of the Sephardic rite, but with certain customs of its own. Many sources contributed to and influenced the development of Moroccan religious customs, including the Shulchan Aruch, the Livorno minhag, the Ashkenazic minhag and even the presence of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Morocco. Minhag Morocco can be considered a sub-class within the Sephardic minhag but has many differences and unique traits. A related concept that falls under Minhag Morocco is the Moroccan Nusach, which more specifically refers to the variations in the prayer service.
The Seven-Faceted Blessing, also known as Magen Avot, is a blessing recited in the Jewish liturgy of Friday evenings. It is similar to the out-loud repetition of the Amidah, which is recited in each daytime prayer. On typical evenings, the Amidah is recited only silently, with no out-loud repetition, but on Friday nights, in honor of the Sabbath, the Seven-Faceted Blessing is recited as an abbreviated repetition.
Jews of Catalonia is the Jewish community that lived in the Iberian Peninsula, in the Lands of Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca until the expulsion of 1492. Its splendor was between the 12th to 14th centuries, in which two important Torah centers flourished in Barcelona and Girona. The Catalan Jewish community developed unique characteristics, which included customs, a prayer rite, and a tradition of its own in issuing legal decisions (Halakhah). Although the Jews of Catalonia had a ritual of prayer and different traditions from those of Sepharad, today they are usually included in the Sephardic Jewish community.