The Nussah of the Gaon of Vilna
In the short foreword to Siddur Ezor Eliyahu we read:
“The legacy of Rabbenu Eliyahu did not include a printed Siddur. Most of his teachings have been transmitted to us verbally and through the written records of his sons and disciples. Likewise, the prayer books which carry the name of the Gaon of Vilna were edited by others.
“The editor strove to establish the Nussah (of the Gaon’s prayer book) on the basis of what had already been published in the Gaon’s name since his death. These include his Beurim on the Shulhan Arukh and his decisions, the Sefer Ma’asseh Rav, other collections and the customs of the disciples of the Gaon, who renewed the Yishuv in the Land of Israel. Oral traditions were also a great help in this effort.
“However, even after the editors clarified the Gaon’s Nussah of blessings and prayers as best as they could, they didn’t make many changes in the Nussah of the Siddur. In many places, they left intact the accepted Ashkenazi Nussah, presenting the Gaon’s views and observations in notes and glosses. For this reason, the Nussah of the Gaon which emerges from these Siddurim is not fully clarified. At times the Nussahim in these Siddurim differ from each other in several details.
“Ezor Eliyahu is therefore the first Siddur of prayers and blessings which has been specifically prepared to represent the Nussah of the Gaon. It has been edited on the basis of the Gaon’s decisions and on views which Gedolei Yisrael have attributed to him. The Gaon’s views on blessings, prayers, customs and Torah reading are quoted as the established Nussah in the main texts of Ezar Eliyahu and not presented as footnotes or as one of many variant readings. Therefore one can regard the text of Ezor Eliyahu as the closest to that which may be called the Nussah of the Gaon.”
The editor of Siddur Ezor Eliyahu was Rabbi Yehoshua Kohen of Jerusalem. He was a descendant of the disciples of the Gaon of Vilna who settled in the Holy Land. In his youth he studied at the Hevron Yeshiva, where he was one of the outstanding students. He later served as teacher in Jerusalem. For many years, he gave Shiurim in the Vilna Gaon Shul in Shaarei Hesed, Jerusalem.
He had long planned to publish a Siddur with the Nussah of the Gaon of Vilna. He discussed his plan with leading rabbis who encouraged and assisted him in establishing the Nussah of the Gaon. He also chose the name for the projected Siddur, Ezor Eliyahu stands for Izen Vehiker Rabbi Eliyahu– Rabbi Eliyahu probed and searched into the Nussah. Only in his old age did he begin to devote himself to the realization of his project. He was assisted by R. Yeshaya Vinograd, the well known bibliographer and collector of books and manuscripts of the Gaon of Vilna. Rabbi Yehoshua Kohen did not live to see the completion of the Siddur. He died on Erev Pesach of the year 5756. His place was taken by Rabbi David Kohen (not related to him) the head of a Torah Kollel in Jerusalem, who added notes and source reference to the text.
The Siddur carries an approbation by Rabbi Sheraya Dablitzky of Bnei Brak, who himself had written about the Gaon’s Nussah of Blessings and prayers, an essay by Rabbi Shlomo Brevda of Brooklyn, N.Y. who has widely lectured about the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna, and an introduction by Rabbi D. Kohen. In his extensive introduction, R. David Kohen mentions, inter alia, the books and treatises in which are described the customs of the Gaon of Vilna and discusses the prayer books that influenced the Nussah Ashkenaz.
Rabbi D. Kohen writes that most of the Gaon’s changes of the Nussah represent a return to the old Ashkenazi Nussah which had undergone changes over the generations. The Gaon was in possession of old Ashkenazi Siddurim and greatly valued their version. In order to reconstruct the Gaon’s Nussah, R. Kohen consulted more than 50 Ashkenazi Siddurim printed between the years 1516 and 1800. He was greatly helped by the Siddur of Rabbi Shabtai Sofer, who was a student of Rabbi Mordecai Jaffe (author of the Levush) and had been asked by the Council of the Four Lands to correct the prayerbooks which had accumulated errors. He was also much helped by the Siddur of R. Ezriel and R. Eliyahu of Vilna.
In our next article we will cite some of the differences between the Nussah of the Gaon and the accepted Ashkenazi Nussah, and between the Gaon’s prayer customs and the general practices of the Ashkenazim.
(To be continued)
The Jewish Press, Friday, December 11, 1998
(Conclusion)
Following are some interesting differences between the Nussah of the Gaon of Vilna and the current Ashkenazi Nussah, and between the prayer customs of the Gaon and present Ashkenazi practices.
The changes are documented in Ezor Eliyahu.
Throughout the Siddur Ezor Eliyahu, the word Rabbi is written Ribbi. The reading Ribbi has a long tradition in Hebrew literature. Rabbi Simon ben Zemach Duran (14th-15th century) remarks on his commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers., Magen Avot, that in olden times the reading had been “Ribbi”. The grammarian and student of the Masorah, Elijah Levita (15th-16th century) in his dictionary Tishbi, states that the reading “Ribbi” is the correct one. This reading is still in vogue in various non-Ashkenazi communities. Ribbi instead of Rabbi, also appears in Ashkenazi Siddurim and Haggadoth until about the 19th century. Ribbi was first changed to Rabbi by Isaac Satanov in his Siddur, which was printed in Berlin in 1785. Satanov was followed by Wolf Heidenhim and others.
In the footnotes to Ezor Eliyahu we find citations of several places in the Talmud where BeRibbi (not just BeRabbi)–with a yud between the Reish and the Beth appears. This spelling indicates that what we pronounce Rabbi was once read “Ribbi.”
According to the old Nussah Ashkenaz, no Kaddish DeRabbanan was said after “Rabbi Yishma’el Omer.” This was also the view of the Gaon (the reciting of Kaddish DeRabbanan after “Rabbi Yishmae’l Omer” was introduced by the Ari HaKadosh.)
Whenever the Gaon said Tahanun, even when he was wearing Tefillin, he rested his head upon the left hand.
Shomer Yisrael— Mitrazeh BeRahamim, which is part of the daily (morning and afternoon) Tahanun is according to the Gaon recited only on fast days.
According to the Gaon, one should — when called up to the reading of the Torah– ascend the Bimah and enter it through the entrance which is to one’s right and descend on the other side. One should do so even if the way to the entrance of the Bimah, which is on one’s left, is shorter (this view differs from that of Rabbi Yosef Caro, see Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 141:7).
The Gaon did not say Barukh Hashem Le’olam (in the Maariv prayer) in order to join the Geulah to the Amidah.
According to the Gaon, a Tzibbur does not recite the Kabbalat Shabbat service, which was introduced in the sixteenth century by the Kabbalists of Safed but opens Friday eve’s Shabbat prayers with Borekhu. A footnote in Ezor Eliyahu states that such was the custom in one of the prayer houses in Jerusalem
The Barkhuni LeShalom paragraph in the Shalom Aleikhem Friday evening song is bracketed in Siddur Ezor Eliyahu because Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the Gaon’s foremost disciple, is reported not to have said it, as we should not request anything from angels. However, there are some who doubt the veracity of this report.
Ribbon Kol HaOlamim, which is said after Shalom Aleikhem does not appear at all in Siddur Ezor Eliyahu for the Gaon opposed its recital on the ground that payers of supplications are not to be said on the Sabbath.
According to the Gaon, one doesn’t say Barekhu Nafshi on Sabbath afternoons during the winter, though it appears in old Ashkenazi Siddurim
The Siddur features Pirkei Avot with the commentary of the Gaon. All places where the Gaon’s readings of the Mishna differ from the accepted text have been marked by a star.
Nine supplementary chapters at the end of the volume deal in greater detail with certain prayers.
One of these studies discusses the vocalization of the Kaddish (according to the Gaon, the first two words of Kaddish should read “Yitgadel Veyitkadesh, against the common Yitgadal Veyitakadash). Another speaks of the reciting of Shema before going to bed.
The Siddur Ezor Eliyahu was well received in Israel. Yeshaya Vinograd, who recently visited New York informed us that a new edition is already being prepared.
The Jewish Press, Friday December 18, 1998