The Italian Nusach 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 Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

origin.

History

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 The Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes (, ''Rhōmaniôtes''; ) are a Greek language, Greek-speaking Jewish ethnic divisions, ethnic Jewish community. They are one of the oldest Jewish communities in existence and the oldest Jewish community in Eu ...

of Greece and the Balkans. However, the documents discovered in

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...

reveal that the influence of ''Minhag Eretz Israel'' on ''Benè Romì'' is less extensive than believed.

Communities where the Italian rite is practiced

Italian Jews have their own unique prayer rite that is neither Sephardic nusach,

Nusach Ashkenaz 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 (as used by the Hasidim) and Baladi-rite prayer, and still more from the Sephardic rit ...

, nor

Nusach Sefard Nusach Sefard, Nusach Sepharad, or Nusach Sfard, is the name for various forms of the Jewish '' siddurim'' designed to reconcile Ashkenazi customs with the kabbalistic customs of Isaac Luria (more commonly known as the Arizal). To this end, it ...

, 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 Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries.Hillel Moshe Sermanito and Angelo Piattelli, Seder Tefilot ke-minhag bene Roma, Jerusalem 2014, page 6 of introduction. 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.

Unique features of the Nusach

* On Friday nights, the Maariv Aravim and Emet VeEmunah blessings are recited using a special text for the Sabbath. * The middle benediction of the

Amidah The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...

prayer of Shabbat eve says ''"U'meahavatach A. Eloheynu she'ahavta et Israel amach"'' instead of ''"Ata kidashta"''. * The text of the 3rd berachah of the Amidah prayer is ''"Le'dor va'dor namelich la'E-l"'' even in the silent prayer. On the high holidays, this is replaces with ''"Le'dor va'dor nagid godlekha"'' (as said in the Chazzan's repetition all year in the Ashkenazic rite) in both the silent prayer and the repetition. *

Psalm 100 Psalm 100 is the 100th psalm in the Book of Psalms in the Tanakh. In English, it is translated as "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands" in the King James Version (KJV), and as "O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands" in the Book of C ...

is only recited on Shabbat and Yom Tov and not on weekdays. * Psalm 20 is not recited in between

Ashrei Ashrei () is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in Jewish prayers, twice during Shacharit (morning service) and once during Mincha (afternoon service). The prayer is composed primarily of Psalm 145 in its entirety, with Psalm ...

and Uva letzion. Instead, it is recited as part of long

Tachanun ''Tachanun'' or ''Taḥanun'' ( "Supplication"), also called ''nefilat apayim'' ( "falling on the face"), is part of Judaism's morning (''Shacharit'') and afternoon (''Mincha'') prayer services; it follows the recitation of the ''Amidah'', the ce ...

recited on Monday and Thursday. * On weekdays, the Torah is returned in between

and Uva letzion. *

Aleinu ''Aleinu'' (Hebrew: , lit. "upon us", meaning " t isour duty") or ''Aleinu leshabei'ach'' (Hebrew: " t isour duty to praise Names of God in Judaism">God]"), meaning "it is upon us" or "it is our obligation or duty o praise God, is a Jewish pra ...

is never recited at Mincha. However, according to the first printing of the Machzor from 1485, Aleinu is recited on Erev Yom Kippur when mincha is recited earlier in the day, and it would follow that it should always be recited when mincha is recited early. * The words 'le'eila le'eila' are recited in every

Kaddish The Kaddish (, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the lit ...

. * Kol Nidrei (Kol Nedarim) is recited in Hebrew, rather than in Aramaic. * The 'Ve-hasieinu' prayer is recited in the prayers of Rosh Hashanah. * According to the original custom, Kedushah opens in all prayers (including Shacharit and Mincha) with the "Keter" form. However, this is preserved today only in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

and in the Italian community in Jerusalem.

Notes

External links

First edition Italian Machzor
Soncino 1486. Scan from the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...

.
Mahzor Kimha de-avishuna
Bologna 1540. Scan from the

.
Machzor Shadal
Livorno 1856. Scan from the

.
Prayer books according to the Italian rite as practiced in Jerusalem
edited by Moshe Sermanito and Angelo Piattelli.

References

External links

Scan of the 1485 edition of the Italian Machzor
from the website of the

Scan of the 1540 Kimha De-avishuna Machzor
from the website of the

Machzor Shadal 1856
from the website of the

Siddur Bnei Romi

Siddurim and Machzorim of the Italian synagogue in Jerusalem

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719045534/http://www.morasha.it/sbr/sbr_somekh.html#footnote , date=2011-07-19 by Rabbi Alberto Somekh
The Italian-Jewish Liturgy

The Italian Rite
Nusachs Italian Jews Italian-Jewish diaspora Italki Jews topics

History

Communities where the Italian rite is practiced

Unique features of the Nusach

See also

Notes

External links

References

External links