How has Jewish prayer changed over the course of American history?
SARNA: The major changes in Jewish prayer, I think, are the fact that, outside of Orthodoxy, more and more prayers are said in English I don’t really like that, ’cause that just moved back in Hebrew. The major changes, I think would be prayers, became shorter, much more attention paid to decorum, everywhere a sense, that there was a proper way of praying, and that people should pray together. A good deal of English comes into the prayer, the sermon becomes central to most prayer experiences and except in Orthodox settings, instrumental music becomes very central to prayer and even within Orthodoxy, group singing, becomes an important part of prayer. All of these represent differences from the way things were either in early America or in much of Europe. One of the things that happens to Jewish prayer is the shift from Hebrew to English prayers which in some ways parallels Catholicisms’ moves from Latin to English. Could you talk to that? SARNA: Sure. And, certainly there was a movement
