Orthodoxy Without Hebrew

Q. I was raised in a [name of denomination redacted] household. Many of my relatives are Orthodox. I absorbed the moral values of Orthodox Judaism, but I always felt uncomfortable with all the Hebrew, which I don’t understand. I wish there was a movement with morality, but where I can understand the prayers.

A. Thanks for your inquiry, which was forwarded to my attention. If your main issue with Orthodoxy is an inability to follow the Hebrew, you shouldn't let that be an issue. The Torah tells us that "it is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascend to heaven to get it and teach it to us so that we may follow it?'” (Deuteronomy 30:12).

Prayer need not be recited in Hebrew; one can pray in any language that he understands. To facilitate this, siddurim (prayer books) come in a variety of styles, including translated, transliterated, linear and more. [At this point, I linked to a sample – JA] True, this may not help you know what page everyone else is on, but it's far more important to "run your own race" and deliver a heartfelt prayer than it is to keep pace with everyone else.

But that won't always be the case; eventually you'll catch up. It's just like it's unlikely that one would be able to play an instrument without ever practicing or to bowl a strike their first time out. As with everything, one gets better the more he does it. If you don't understand the service on Day 1, that doesn't mean it'll be the same on Day 50 or Day 100. The more one does it – and applies himself actively rather than being a passive observer – the more his familiarity and understanding will grow.

Rabbi Jack's book Ask Rabbi Jack is available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.