The Evolution of Prayer and Song in Early Modern Berlin

Abstract

This study reconstructs the period leading up to Reform Judaism, focusing on the evolving role of music and prayer—particularly its text and language—in the worship practices of Berlin Jews. It documents moments of a changing soundscape, which coincided with the introduction of patriotic service, that anticipated the more significant transformations of the early nineteenth century. It begins with the institutionalization of the public synagogue in the early eighteenth century and concludes with the cultural milieu of "Sara Levy’s world," following the establishment of Jewish salons in the 1780s. Spanning a timeframe that both precedes and overlaps with the Haskalah (whose onset is commonly dated to 1743), the study demonstrates that the integration of the vernacular and music into worship was a gradual process initially independent of, but later connected to, the Jewish Enlightenment, emancipation, and acculturation. It thus challenges the assertion that Berlin synagogues remained predominantly “Old-Orthodox” until the late 1830s, with rabbis who could not speak German, cantors unfamiliar with Hebrew grammar, and a lack of decorum. Evidence reveals that choral singing existed in Berlin synagogues well before 1838. In the absence of surviving primary sources, the study relies on historiographical accounts, particularly those of Ludwig Geiger, Aron Friedman, and Eliezer Landshuth, acknowledging their limitations and the incomplete nature of the available record.