[Avodah] [Areivim] shelo osani ...

[mkopinsky at gmail.com]

On 5/27/07, Moshe Yehuda Gluck <mgluck at gmail.com> wrote:
> R' MB on Areivim:
> *I asked my LOR about it after seeing the grammatically correct form
> *suggested for women in Rinat Yisrael. For the curious, after getting
> *his pesaq, I taught my daughter "Modah ani". Fortunately, it's the
> *same number of syllables as the masculine version, so I didn't have to
> *think of a new sing-song for it.
> 
> If one can change the Nusach Hatefillah to suit his/her state of being,
> shouldn't there be many, many changes to be made? Every Tefillah in Lashon
> Rabim will have to be changed to Lashon Yachid, when davening alone, and the
> opposite when davening with a Tzibbur. Every Lashon Zachor will have to be
> changed to Lashon Nekeivah for women. I don't have Mareh Mekomos, but I
> highly doubt that the Meyasdei Nusach Hatefillah had this in mind. Why
> should Modeh/Modah Ani be different (going with the assumption that the
> reader agrees with me)?

1. The number of places where the nusach hatefilla changes because of
masculine/feminine is very few.  (The only ones I'm aware of are in
modeh/modah ani and in Elokai Neshama.)  Where lashon yachid appears in
tefilla (for example, the yehi ratzon after birchos hashachar; elokai
netzor), the first person is usually used only as the object, not the
subject, of the sentence, and thus no male/female difference exists.  
(i.e., tatzileini is the same for masculine or feminine.)

2. Is it clear that the reason why we use lashon rabim is because we are 
davening *with* (i.e. physically together with) a tzibbur?  We are making 
general bakashos for klal yisrael.

3. Is Modeh Ani a tefilla?  Or is it just a statement that has become
minhag to say?  Is there anything wrong with changing the nusach of
statements?  Was it written by AKG?  Elokai neshama, as a bracha, would be
more difficult to change, but Rinat Yisrael changes both.

> P.S. Haneiros Hallalu would have to be Haneir Hazeh (or is it Zos?) on the
> first night of Chanukah, or for someone lighting only one candle...

To strengthen your question:

"She'anachnu madlikim..."  Who is lighting?  If the BHB is the only one 
lighting, should he say She'ani madlik?

I think there are two possibilities:
1) Ein Hachi nami.
2) anachnu=klal yisrael. neros=everyone's candles.

KT,
Michael