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<font size=3>The following is taken from <b>Rav Schwab on
Yeshayahu</b>. <br><br>
48: 20 <i>Assemble and come, come close together, you who have escaped
from the nations who do not know, who carry the wood of their<br>
graven images, and who pray to </i>a <i>god that cannot save.<br><br>
</i>Rav Schwab writes in part:<br><br>
<i>And who pray to </i>a <i>god that cannot save. </i>They pray to
lifeless idols who cannot possibly help them.<br><br>
While the subject here is the rejection of the old-fashioned "idol
worship," this<br>
phrase also alludes to Christianity which has, as its central theme, a
human being - a<br>
Jew, no less - who is looked at as a <i>Moshiah</i>, <i>savior.
</i>Yeshayahu foresaw the rise of<br>
this religion, which began some 600 years after his death. and rejects it
here together<br>
with other forms of idol worship.<br><br>
The phrase, <i>umispallim el ale lo yoshiah</i>, was incorporated into
the <i>tefllah </i>of <i>Aleinu, <br>
</i>in which we give thanks to <i>HaKadosh Baruch Hu </i>for forming us
into<br>
His special, chosen nation. And in it, we confirm our <i>emunah </i>in
Him as the One and<br>
Only God, to the exclusion of all others gods and forms of belief. The
original text<br>
of <i>Aleinu </i>included this sentence: <i>that they bow to
nothingness and emptiness, and they pray to </i>a <i>god who does<br>
not save. </i>This clear rejection of all other forms of religion,
including the Christian<br>
concept of a savior other than <i>HaKadosh Baruch Hu, </i>eventually
became a sore<br>
point for Jews who lived in Europe because the Christians considered it
offensive. It<br>
was therefore removed from the official written texts of most <i>siddurim
</i>in Germany<br>
and other parts of <i>Ashkenaz </i>(although many people did, and
continue to, recite<br>
it anyway). The omission is quite obvious when one carefully reads the
amended<br>
text.<br><br>
On a personal note, I remember that in Frankfurt, Aleinu was said quietly
and<br>
unofficially; and no Kaddish was said afterwards, so that if there were
troublemakers<br>
present they would not focus on it. In fact, many people would skip it
altogether<br>
and begin to leave shuI while others would quietly be reciting it. I
remember one<br>
of my friends from Telshe who was visiting me in Frankfurt remarking
about the<br>
uncharacteristic lack of decorum during Aleinu in the otherwise highly
dignified and<br>
organized <i>tefillos</i> of K'hal Adas Jeshurun.<br>
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Yitzchok Levine </font></body>
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