Tefilat Erev Shabbat
(Prayers for Friday Evening)
Erev Shabbat is among the most beautiful times for the Jewish people. Families attend the synagogue for services, have wonderful home-cooked meals, and begin to distance themselves from the mundane tasks of the preceding six days.
In 1986, the Karaite Jews of America recorded the Friday evening prayers as a study aid for people who want to learn our prayers. We sent copies on cassette tapes (remember those!) to our entire directory. A member of our community digitized the cassette recording, which we are making available below.
The Karaite prayer is a dialog between the hazan ("cantor") and the congregation. In many instances the hazan will read one sentence and the congregation will respond with the next sentence. In other instances the hazan will read part of a sentence, and the congregation will respond with the remainder of the sentence. Finally, some parts of the service are read by an individual member of the congregation, while the remainder of the congregation responds.
You may download a copy of the prayer book currently used by the KJA here. It should track the recording fairly closely. You may download the prayer here, or stream it below.
In 1986, the Karaite Jews of America recorded the Friday evening prayers as a study aid for people who want to learn our prayers. We sent copies on cassette tapes (remember those!) to our entire directory. A member of our community digitized the cassette recording, which we are making available below.
The Karaite prayer is a dialog between the hazan ("cantor") and the congregation. In many instances the hazan will read one sentence and the congregation will respond with the next sentence. In other instances the hazan will read part of a sentence, and the congregation will respond with the remainder of the sentence. Finally, some parts of the service are read by an individual member of the congregation, while the remainder of the congregation responds.
You may download a copy of the prayer book currently used by the KJA here. It should track the recording fairly closely. You may download the prayer here, or stream it below.