Siddur (which in Hebrew means “order”) has been used for centuries by Jewish people to help worshipers offer prayers to God in a way that is consistent with the teachings of the Torah and other sacred literature.
In one place, Siddur directs every Jew to include in their daily prayers the following words with more to follow:
专讘讜谉 讻诇 讛注讜诇诪讬诐
.诇讗 注诇 爪讚拽讜转讬谞讜 讗谞讞谞讜 诪驻讬诇讬诐 转讞谞讜转讬谞讜 诇驻谞讬讱 讻讬 注诇 专讞诪讬讱 讛专讘讬诐
“Master of the world,
It is not on the basis of our righteousness that we lay our requests before Your presence, but because of Your great mercies.”
This prayer (among many others) shows that the Judaism which emerged after the destruction of Temple in 70 AD continued to uphold this basic Jewish teaching – that keeping the commandments of God, although very important, is not the basis for the covenantal relationship between God and His people.
Apostle Paul, expecting a positive response, reminded Peter that it was common knowledge among the Jews that Torah-keeping was not the basis for right standing before God. In so doing, he challenged Peter to accept Gentile God-fearers who believed in the Jewish Christ as citizens in the Kingdom of God alongside Jews, without going through a proselyte conversion. We read in Gal. 2:15-16:
“We are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles. We know that a man is not justified by the works of the Torah but through faith in the Messiah Jesus…”.
Modern Jewish Siddur, therefore, holds in common with the Jewish Apostle Paul that the basis for relationship with God is not Torah (no matter how wonderful and good it is!), but the grace and mercy of Israel’s God.
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