Why do Jews sway when they pray?
Like many Jewish customs, the origins of shucklen - a common Yiddish word which means to shake or rock
- are shrouded in mystery.1 We can say when it was done and where but
not why. This is because many customs were instituted by the Jewish people as a spontaneous
expression of their Jewishness; the
learned explanations came later.
Shucklen is not explicitly mentioned in the Talmud.
enough, it is first mentioned in a number of Islamic sources.
Mohammed is supposed to have said: "Be not like the Jews who
whenever they read the Torah publicly move to and fro". His
contemporary, the poet Labid (d. 660), writes of a person who
gropes for an object, moving his hand to and fro "like a praying
Jewish sources also mention shucklen in the context of Torah
study and prayer. Rabbi Samuel Hanaggid of Granada (d. 1056) is
the first to mention swaying during Torah study in one of his
And we came angry into the House of God
and would that we had taken a wrong turn,
for behold the rabbi and the students were swaying
their heads like a tamarisk in the wilderness.4
Various reasons have been given for this practice throughout the
Rabbi Judah Halevi of Spain (d. 1141) gives two explanations in
his book, The Kuzari, an imaginary dialogue between the king of the
Khazars and a rabbi. The king asks why Jews move to and fro when they read the Bible. The rabbi replies:
It is said that it is done in order to arouse natural heat [i.e., to
warm up]. My personal belief [is as follows:]... As it often happened that many persons read at the same time, it was
possible that ten or more read from one volume. Each of them was obliged to bend down in his turn in order to read a
passage, and to turn back again. This resulted in a continual bending and sitting up, the book lying on the ground. This
was one reason. Then it became a habit through constant seeing, observing and imitating, which is in man's nature.5
Rabbi Simhah of Vitry (France, d. 1105) gives a third explanation.
He says that young children are taught to sway when they study the
Torah, "for thus we find at the giving of the Torah 'And the people
saw and they trembled' (Exodus 20:15)".6
Lastly, the Zohar, which was written in thirteenth-century Spain,
Why is it that all the peoples of the world do not sway, but
Jews alone do so when they study Torah? The souls of Israel
are derived from the Holy Lamp [of God] ...when a Jew utters
one word of Torah, the light [in his soul] is kindled...and he
sways to and fro like the flame of a candle.7
On the other hand, there was a common custom of swaying
during prayer. This custom was explained in at least three different
Rabbi Abraham of Lunel (Toledo, d. 1215) and many others
quote an unknown midrash:
A person is required to sway during prayer, as it is written:
"all my bones shall proclaim: O God, who is like You!"
(Psalms 35:10)...And this is the custom of the Rabbis of France
and her pious ones.8
The testament attributed to R. Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (d. 1760)
gives a different explanation for shucklen:
When a person is drowning in a river and he makes movements in order to extricate himself from the water, those
who see him will no doubt laugh at him and at his motions. Thus, when a person prays and makes motions, one should
not laugh at him because he is saving himself from the malicious waters which are the. . . foreign thoughts which
come to distract him during prayer.9
In other words, shucklen helps one concentrate on the prayers and
say them with kavanah [proper intent].
Lastly, two nineteenth-century authors came up with a truly
original explanation for shucklen: Jewish students and rabbis don't
get enough exercise. Therefore, they shuckle when they study and
pray in order to get some badly needed exercise!10
Surprisingly, a number of prominent rabbis opposed shucklen
during prayer. They claimed that it was disrespectful11
or that it prevents the proper kavanah required for the Amidah [the silent
In conclusion, Jews have shuckled during prayer and study for at
least 1,400 years. While the original reason is not known, most Jews
seem to feel that it helps one concentrate during prayer and study.
On the other hand, there is certainly no obligation to shuckle. The
best rule of thumb is probably that stated by R. Yehiel Michal
Epstein (d. 1908):
And during the Amidah there are some who sway and some
who don't and it depends on the person's nature. If by
swaying, his kavanah improves, then he should sway; and a
person whose kavanah is clearer when he stands perfectly still
should not sway - and [either option] should be done for the
sake of heaven...13
1. There is a vast literature about shucklen. In English, see The Jewish
Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, New York, 1905, p. 607. In Hebrew, see Senior Sachs,
Hamizpah 1/4 (1885), pp. 9-12 and the thorough discussion by Yitzhak
Zimmer, who quotes over fifty sources, in Sidra 5 (1989), pp. 116-127 = idem.,
Olam K'minhago Noheig, Jerusalem, 1996, pp. 97-108.
2. It may be hinted at in Eruvin 53b-54a and Shabbat 104a.
3. For these and other Arabic sources see Ignaz Goldziher, MGWJ 20 (1871), pp. 178-183 (in German).
4. Dov Yarden, ed., The Diwan of R. Samuel Hanagid, Jerusalem, 1966, p. 229.
5. The Kuzari, translated by H. Hirschfeld, New York, 1964, p. 128. Regarding
the scarcity of Hebrew books in the Middle Ages, see my article in Kiryat Sefer 62 (5748-5749), pp. 435-436.
6. S. Hurwitz, ed., Mahzor Vitry, Berlin, 1893, pp. 628, 630. This explanation is
repeated in many later sources.
7. Zohar to Numbers, fols. 218b-219a.
8. Yitzhak Refael, ed., Sefer Hamanhig, Jerusalem, 1978, p. 85.
9. Quoted by Zimmer, Sidra, p. 124.
10. Dr. Shimon Brainin, Orah Lahayyim, Vilna, 1883, p. 126 and R. Haim Aryeh
Leib Fenster, Sha'ar Bat Rabbim to Genesis, New York, 1953, fol. 7b.
11. R. Jacob Anatoli (d. 1256), Malmad Hatalmidim, Lyck, 1866, fol. 159a.
12. R. Menahem Azariah of Fano (d.1620), R. Menahem de Lonzano (d.1624) and R. Isaiah Horwitz (d. 1630) among others
- see Zimmer, Sidra, pp. 121-122 and see p. 127 for Sephardic opposition.
13. Arukh Hashulhan, Orah Hayyim 48:3.