The
Siddur (plural
siddurim) is the
Hebrew word used to refer to the
book of
daily prayers or
order of
service in
Jewish worship. The Hebrew root of the word Siddur is
sdr- This root is always related to the concept of order. For instance, the order of prayers said on the first nights of
Passover is called the Passover
Seder. The order of prayers in the Siddur is determined by their frequency of use. A prayer said every day would come near the beginning of the Siddur because it is said more often. Some services, like Hallel, are not said every week, but are said at the
beginning of every
month and on
holidays and appear later in the book.
The Shacharit or
morning service is said
daily. This would be located near the beginning of the
Siddur. The daily
afternoon (Mincha) and
evening (Ma'ariv) services follow right after Shacharit. The traditional standard sequence is to put several prayers between Shacharit and Mincha, (morning and afternoon services) because that it the time when they are often first said. The last prayer said by the Jew each day is the Kriat Shema Al HaMitah (The Bedtime Shema) and will be found toward the end of the
Siddur.
Prayer services for special holidays like
Yom Kippur are usually contained in a separate book, called the
machzor or
mahzor.