Yohanon's ramblings: It says, I thought

אם-נדחך הקצה השמים,
משם יקבצך השם אלוהיך
ומשם יקחך

If any of your (kin) are cast to the ends of the heavens
From there He will gather you
And from there He will take you

Deuteronomy 30:4 (Nitzavim) דברום 30:4 (פרשת נצבים); English mostly from the Hertz Soncino humash.

I know some folks who seem to be "at the ends of the heavens" vis-à-vis observance.

Some of their own volition; some due to circumstances over which they have little or no control. The latter are bothered by their lack of observance, but simply don't know how to come closer to Judaism.

As I read the words about 6:30 this morning (I pray with a Netz minyan) I thought of these people.

Many of the people to whom I apply this single verse simply don't know HOW to become more observant. Their "Jewish education" was minimal and as most things, it is a "use it or lose it" knowledge. For others, they have some knowledge and they actually participate in some observances, but they give preference to "other things."

I can understand giving preference to other things, especially when those things are job and family (or family and job), but I wonder if maybe these people couldn’t integrate some level of observance into those "other things." Maybe a blessing before a snack or a quick, two-line nod to the Shema

שמע ישראל השם אלוהנו השם אחד
ברוך שם כבוד מלגותו לעולם ועד

Almost every Jew knows at least the 6 words of the top line, in English if not in Hebrew. (Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.)

Maybe some of these people would like to be a little more observant, but there are no nearby bookstores and maybe, even though they know they can find an online Jewish book store, they have concerns about giving personal and financial information over the Internet. (A valid consideration.)

Siddurim (siddurs) are available online. In Hebrew and in English (and probably other languages as well.) There are siddurim in various nusachim (traditions) and there are siddurim especially for one or another nusach.

What's the difference?

The order of the prayers can vary. Particular prayers may appear in one nusach and not in another; for example, Deuteronomy 30:4 at the top of this blog entry is included in my Moroccan siddurim but not found in the Artscroll for Ashkenazim I have as my "Askenaz reference."

The amazing thing is that, as scattered around the globe as we have been for centuries , so much is similar among the traditions.

Of Pesach/Passover siddurim/hagadot there are a multitude of online options; the Maxwell House hagadah - neither the traditional nor the "modern" (2011) version - is online.

There are (at least) two more items every Jew needs:

A Jewish calendar

A humash - a book containing the Torah ("5 books of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings.

The online Jewish calendar is needed to

(a) Keep up with the holidays - and Shabat is a holiday that comes 52 times-a-year

(b) To know when the holidays (and Shabat) start and end

As with siddurim, there are multiple Jewish calendars available online.

The third thing every Jew needs is a humash. "Hamash" means "five" and "humash" is one of the names of the volume containing the five books of Moses (Torah) and the associated prophetic readings (the "haftarot"). The humash is not a TaNaK (Torah, Prophets, and Writings) , but it does divide the Torah into weekly portions of manageable size. (The weekly Torah portion is read on Shabat (twice) and, in abbreviated form, on Monday and Thursday. )

Unfortunately, there are not many HUMASHIM on line. There ARE many TaNaKs available online, but the TaNaK is not divided into portions for Shabat and (other) holidays.