Congregational Prayers Differing From One’s Normal Custom
Question
If I am praying in a congregation that uses a siddur or machzor in which the prayers are worded somewhat differently than the ones I am accustomed to, or that has some additional prayers or omissions of some prayers that I normally do, or that does its prayers in a different order, should I follow the way I normally do my prayers or the way this congregation does it?
Answers
You would really need to have two Machzorim handy! One should be your regular Machzor, which you can use for all of your regular prayers that are not said aloud, such as the Amidah. The second Machzor should be that which the congregation uses, and should be employed for all the responsive prayers and anything that might be said aloud, such as the repetition of the Amidah.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team