[5] On the other hand, it has been argued that the phrase: lirot meherah be-tiferet uzechah (to speedily see your tiferet and oz) is in fact a request for the speedy rebuilding of the Temple.
Its first appearance is the manuscript of the Rosh Hashana liturgy by the 3rd century Babylonian Talmudic sage Abba Arikha.
[7] In Blois, France, in 1171, it is alleged that a number of Jews—reportedly 34 men and 17 women—were burned at the stake for refusing to renounce their faith.
The first paragraph is also included at the equivalent point in the liturgy for Yom Kippur during the chazzan's repetition, but not during the silent prayer.
[clarification needed] In the 16th century the kabbalist Hayim Vital, recording the opinions of Isaac Luria, ruled that both paragraphs should be included in all services, and should end with the verse "on that day the Lord shall be one and His Name one".
[12] The custom according to some North African prayer books is to recite the second paragraph only at the conclusion of weekday morning services.
In some Ashkenazic communities, Aleinu is not recited at Mincha when it is followed immediately by Maariv, as this is not considered the end of the service.
In many current Orthodox Jewish siddurim (prayer books) this line has been restored, and the practice of reciting it has increased.
Approximately a century after this prayer was incorporated into the daily liturgy, circa 1300, an apostate Jew, known as Pesach Peter, denounced it as a secret anti-Christian slur on the grounds that the word וריק—varik, "and emptiness"—had, in gematria (Hebrew numerology) the value of 316, the same as ישׁו—Jesus.
[15]—It probably did not help that at roughly the same time a rabbinic commentary on the prayers, Arugat haBosem by Abraham ben Azriel, made the point that, in gematria, "vanity and emptiness" had the same value as ישׁו ומחמט—"Jesus and Mohammed".
Circa 1938, Herbert Lowe, the Reader in Rabbinics at Cambridge University, wrote: "No Jew who recites it ever thinks of it in relation to Christians: the chief thought in his mind is the noble conclusion.
"[17] As a result of this censorship, a curious practice arose - it may have predated the censorship, but thereafter acquired encouragement as a form of resistance - that where the word "emptiness" occurred - or should have occurred - the individual was supposed to spit (on the floor), on the pretext that "emptiness" is very similar to the Hebrew word for "spittle".
[25] In several communities, changes have been introduced, especially in the opening lines of the text, to make it less controversial and extreme in its appearance of ethnocentrism.
"[29] Reconstructionist Judaism changes the lines which refer to the chosen people to read, "who gave us teachings of truth and implanted eternal life within us.
[31] Although the second paragraph of the standard text of Aleinu today includes the phrase "le-taqen olam" לתקן עולם (to fix the world), some scholars suggest that the original text had "le-taken olam" לתכן עולם (spelled with a kaf, not a quf).
The "kaf" reading is in the text of Siddur Rav Saadiah Gaon, in the Yemenite ritual, and in fragments from the Cairo Genizah.