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Message: If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/34434/full/34434/new-times-call-for-new-siddur/ New times call for new siddur Thursday, February 28, 2008 | by dan pine Rabbi Raphael Asher felt a bit nervous as congregants filed into Congregation B'nai Tikvah's sanctuary on a recent Friday night. Why the nerves? There was something new in the pews of the Walnut Creek synagogue. Something congregants hadn't seen in 32 years: a new Reform prayer book. Asher remembered the last time this happened, and was hoping not to repeat the experience. "There was an awful hue and cry over the transition," he recalled of the day "Gates of Prayer," the previous Reform siddur, debuted in 1975. It replaced the old Union Prayer Book, first published in the 1890s and last revised in 1940. But as it turned out, Asher need not have worried this time. There was no hue and cry when "Mishkan T'filah" premiered in late January. Far from it. At Reform congregations across the Bay Area, the newly published siddur has so far met with mostly positive response. That's impressive considering how big a break the new siddur represents from the past. Published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and 10 years in the making, "Mishkan T'filah" (Hebrew for "Sanctuary of Prayer") attempts to reinvent the siddur top to bottom, and side to side. Many local congregations, like S.F.'s Sherith Israel, Oakland's Temple Sinai, Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, Shir Hadash in Los Gatos and Beth Emek in Pleasanton, all have ordered the new book in bulk. "It is a siddur that responds to the needs of contemporary Jews and offers a wide variety of selections," said Rabbi Stacy Friedman of San Rafael's Congregation Rodef Sholom. "For those interested in more Hebrew, or who don't know Hebrew and need transliteration, it's there. It allows [congregants] to find deeper inspiration, explanation or background." Rodef Shalom was one of many congregations around the Bay Area that gave "Mishkan T'filah" a test drive in its early drafts. Not unexpectedly, there were some bumps along the way. "I had concerns about the formatting of the text and the small font size," said Kory Zipperstein, Rodef Shalom's worship committee chairman. "It didn't seem to progress in a linear fashion. Some older members of the community were not at all happy with this new prayer book." Rabbi Stephen Pearce of San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El also had a few gripes. "I do not love the book," he said. "The language is at times child-like. It is hard to maneuver the pages. Constantly having to call out page numbers interrupts the flow of prayer." That all could change over time as Reform Jews get used to "Mishkan T'filah." At $30 a pop, the switch can be pricey for synagogues, so there's plenty of incentive to make the transition a success. Emanu-El's Cantor Roslyn Barak has a strong personal connection to "Mishkan T'filah." She served on the siddur's editorial committee from 1999 to 2005, weighing in on the myriad decisions required to bring the book to life. She remembers the meetings as challenging, bringing together experts from across the Reform Judaism universe. "They wanted people who might be more flexible and forward-thinking, and those who respected classical Reform tradition," she said. "I think they saw me as someone who would stick to the classical tradition." So how is this prayer book different from all other prayer books? Laid out almost entirely in a two-page-spread format, "Mishkan T'filah" is the "high-def widescreen" of prayer books. Right-hand pages contain prayers in Hebrew, along with transliteration, English translation and footnotes. Left-hand-side pages contain alternative readings and related commentary. Every page has a "pull-down" menu in the upper corners, in Hebrew and English so readers always know exactly where they are in the service. Unlike "Gates of Prayer," which leaves out the matriarchs and refers to God as "He," the new siddur is gender-inclusive. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah all get props in the Avot v'Imot prayer. Some of the language retains the lofty elegance of the old Union Prayer Book, but much of it is modern and poetic. One Shabbat evening prayer reads in part: "Lend us the wit, O God, to speak the lean and simple word; give us the strength to speak the found word, the meant word..." And smack in the middle is the Sh'ma, spread over two pages in ornate Hebrew calligraphy (reserved only for the most sacred objects). The siddur also reinstates techiyat hameitim, the prayer for the resurrection of the dead, something unimaginable in previous Reform siddurs. Movement insiders generally agree the change reflects Reform's continued turn toward traditionalism and its growing willingness to entertain liturgical tropes and rituals once shunned in the name of modernity. The movement's Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 explicitly rejected the notion of bodily resurrection, an idea considered unmodern, unscientific and irrational. "Certainly to the 19th century reformers, the idea that Judaism believed in resurrection of the dead seemed to them the antithesis of the kind of rational Judaism that they thought most Jews wanted and expected," said Jonathan Sarna, a Jewish history professor at Brandeis University. In prior Reform prayer books, the traditional blessing of God as the one who revives the dead was changed to "m'chayeih hakol," literally "who gives life to all." The new prayer book includes the modified version, but also offers worshipers the ancient formulation as an alternative. And then, to satisfy cantors, "Mishkan T'filah" includes an extensive selection of songs and hymns, more than 100 for every conceivable worship or simcha setting. Also included — at Barak's urging, is "America the Beautiful," a song she likes to sing in services close to Thanksgiving. One thing "Mishkan T"filah" does not include: any instructions. No responsive readings in italics, no "sit" or "stand" commands. For that sort of traffic control, clergy and congregants are on their own. Barak wasn't the only Bay Area-based religious leader to contribute to the siddur. In 2006, Menachem Creditor proofed some early drafts of the book. Creditor is the rabbi at Netivot Shalom, a Berkeley Conservative synagogue, yet he thinks highly of "Mishkan T'filah." "It's a very inviting text," he said. "Part of what sets it apart from previous [siddurs] is its willingness to engage in classical language and its attempt to become a more standardized prayer book for Reform Jews. I see this as a real triumph for the Reform movement." The Conservative movement's siddur, "Sim Shalom," was first published in 1985 and has been revised twice since then. The Orthodox movement uses a variety of prayer books, such as those published by Artscroll, the siddurs of choice San Francisco Orthodox shul, Adath Israel. Rabbi Josh Strulowitz jokes that his siddur hasn't been revised in a thousand years. "What might change is the commentaries on the [Torah]," he said. "They might modernize the translation or occasionally add something new, like the prayer for the state of Israel, but nothing groundbreaking. That's a big part of what we are. We modernize the interpretation and understanding, but we don't change the text." That 1,000-year reference is not arbitrary. It wasn't until the 10th century C.E. that the prayer language found in most siddurs became fixed. For centuries prior to that, prayer was led by the shaliach tzibur — or messenger of the community — who provide the voice of public prayer, sometimes extemporaneously. "Mishkan T'filah" is only the third siddur since the Reform movement took hold in America. The task of editing it fell to Rabbi Elyse Frishman, spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jerushun in Franklin Lakes, N.J., and a longtime scholar of Jewish liturgy. Frishman came up with the idea of the two-page format, even before the CCAR commissioned the book. But as she points out, "Mishkan T'filah" required input from dozens of editors, scholars and consultants, as well as thousands of congregants experimenting with early drafts. "When we spoke about a partnership with the laity, that meant we had to pilot [the siddur]," she said. "Each time we had a new draft, we listened to people's responses. We would ask, were we attending to people's voices? Did people find it elevating enough? Would this book last? It took time to make sure we were on the right track." Although most synagogues affiliated with major denominations use the siddurs published by their movements, some congregations do it themselves. Locally, Reform synagogues such as Berkeley's Congregation Beth El and San Francisco's Congregation Sha'ar Zahav have compiled their own prayer books (even though Beth El rabbi Yoel Kahn sat on the "Mishkan T'filah" editorial committee alongside Barak). Over time, it is likely most Reform congregations will adopt "Mishkan T'filah," a prospect that thrills Frishman. "My dream is that people will own these prayers and offer them up together," she said. "I love when people add their voices together. Now the book needs to be used." "Everyone seems to like it," Barak added. "A lot of people say they enjoy reading the commentaries and the creative liturgies. We use it in all our services now. I am very proud I was associated with it." Even so, she has a few bones to pick. "It would nice if the cantorial [directions] were more indicated," she said. "And as for responsive readings, they didn't do it consistently. I really do love the call and response tradition in Jewish prayer." Oh, and one more thing. Barak reports that "everyone is making remarks about the weight of the book." By that she means the physical weight. "It's extremely heavy," she acknowledges. But Creditor, the Conservative rabbi who admires the new Reform siddur, dismisses that complaint. "Prayer," he notes, "is heavy." cover design | cathleen maclearie

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