Synagogue Libraries: trust me, there's something good in here.Unlike the Reform movement’s last prayer book, “Gates of Prayer,” which was published in 1975, the new prayer book has a Hebrew title, “Mishkan T’filah” (which means a sanctuary or dwelling place for prayer). And it reads from back to front, like a traditional Hebrew text, which was only an optional format when “Gates of Prayer” was published. Rabbi Frishman thought up the innovative layout for the new prayer book, or siddur.
There are four versions of each prayer laid out on a typical two-page spread. (Since the book is read back to front, the right page is read before the left one). On the right page is the prayer in Hebrew, the transliteration of the Hebrew prayer into phonetical English, and a more literal translation. On the left-hand page is a more poetic translation of the prayer, followed by a metaphorical or meditative passage reflecting on the prayer, sometimes by a well-known writer like Langston Hughes or Yehuda Amichai.
Rabbis who prefer to lead a more traditional service can choose a prayer from the right-hand side of the page, while those who prefer a more alternative approach can choose from the left side.
“This is a way of having the best of both worlds,” said Rabbi Peter S. Knobel, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the association of Reform rabbis, which is publishing the book. “You have the possibility of doing, if you want, an entire service in Hebrew, as traditional as you can be within the Reform movement. At the same time, you can do something extremely creative.”
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I really do think this sounds great, but I have to say that I’m generally unmoved by creative services, and I think it’s because they feel like too much of a novelty, or a show. I don’t want a million things to choose from when I’m praying, and neither do I want an organ or interpretive dance. It’s not really because I’m so frum that I can‘t deal with these concepts, I just think they end up combining to make a really frenetic prayer experience, and to me that’s the antithesis of what prayer is supposed to be about.
If you’re over or underwhelmed by your siddur, here’s my suggestion—visit your synagogue’s library and snag something from there to read during services. Even though most synagogues’ libraries haven’t been seriously updated since the Carter administration, you can still find some interesting old novels, poetry or biographies to keep you occupied during davening. When I was 12 I read a steamy romance novel that I got from my shul’s library. I wouldn’t exactly call browsing the shul library praying, but it’s a nice way of staying engaged with Jewish text without having to wade through translations approved by HUC in the 1890s.