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Mishkan T'fillah
It looks like the reaction is overall positive, which is a good sign. One person liked it initially but doesn't like it now; a couple people didn't like it initially but like it now. The biggest complaint seemed to be that the leader has to be stronger (because there are options, rather than just starting somewhere and reading through). I don't especially see that as a problem, both because we have a strong leader and because if I were the leader I believe I could do it pretty easily. So if I can do it without any formal training, how big a problem is this really?
A few people said they find the format confusing, which surprises me because I find it so intuitive. It was kind of hard to tease out what is confusing about it, though, so unless we can do that we won't be able to make useful suggestions to address whatever the issue is.
One older woman strongly objects to "change", but change goes with the territory even if it were just a new edition with no text changes, so I don't know what can be done other than to write that off. I wonder how many other people will have that reaction to a new book -- any new book -- when it comes out. When our congregation switched from the older (blue) Gates of Prayer to the newer (gray) one a few years ago, that seemed to go reasonably smoothly. The format was fundamentally the same, though.
The anti-change person said that when people come to services because they need to be comforted (e.g. if they're mourning, or sick, or whatever), those people need to see familiar text without having to work too hard. (As an aside, were I in such a position the standard Gates of Prayer service would be pretty much the last thing I would attend; it's so whittled-down and dry, with some goofy English, that I would be distracted, not comforted, by the service. I'd go to our Shabbat morning minyan, regardless of what siddur was being used, for the community.)
Anyway, someone else pointed out that if they're regular attendees the texts will be familiar and if they're occasional attendees it wouldn't matter what book we used because none of it would be familiar, but she didn't respond. She seemed to be saying that she wants a Gates of Prayer -style siddur, with various services made up of various subsets, so neither the congregant nor the leader has to do any work like announcing page changes. But I dislike GoP because the price paid for that is a bunch of incomplete services; I would like the siddur to at least support the option of doing a complete service in Hebrew or English, without having to jump around all over the place. Skipping stuff is much easier than assembling a service out of multiple subsets. Fortunately, I don't think they're going to change the format of Mishkan T'fillah in such a fundamental way.
One person ranted at some length about the "Orthodox" (his word) insertions into the book, like the extra paragraphs of the Shema and the word "meitim" into the Amidah. This same person likes some of the newer, fluffier English readings. So I asked him: why is it appropriate to include optional English readings that some people want to skip, but not ok to include optional paragraphs in the Shema that some people want to skip? Either way, the book supports usage with or without those parts, so what's the problem? His answer: we're Reform, and that means that text is wrong and doesn't belong there. Um, right. Completely missed the point. I don't think he realizes how much of a whacked-out fundamentalist he was coming off as. (Ironically, he joined this congregation after leaving a Conservative one. Did he object to those texts there?)
I don't know if this discussion helped in broad strokes, but after it broke up I noticed that several smaller clumps of people were discussing things, and I think that did some good. The person sitting next to me hadn't understood one of the objections that someone else had had and I was able to show it to her; I was also able to explain to someone a point I'd been trying to make about transliteration. And we probably wouldn't have had those discussions without the larger discussion to frame it.
We don't yet know if the rabbi is going to continue to use this book between the end of the evaluation and the actual publication.
Re: Prayer books
If that's what I think it is, it's a fairly modern prayer book put out by a Conservative (as opposed to Reform, Reconstructionist, Orthodox, etc.) group. I believe it only has the Friday night service in it (although I think that some editions have supplemental material in blueish pages at the back?)
What is your question?
Re: Prayer books
That's exactly the prayer book that I was talking book and I was wondering what it contained and now I know that it only contained the Friday services. The congregation in my town is Conservative and so it makes sense.
I have another question for you, what's the difference between the siddur and the prayer book that is used by Jews at home?
Thanks again.
Kol tuv.
Alex
Re: Prayer books
Goljerp beat me to your first question, so I'll beat him to this one. :-) (I've seen Likrat Shabbat, but only once and it was a Friday night, so I'm not sure whether the Saturday-morning service is in there either.)
what's the difference between the siddur and the prayer book that is used by Jews at home?
There is no difference, and "siddur" and :prayer book" mean the same thing. Observant Jews pray three times a day, from the text in the siddur. There are minor differences if you are with the congregation versus alone, but they are cases where you include or exclude these few words or that paragraph; it's fundamentally the same prayers, and you use the same book (which has notes about those few words or that paragraph, so you can navigate). The prayers in the siddur vary based on time of day, Shabbat versus ordinary days, holidays or not, and slightly by season. Some siddurim try to be complete, covering all of those cases; more often, though, publishers will produce one for Shabbat and holidays, and another for weekdays.
Within those categories there is still variation; each movement has a different theology which affects the text, and even within a movement there are differences of opinion about variations and customs. And then there are editorial issues such as the translations, whether to include transliterations, whether to include any supplementary readings or commentary, and so on.
Re: Prayer books
There are just some things that confuse me about Judaism and sometimes, I just need someone to clarify stuff for me. Thanks.
Am fascinated by your comments on the translation and how the shabbat services go at your synagogue. Thanks for letting me read your journal.
Kol Tuv
Alex
Re: Prayer books
what's the difference between the siddur and the prayer book that is used by Jews at home?
Could she maybe have been referring to a bencher? A bencher at a minimum the Grace After Meals, but often also Kiddush for Shabbat Evening and Morning, Havdallah, Songs, etc.
I'm not sure if that's what she meant or not...but I thought I'd throw it out there.
Re: Prayer books
Alex, if what you're referring to as the "home" book is fairly small, and has sections called "grace after meals" and "kiddush" and maybe "havdalah" and "candle lighting", and a bunch of songs (which might be labelled "zemirot"), and not much else, then yeah, that's something different. Basically, it's the blessings and prayers that you need for meals when you have a group of people -- which is often the case on Shabbat, which is why the Shabbat-specific stuff like kiddush is sometimes in there.
Re: Prayer books
Kol Tuv
Alex
Re: Prayer books