7:00PM - 9PM. The search for a new prayerbook is continuing and now it's your turn!
The members of the Spiritual Practices Committee are very excited as we progress toward BIJ community input for new prayer books (siddurim).
Here are the dates and times for open community-wide meetings to view and discuss the contenders:
• Tuesday morning, July 22, 10:30am – 12:30pm
• Wednesday evening, July 30, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Sunday morning, August 3, 10:00am – 12:00noon
By scheduling two daytime (one weekday, one weekend) and one evening meeting, we hope to make it possible for everyone to come!
Some background – the SPC has identified five prayerbooks for consideration to enhance our Friday night, Saturday morning and festival/holiday worship. We have been as thorough as we can in setting criteria for comparison that reflect the needs of the entire community. Our goal is to identify a siddur that is accessible to all our members, that supports a range of observances, and that is welcoming to those yet unfamiliar with the service – from our pre-Bar/t Mitzvah students to non-Jewish family and friends.
By creating a grid containing these criteria, we are able to objectively weigh each prayerbook. How well will it serve us, now and for years to come? Among the over-20 considerations we recognize to be important to our members are:
• Transliterations of the prayers (for non-Hebrew readers)
• Flexible – can it be used for traditional or contemporary services?
• Meaningful prayers/optional readings in English
• Egalitarian and/or gender-neutral language
• Inclusion of the cornerstones of our tradition (Shema, Amidah, Kaddish, etc)
So, we have done the hard work – a detailed study of the siddurim and filling in a grid with our findings. You get to do the easy part!
At these meetings, we will present the results of our research, with actual prayers and styles for your side-by-side comparison. You will have the opportunity to give us your opinion! And then we will synthesize the community feedback and make a recommendation to the BIJ Board.