Gates of Prayer for Shabbat & Weekdays (English): Gender-Inclusive Edition [Hardcover]

Chaim Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 1996

This is now the only gender-inclusive prayerbook available from the CCAR containing services for Shabbat and weekdays, evening, and morning, within the covers of a single, elegantly designed, hardbound volume.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: CCAR Press (September 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881230642
• ISBN-13: 978-0881230642
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Prayerbooks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Reform Movement makes some welcome changes, September 24, 1998

By 

Geoffrey W. Dennis (Flower Mound, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gates of Prayer for Shabbat & Weekdays (English): Gender-Inclusive Edition (Hardcover)

This new gender-sensitive siddur reflects the changing face of American Reform Judaism. The first change, of course, is the gender language issue. The God-language chosen for this volume is certainly theologically defensible but poetically bland. It is, in fact, the least interesting aspect of this siddur. Far more remarkable to this reader is the inclusion (finally) of rubrics left out of previous Reform prayer books. Specifically, it is exciting to see a Birkat Hamazon included. It is also positive to see useful transliterations of prayers on the same page as the Hebrew text. This innovation has been lamented by idealists within the Reform movement who see transliterations as a an admission that the majority of our congregants will never be able to read a Hebrew text. Perhaps, but now those who wish to recite with the Hebrew readers can now do so easily, increasing opportunies for full participation in worship (afterall, how many of us who actually understand the Hebrew concentrate on the meaning as we pray?). One criticism I have is for the typeface choices, especially the Hebrew. The narrow, thin style does not reproduce well and can be difficult to read in poor light. Given that this is an interim edition, one hopes this shortcoming will be corrected in future versions. All in all, a useful volume which heralds promising new developments in America's largest Jewish religious movement.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An adequate, but not encyclopedic, Reform Jewish prayerbook, July 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gates of Prayer for Shabbat & Weekdays (English): Gender-Inclusive Edition (Hardcover)

This is the third Reform movement siddur, or prayerbook, and it takes much of its content from the earlier Gates of Prayer, published in 1975.

As the subtitle suggests, the prayerbook is the result of the movement's attempt to banish gender specific nouns and pronouns from its prayerbook, usually referring to God (Lord, He).

But this is only an interim prayerbook, meant to bridge the gap between the 1975 Gates of Prayer and a brand new siddur (prayerbook), which according to my rabbi will not be available for a decade (!)--2008.

This siddur contains several services for both weekdays and Shabbat (Sabbath) and adds a considerable amount of transliteration of the Hebrew, making it useful for people who haven't yet mastered the language of Jewish prayer.

As I said in my one-line summary, it is an adequate, but hardly encyclopedic resource for Reform Jewish prayer.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good prayer book for starting out, March 22, 2002

By 

David Shapiro (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gates of Prayer for Shabbat & Weekdays (English): Gender-Inclusive Edition (Hardcover)

I find this book a good start to any Jewish prayer book collections. I just moved away from home and need a prayer book for my own use. I found this prayer book a good start and it is easy to carry around and take with you to Temple and on business trips.