Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

Based upon my limited work with this Siddur, I would say that it bridges the gap between the 1975 G.O.P. and the new Siddur expected to makes its arrive within the decade. This Siddur does not have the variety of services which the 1975 G.O.P. offered, and requires congregations to keep the 1975 edition, which is a terrable waste of space.

When the editors created this book, they should have considered including some of the services (or at least special readings) for the Holidays (i.e. Sukkot, Passover, etc.). This would therefore end the need for the '75 Gates of Prayer.

However, I must say that the title of this review best explaines my feeling toward the newest "Gates" book for the Reform Congregations. It is a good book if one does not mind having only a limited option of services to use.