 |
|
|
|
|
We had a Torah service today (no 10:30 bar mitzvah). Some of the text that Gates of Prayer dropped is back, such as the stuff from the Zohar at the beginning. Other text is still absent, most notably "vay'hi benso'a ha-aron" before "ki mitzion" as the scroll is being taken out of the ark. I was once told that there was a theological reason for that change (not just an effort to shorten the service), but I'm not sure what the argument is.
There were two versions of the mi-sheberach for healing, one longer (don't know if it's the traditional version) and then the shortened one that matches up with the Debbie Friedman song. In most places this siddur does not offer alternates for the Hebrew texts; it does so here and for Aleinu (where there are three versions). I think I'd prefer that they stick to one, because if these two places rate alternates, surely there will be other places where people will want alternates and then the siddur will become less usable. (Note that I'm not talking about optional sections, of which there are several, but rather repetitions with variations where you can't just keep reading in the text straight through.)
Some text sections are used only at certain times. There are always instructions in the English text (e.g. "on Chanukah", "in winter", etc); the instructions in the Hebrew text are usually in Hebrew (though I spotted one today that was in transliteration, not actual Hebrew). I would like the editors of the siddur to not assume that those who can pray in Hebrew are completely fluent in the language. Give me English on both sides, please. And skip the translit for this; this is not text that anyone has to read out loud.
I noticed more English readings that I would describe as "earthy crunchy new-age", but I can't remember where. There were also several that were very nice, not new-age at all. I feel pretty strongly that anything that occupies the physical place of a translation in this layout had better be a translation, though, and that's not always the case. Save the interpretive stuff for the "interpretive readings" side of the page.
The siddur breaks its format conventions in several places, and we found it confusing in those places (because you can't just go through reading right-hand -- or left-hand -- pages and do a complete service).
Next week, I'm told, our copies will have been altered to paste in transliteration for Ashrei. (Several of our people need it.) I wonder if they're collecting the annotations congregations make to the siddur; it seems like it would be a useful thing to know. I wouldn't be surprised if others are marking it up in other ways, after all.
Some of the text changes are going to require corresponding melodic changes in the tunes we use. I wonder how many congregations will learn altered melodies and how many will revert to the older texts with existing melodies.
