keshetchai:
theladyandtheunicorn:
keshetchai:
keshetchai:
Hey what do y'all think would be helpful in a simple guide to the Friday evening shabbat service, to help people understand it and what’s going on in a siddur?
Okay so question, bc folks keep saying “choreography.”
Most modern siddurim I’ve seen (and I personally own like at least 4 of them) notate choreography of when to bow. This usually the one thing I do see noted somehow.
Is there a way about the formatting that gets used that isn’t working for folks trying to learn it, or is it just that it’s overwhelming to try and follow along and process the choreography instructions at the same time? I’m not judging on the answer here, but knowing the reason for someone’s answer helps fix the problem lol.
the siddur that my temple uses does not note this (Mishkan T'filah), but the congregation bows in roughly Conservative style. It was therefore extremely confusing to try to figure out when to bow.
other things that don’t always get noted: when to turn around for lecha dodi, standing vs sitting for the shema (varies by congregation), who stands and recites kaddish and who says amen (& when to say it), how to figure out if your temple is doing a prayer in rounds (this might just be a my-temple thing but they do sometimes have one half of the room offset from the other half)
Mishkan T'filah definitely does note this, it’s in the footnotes on the relevant page! I know it does this because that’s how I learned the choreo, lol. I even double checked it last week. It also tells you how to bow, and also how long to stay bowing for (when it’s extended).
Example is the Barchu page:
Text at the bottom explains when the prayer leader bows, how they do so, and when they straighten. Then it explains the communal response and that we repeat that choreography.
But in this case the problem is you might not know it’s there or to look for it! So it’s helpful to mention.
Some things I think people will find helpful as I put together my notes:
Siddurim aimed at teenagers tend to be the best for educational purposes for adults less familiar with the siddur. Ymmv, but books aimed at teens:
- are still genuinely and actively teaching things to a “student” reader,
- are no longer assuming the parent is there to guide the process (where kids books rely on an invisible “parent” mentor often), and
- are trying to treat the readers like the adults they want to be
There’s a desire to educate AND the expectation of intellectual independence. General “adult” siddurim are usually not going to make the “teaching” part as obvious.
While some people might find it helpful to buy the siddur their synagogue uses, I actually don’t own either the siddur or the HHD machzor my synagogue uses, even though I own like…6-7 siddurim, some of which are decades old and probably no longer published. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve also used (in a service of some kind) at least 3-4 different siddurim, and to be frank, I’ve never really been impressed with any of them as a learner.
Ironically, I think this is a big problem with liberal siddurim, in terms of usability. Most liberal siddurim I’ve seen inside a synagogue aren’t very intuitive to use, and I find many of them frustratingly lacking in bridging knowledge gaps. You would assume this wouldn’t be the case, but actually I find most Orthodox siddurim often assume less knowledge, and therefore explain more. Of the modern “general audience” liberal siddurim, I think the best one is the conservative movement’s Siddur Lev Shalem (which I bought when it first came out in 2016).
The reform Mishkan T'filah is…okay. I mean it’s not horrible, but I wouldn’t say it’s amazing either. It’s fine. I’ve seen worse liberal siddurim (the previous Gates of Prayer, some of the older Recon siddurim…), but there’s also better out there. It’s great for having consistent transliteration to use, which I think is the selling point for people who can’t yet read Hebrew. (I can sight read prayers, but mostly because I recognize the prayer by the alef bet used. I don’t think I’m very…literate?)
Actually if you are a liberal leaning Jew, then I have to admit: you will be well served by buying at least one Orthodox published siddur of some kind to supplement your learning. If you can afford it, you may want to buy more than one.
If your goal is to learn to read the Hebrew and how to read prayers in general, then I recommend Chayim Alevsky’s My Siddur (I use the sephardic pronunciation version.)
I think it also has an app now? It looks like this more or less:
You can see the transliteration is directly above the Hebrew and read like Hebrew (right to left). There’s icons indicating when to bow. The book will define words, explain certain things, etc. Excellent for learning the Hebrew itself.
The other siddur I would recommend is a Koren (or Koren Sacks) Siddur aimed at teenagers or adult learners. They have a few: the NCSY siddur, the Ani Tefilla, and the Koren Aviv options.
Now, they typically don’t use any transliteration at all
HOWEVER, if you want to actually learn about prayer, the siddur structure, and so on, I think these are the most successful books out there.
Example: part one of a two page spread explaining the structure of Saharit and Mincha services. Sensible diagram!
And this page instructing how to wear a tallit:
With an illustration of the steps! Plus additionally a picture of tzitzit and an explainer on the mitzvah in question — all on the page including the blessing for wearing a tallit!
