PRAYER PANEL—Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman, left, and Rabbi Daniel Isaak listen to Rabbi Michael Cahana speak about prayer during a panel discussion called “Spectrum of Jewish Prayer.”

AMY R KAUFMAN

Rabbis reveal spectrum of Jewish prayer

By AMY R KAUFMAN

article created on: 2009-03-15T00:00:00

How do you pray and what do you pray for? Do you create your own poetry or follow the prayer book? Do you pray alone or with the community?

These deeply personal questions, and their role in the evolution of Judaism, were the focus of “Spectrum of Jewish Prayer” at Congregation Beth Israel Feb. 22.

Through the writings of Jewish scholars and their own experiences of prayer, the rabbis of three Portland congregations engaged the 90 participants in a discussion that has not lost its immediacy since the earliest siddur set the foundation of prayer in the days of the Second Temple.

Rabbis Arthur Zuckerman of Congregation Shaarie Torah, Daniel Isaak of Congregation Neveh Shalom and Michael Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel illuminated the central question—what makes prayer distinctly Jewish—in piquant phrases that distilled centuries of learning.

“It’s not that we help God; it enhances us as human beings that we bless God,” said Zuckerman.

“It’s ideal in terms of daily prayer to pray with a minyan (community),” said Isaak. “A mourner should not say kaddish alone. … It is important for the community to respond, as if praying with Jews of all time and all places.”

“Even the rabbis in the Talmud say if it is only fixed prayer, it’s meaningless,” said Cahana. “Somehow we want to make each time we pray unique. Beauty and creativity are as important as the words themselves.”

The rabbis also shed light on how and why the different strands of Judaism have adapted the siddur.

Zuckerman said Shaarie Torah, which he describes as “traditional, looking to be contemporary,” uses the De Sola Pool siddur for Erev Shabbat and Shabbat morning services and the ArtScroll, an Orthodox siddur, on Shabbat afternoon and weekdays.

The ArtScroll “has prayers that have been established for many, many centuries,” he said. “That is not to say that during contemporary times new prayers have not been added. A perfect example would be the prayer for our country and the prayer for the State of Israel.”

Zuckerman said the majority of the world’s 14 million Jews “live outside the U.S. and will be using the Orthodox text.” He said he likes the idea he can go to shul “anywhere in the world” and find his place in the siddur.

Isaak said, “What is the greatest compliment a rabbi can receive? When a congregant says, ‘It’s just like I remember it when I was a kid.’ [The service] is beautiful and comfortable.”

In honor of Neveh Shalom’s 140th anniversary, he said, a synagogue committee recently developed the prayer book that is used in Friday evening services.

“We changed because it responded to certain needs, and the greatest was to have an English translation because that language is familiar,” said Isaak. He described the new siddur as “gender neutral, with an aesthetically pleasing text.”

“We have the idea that religious language has to be Shakespearean,” he said. “We’ve gotten away from that, but it has to be somewhat lofty.”

Instead of translating Adonai as “O Lord,” the new siddur “simply writes Adonai,” he said. “That in itself is a theological statement.”

Cahana said Beth Israel was one of the first synagogues to see an “early draft” of the Reform movement’s Mishkan Tefila siddur, which presents different versions of the same prayer, interspersed with poetry.

“We’ve just started using it, we haven’t adopted it yet,” he said.

Describing prayer as one of the tools with which we try “to find connection with the ineffable,” Cahana said, “I need that ‘Baruch Atah Adonai’ to tell me I’m Jewish—that there is this long connection and yet it lives.”

Showing how prayer keeps pace with modern life, he pointed out that his iPhone features a shared list of people for whom we might recite the prayer for the sick (Mi Shebeirach).

The Hon. Susan Graber, chair of adult education at CBI, moderated the panel discussion. Cahana said the audiotape of the event will be available at www. bethisrael-pdx.org.This story made possible by a grant from the Judith and Edwin Cohen Foundation.