The Movement for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet is the Editor of our new Siddur which will be published next month. Now nearing the end of an 8 year long process, Rabbi Magonet has penned a series of short 'jottings' relating to different aspects of this groundbreaking publication

Whatever debates there may have been about the contents of the new Siddur, whether or not to include transliteration; how far should we go with inclusive language; was introducing the Musaf service a betrayal of Reform principles?; etc, there was one thing on which absolutely everyone we talked to in the Movement was in complete agreement – the weight of the book!   Memories of the Festival Prayer Book haunted us, as did the weight of the reprint of the 1977 Siddur on heavier paper than the original. If the new Siddur was too heavy we were lost before anyone even turned the first page.

Of course the actual weight was partly determined by the number of pages. This in turn almost led to a kind of territorial warfare between the various parts of the book. If it was just a Shabbat book for use in the synagogue, then the greatest emphasis should be on the service section. But already the existing Siddur with its large study anthology showed the value as an educational tool, so whatever new passages were to be added many of the old ones that had stood the test of time should be retained. We also wanted the Siddur to be a book people could use at home for practical things like Kiddush and Thanksgiving after Meals, as well as prayers or meditations for private life cycle events, so that section could not be ignored.

In the end we settled for a maximum of 756 pages, and literally filled every last one after much careful juggling of opening and closing pages. Although it has about 100 more pages and a larger format than the current Siddur, it has been printed on special 40 gsm paper and so weighs little more... Now it has to stand on the merits of the contents.

'Forms of Prayer' will be published in May 2008. If you haven't yet ordered your copy, please contact your synagogue office. The siddur is also available to people who are not members of synagogues. To place your order, please call 0208 349 9484 or click here to buy on-line.