Mishkan T'filah: The New Reform Siddur (CCAR Press) Review pending.

After more than twenty years in development, the CCAR will publish the Mishkan T'filah: The New Reform Siddur  in the Spring of 2005. It succeeds the previous Reform prayer book The Gate of prayer.

The Mishkan T'filah Introduces a unique design based on inclusivity. Each prayer has a two page spread; the right hand page offers the traditional prayer, with elegant, faithful translation and transliteration, and the left page contains alternative prayers which can be used in place of the traditional. Beneath the liturgy are sources and commentary.

Both its liturgy and commentary celebrate the diversity of our Reform movement. Mishkan T'filah: The New Reform Siddur offers several prayer choices within each service. Its services include a broad range of inspirational material that enables the individual worshipper to locate a prayer that suits him/her self within the page spread, even while the congregation prays another. The cue for turning the page is the chatima, the concluding line of the traditional prayer, which ends each liturgical piece across the page spread.

Meditations and kavanot often lead into a prayer, and at times are designed graphically to enhance the prayer. Each prayer is written lyrically so that it can be set to music; it is hoped that much new music will be inspired by the text even as familiar musical prayers have been included.

Mishkan T'filah: The New Reform Siddur brings Reform liturgy into the twenty-first century. It embraces that which is beloved, including passages from Gates of Prayer and The Union Prayer Book. It includes new liturgy and commentary that reflect the evolving ways in which Reform Jews participate in worship and apprehend God.

Publication Date: Spring 2005

Hardcover, Trim Size: 9" x 7" ...            .. $30.00

Large Print/Pulpit Edition, Trim Size: 11" x 9"    $60.00

Leather Bound Edition, Trim Size: 9" x 7" ...      ....$100.00

AVAILABLE IN HEBREW OPENING ONLY

Rabbis, Congregations and Congregational Judaica Shops will receive a 20% discount.

A Note for Users of Gates of Prayer and Gates of Prayer for Shabbat and Weekdays: These titles will continue in production until three years after the publication date o. and will not be reprinted after that date.

The publication of Mishkan T'filah culminates the most extensive process undertaken in preparation for a congregational prayer book, including a multi-year research project co-sponsored by the Lilly and Cummings Foundations. This project explored how worshipers relate to the worship experience in a variety of settings, through the use of worship journals and participant-observers. From this research and an extensive critique of existing liturgies emerged the criteria underlying the creation of Mishkan T'filah

As services are completed in manuscript, congregations will be invited to participate in broad field-testing; piloting opportunities will also be arranged at rabbinic and congregational kallot and conventions, and conferences of Hillel directors, chaplains, academics, students and other groupings.

Editor: Rabbi Elyse Frishman serves Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, The Barnet Memorial Temple in Franklin Lakes , New Jersey . Ordained in 1981, Rabbi Frishman has edited Haneirot Halallu: These Lights Are Holy, a book for families celebrating Chanukah, and Gates of Prayer for Young People, in addition to her ongoing work with the Liturgy Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. She is active in worship transformation in congregation-al life; she and her congregation are one of three featured in the UAHC "Worship With Joy" video. She has served on the faculty of Synagogue 2000 and as a founding participant in the Joint Commission on Religious Living. Rabbi Frishman is married to Rabbi Dan Freelander, and they have three chil­dren, Adam, Jonah and Devra.

Artist: Yori Yanover brings to the Siddur project both his design skills and his deep knowledge of Torah study. Producer and designer of many successful Jewish Web projects, an author and a journalist, Mr. Yanover intelligently intertwines the lofty texts, in both Hebrew and English, with a sense of lightness and a note of whimsy. The relationships he creates between parallel texts is respon­sive not merely to function-a primary concern in a prayer book-but also to the deeper meanings of texts in the different languages. His comfortable lay-outs nicely complement Rabbi Frishman's work.  

Since its founding in 1889, the CCAR has been the publisher of congregational prayer books for the Reform Movement, starting with the Union Prayer Book in 1895 (twice revised), and extending through Gates of Prayer in 1975. CCAR has also published guides to Jewish practice, and numerous liturgies for the Jewish home, including best-selling Passover Haggadot.

The Editorial Committee, chaired by Rabbi Peter Knobel, is broadly represen­tative of the rabbinate and cantorate, and the fields of scholarship, education and worship transformation.