Siddur: Unity and Continuity : FFOZ Blogs

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Siddur: Unity and Continuity

By Aaron Eby | Comments
December 20, 2007

Shalom!

Many people have expressed their excitement about the FFOZ Siddur project and have asked for an status update. Here is what's going on:

One of the initial steps was to select our texts. In addition to texts selected from the traditional siddur, we included apostolic passages and important historical texts. The Hebrew text was translated into English. Text in Greek and other languages was translated into Hebrew--the language of prayer--and then also into English. Several hundred biblical references were cataloged. The Hebrew text was then compiled and collected from all of the various sources. Some of the text, although it had been translated, had yet to be typed and proofread.

The siddur page design is also being developed. We have innovated some exciting features that are not found in any other siddur. This features will make our siddur uniquely accessible to beginners, while preserving a sense of formality and sanctity. The unusual circumstances of a diglot (two-language) book with so many unique features result in a complicated and time consuming design process. We have been communicating with printers, sending them samples of books that have similar features. We are now working on details and specifications as to what type of materials and processes should be used. Our new resource in the Mayim Chayim series, "Breaking Bread: In Everything Give Thanks" will employ many of the same features as the siddur, so it will constitute a sort of "first fruits" of the FFOZ Siddur project. It is due to be released in a couple months.

We are also in the process of developing and recording melodies for the prayers that will be released on a companion audio CD. Some of the melodies come from traditional Jewish sources; others need to be created in order to be used with Messianic texts that we have inserted.

Our Hope

This new siddur is a desperately needed resource. Our hope is that it will play of a major role in the development of the Messianic community. Specifically, we believe that it will bring:

Maturity. Our roots reach deep into the past and can be found in every generation since the Apostles. However, the modern community of Messianic Judaism is fledgling. To ensure our future viability and success in handing off our values and way of life to the next generation, greater maturity is needed. That means a more developed faith, identity, attitude and lifestyle. Let's just say it's time we had our bar mitzvah.

The siddur will help accomplish these goals. It will develop our faith by immersing us in the word and familiarizing us with fundamental principles and values. It will develop our identity by helping us see ourselves as sons and daughters of the Almighty and a part of His people Israel. It will change our attitude by helping us remain focused on what is really important and by reminding us to be humble. It will bring discipline to our lifestyle by keeping us on a regular schedule of prayer and fellowship.

Unity. Few movements are as disjointed as ours. It's OK to hold differing theological positions. It's OK to have different opinions or preferences about styles of worship or halachah. But too often, these differences have caused us to cut off communication with each other or define ourselves against each other. Instead of driving us to strife and dis-unity, these differences should be a reason for us to discuss and communicate. The siddur will help to promote unity in our movement by helping us focus on what we have in common--our God, our Messiah, our heritage, our people--and by giving us a shared experience. I believe that having some commonality in the language of worship will also give us a sense of brotherhood. It reminds me of the prophecy in Zephaniah 3:9:

For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

Continuity. While it is certainly acceptable for a congregation to have its own preferences in worship style, it would also be helpful to our movement if there was some commonality between Messianic congregations. Even congregations that are roughly similar in their comfortability with tradition may use different resources or (as might the case) a jumbled collection of readings from a multitude of sources. The FFOZ Siddur will give every congregation a common well of prayers and readings to draw from. It will also be unique among siddurim because it will be flexible enough to meet the needs of just about any congregation.

This ties in a little with the maturity aspect of things: not every Messianic leader has had the time to devote to an in-depth study on traditional Jewish prayer. As a result, the prayer services in some Messianic congregations and fellowships leave something to be desired. This siddur can help bring those congregations up to speed, which will give them more confidence in their service and leave a better impression on visitors and the surrounding community.

Prayer: The Foundation

These are things our community needs, and the first step toward the realization of those needs is prayer. Prayer is so foundational, and that is why this is the right time for the siddur.

Our tasks in completing the siddur are far from over. Please consider supporting First Fruits of Zion's work in developing this important resource with a tax-deductible year-end donation. Please also pray that the work would go forward smoothly and by the guidance of God's Spirit. Pray that more people in the Messianic community would be receptive and begin to share this vision.

Aaron Eby

11 Tevet 5767

About the Author: Aaron Eby is a staff writer for First Fruits of Zion and Vine of David. He is the chief translator of the Delitzsch Hebrew/English Gospels and the author of Biblically Kosher and Getting Started in Hebrew, as well as several other articles and resources.

Discussions

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Archived Comments

I hope it won't be Ashkenazic-centric. Remember the Sephardim! :o)

Response:
That's part of the difficulty of this project. Our community doesn't merit separate siddurim for each nusach.

So I have tried to glean the best from each of them. Some of the gems of the Sephardi nusach are the references to the Messiah in the Kaddish and in Adon Olam. But I do lean heavily also on the Ashkenazi nusach, partly because between the two (and I realize there are more than those two) it tends to be more concise.

Aaron

**Update**

It just occurred to me to mention that the pronunciation favored by this Siddur in transliteration and recordings will in fact be Sephardic, i.e. "Shabbat," not "Shabbos." Ashkenazi-speakers will also be able to use the Siddur, but they will have to read the actual Hebrew and put up with Sephardi transliterations. So Sefardita, that part at least you will have to your liking.

Sefardita | December 31, 2007 12:54 AM

Shalom Aaron,

It is quite a blessing to see someone taking on this much needed resource for our fractured movement. I hope you are open to ideas as well. You could consider amending the 'AL TIRAH' after the ALEYNU to include the Messiahs words "And remember, I will be with you always, yes even until the end of the age". I use this amended form of the AL TIRAH to close out my Shacharit prayers.

My wife and I also are wondering how else can we help you in this project.

Shalom Alechem

Response
Thank you, that is a great idea! I will definitely consider it.

Tony Vigneau | December 29, 2007 8:59 PM

I am excited about the Siddur Project, and curious about the music. I spent almost 20 years working with church music in Germany, and find the "old" tunes have a timeless vitality to them. Will the newly composed music in the new Siddur be "contemporary", "eastern" or old "western" sounding? Will the music be published in written form?

Thanks for your dedication, devotion, and hard work!

Jerry Ringo

Response
Jerry,

Thanks for your excellent question. So far it seems like there is some variety, but effort is being made to connect with various traditions, including the classic Chassidic sound that is well known in American Jewish culture, as well as some ancient Syriac melodies. No plans exist so far to publish the sheet music.

Peace
Aaron

Jerry Ringo | December 28, 2007 5:17 PM

Jack Rabine,
That last comment struck a nerve in this 58 years old gentile. I have been a presbyterian, catholic, conservative baptist, garb baptist, fellowship bible, and plymoth brethern, and now Messianic. Praying the same written prayers everyday seems to me to be babeling...praying by wrote memory, reminds me of my 12 Our Fathers and 20 Hail Mary's. Please, help me understand the WHY of our morning, afernoon and evening prayer. I do them, not daily yet, because of the babeling thing. I am obviously missing something significant here.

Jack or DL please respond. Thanks for the insights in advance. Dan

Dan Boron | December 25, 2007 8:36 PM

Aaron Thank you so much for the work you have put into this project. Will gentiles ever learn that they (coming into faith with the Holy One of Israel) do not set the agenda? If we are ever going to unite ourselves with the God described in the Tanakh,we must submit to Him and His ways. I can never understand the attitude of many gentiles who want to drag their ideas into ring without first checking with the written Torah (teachings) of God. Surely the prayers sent up to the Holy One must meet a certain standard. We all learned in our "church experience" the prayers of "babeling". I pray that this new Siddur will teach us sound prayer principles. Thanks for hearing my thoughts. Jack Rabine

Jack Rabine | December 25, 2007 10:05 AM

Thank you for your response, Aaron, to the question about "upon the righteous converts and upon ourselves." It has made see that benediction in a different light.

But at the same time I just have never quite felt at home in that prayer. Perhaps "gerei hatzedek" could be rendered more literally, instead of "convert," as Tim Hegg brings out in "It is Often Said: The Torah is Only for Jews, p.45ff"?

Anyway, thank you so much for all your work and you probably don't need more input with all this stuff than all the great staff over there already.

Many blessings on the project. We do indeed need it.

John Peter | December 25, 2007 7:12 AM

Will you be including the kabbalistic inspired prayers into the text or will such things as the opening of the bedtime Shema be included (specifically the concept of transmigration)? Also, the morning blessings, like the one that says "blessed are You for not making me a gentile" cause the majority of us ARE gentiles... And finally, will the section in the Amidah on The Righteous be alter to reflect the fact that we are not "righteous converts" but have been grafted into Israel by way of Messiah?

just some things I've been wondering about... thanks!

Response:

Connie, thanks for your questions. Prayers and readings that present incompatible theology will not be included, (such as the prayer you mentioned), as well as other overtly kabbalistic prayers.

(However, it should be noted that not everything mystical is bad. Some of the prayers contain mystical concepts that are not incompatible with faith in Yeshua, or even that are supported in the apostolic writings. A good example of this is the description of heavenly angelic worship, which can also be seen in the book of Revelation.)

The blessing "for not making me a gentile" is a good example of a blessing that is surrounded by controversy. Controversial prayers will be included but set off with commentary text that will give the reader enough information to decide for himself or herself whether or not to pray it or modify it somehow.

As for the specific blessing "for not making me a gentile," while it is true that many gentiles will use the Siddur, many Jewish people will as well. I personally think that a Jewish person has good reasons to make that blessing, so it should not be left out just because Gentiles will also use the siddur. Gentiles can just skip over it, and offer the really cool alternative blessing that we are including based on an apostolic text.

I don't think the section in the Amidah about the Righteous poses a problem. It does not necessarily identify the category in which the one praying belongs, since it says "and upon the righteous converts AND upon ourselves." Even if you do not see yourself as a righteous convert, they do exist, so it does not pose a problem to ask for them to be blessed. I could see an argument made that an additional category be included in the prayer mentioning those who are "grafted in," but so far no such plan exists.

Peace
Aaron

Connie | December 24, 2007 8:16 AM

I hope you guys are going to incorporate or consider some of the Hebrew liturgy of 19th century Jewish believers for your siddur project.

Response
Hi Jorge,

That is our desire, and we have some material we hope to include. However, we have not run across anything particularly appropriate for Shabbat. Your help isolating those liturgical pieces would be appreciated.

Jorge Quiñónez | December 22, 2007 7:31 AM

I am really looking forward to the siddur! I have always been impressed with the quality of FFOZ work, the strong Scriptural scholarship, and the balanced viewpoint. It is my hope and my prayer that this siddur will indeed be widely received by the Messianic community as a whole and become a foundational resource.

On a personal level, I am excited at the opportunity to enrich my own prayer life. The audio CD is a great idea, as I only know a few prayer melodies, and I find that the melodies help me remember the prayers and the Hebrew words.

Aaron, I know you've put a lot of work into this worthy project. Thank you so much!

Carrie | December 21, 2007 9:17 AM

Shalom Aaron,

First of all many thanks for all the work you are putting in this project, this will indeed be a very valuable asset to all of us. At the moment Im using the Artscroll Siddur which also has brief commentaries below the prayers. I know this is a lot of work but would something like this also be included? It may actually be a good thing to do, because most of us want to know what we are praying. Personally I have frequently consulted with people on the forum as to what the meaning was of the certain prayers and their answers always gave me encouragement to go on. I also remember one of your blogs on the Shema, where you explained the reason for praying the Shema and all it entails. That was one of the reasons that I started praying the Shema, because before that I didnt see the significance in praying certain passages. Maybe, again like Artscroll, a brief background to the prayers?
But for now enjoy the Shabbat:D

Daniel

Response:
Daniel,

Yes, we will have running commentary with the prayers. That is essential in my mind, and the perspective of the commentary is one of the main things that will make this siddur uniquely Messianic. You are correct that this is a lot of work, so please pray for us as we develop it.

Peace
Aaron

Daniel_K | December 21, 2007 2:38 AM

hmm...I'm even more excited about it now! I just hope you have a good cover for it....you've covered all the other - more serious bases - so now I'm just asking for a good quality cover that will withstand being carried around in my bag.

that's my .02

Rob | December 20, 2007 9:01 PM

Hello my old friend,

Good to hear this update. But to be truly unifying this should be a siddur that has garnered input from across the spectrum of the Messy Antic movement. I hope this has been the approach of FFOZ in this regard. Otherwise it will just be known as 'FFOZ's Siddur.'

Response:
Hi Steve,

You are exactly right. We have tried our very best to do so, and we will continue to seek as much feedback and support from the Messianic community as we can.

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