From The Boston Jewish Advocate

The following article appeared in the Jewish Advocate on December 31, 1998 and is reprinted with permission.

News This Week New prayerbook aims to be inclusive, accessible to all By Tamar M. Sternthal, Advocate Staff BOSTON -- "Chaverim Kol Yisraeil," a new prayerbook named after a phrase from a monthly blessing calling for reunification and camaraderie among the dispersed Jewish people, has achieved just that -- via the Internet. In November, 1995, Mark Frydenberg, a member of the Progressive Chavurah of Boston, presented his idea of producing a Friday night "siddur," or prayerbook to his widespread colleagues on the mail-havurah Internet discussion list, he told the Advocate during an interview this week. Now the group -- including several members of the Progressive Chavurah here, in addition to representatives from Maryland, Michigan, Connecticut and Ontario -- expects its years of cyber sweat to pay off as its two versions are expected to appear in print soon, noted Frydenberg, the editor-in-chief. Stressing the unique format of the 55 page prayerbook, Frydenberg described the four columns -- Hebrew, English, transliteration and interpretation or commentary -- across the facing pages. Explaining that opposite pages share the same number, the Waltham man said, "We wanted `lecha dodi' [a psalm recited on Friday night] to be on page 11, no matter if you read it in Hebrew, English or transliteration." He continued that with the interpretation the editorial board "tried to find ways to make themes of the traditional prayers relevant to those who are praying. "They convey the personal relation of the person who wrote it with the text," he added. "All of the interpretive readings were not published previously elsewhere." Rather, the writings were written or submitted specifically for this project, Frydenberg said. Although only 80 to 100 cheaply bound copies are now in use at the Progressive Chavurah, a congregation of 60 or so household units, Frydenberg seems convinced of the potentially wide-spread appeal of the siddur. "We tried to come up with one siddur that was successful for a number of different communities," he contends. Indeed, the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts contracted the liberal group to develop an exclusive edition of the siddur for use at the council's young adult Nashira Friday night services at Congregation Kehillath Israel, a mainstream Conservative synagogue in Brookline. "It's a very inclusive and sort of innovative ... and much more immediate to a broader spectrum of people," said a Nashira spokesperson, praising the siddur's "fresher approach." Nashira is expected to begin using the new prayerbook in the next month. "We liked it because of the transliterations," she continued. "A lot of people appreciate that who do not read Hebrew." Frydenberg said that in the process of developing the transliteration scheme, editors tested beginner Hebrew readers at the chavurah on their reading of three or four different styles. Using the second paragraph of the "Sh'ma" daily prayer as a litnus test, the group "listened to them to see if the words they said actually sounded right." The results led the board to pick a scheme not line with that of the usual scholarly transliterations, he conceded. "People that don't read Hebrew don't need the scholarly transliteration schemes," Frydenberg claims. While the Nashira version will not be available for sale, Frydenberg said "we do hope to sell" the other, which includes the prayer after meals, Shabbat songs, prayers for healing and blessings for various occasions. He estimates that it will be sold for between $12 and $15. "The main reason we did Friday night is because the Progressive Chavurah meets on Friday nights," he said, adding: "Whether or not we'll to Saturday morning remains to be seen." At a National Chavurah Committee winter retreat in Cape Cod a couple of weeks ago, "people asked when it's going to be available so we can use it in our communities," said Frydenberg. "The whole siddur has been desktop published on my p.c. at home," acknowledged Frydenberg, adding that copyright arrangements and typesetting are among the remaining details needing attention.