Temple’s new prayer book offers multiple ‘paths’ for worshipers

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

Arriving at Temple Sholom of West Essex in Cedar Grove 36 years ago as the wife of the congregation’s new rabbi, Naomi Patz immediately began crafting a new liturgy for the second day of Rosh Hashana. “We discovered the congregation had the tradition of holding services on the second day of Rosh Hashana. But the Reform liturgy had no second service. So it meant repeating the first day’s liturgy, something we really did not want to do,” Patz told NJ Jewish News.

With her husband’s blessing, she transformed the service into something a bit more unusual, even radical in its day.

“I had the president of the youth group stand up three-quarters of the way through the service and shout out, ‘Rabbi, what kind of business is this? Why should Abraham be asked to kill his child?’” Later, the “spontaneous eruptions” were crafted to focus on other issues — for example, in 1970, it was Soviet Jewry.

Patz’s passion for transforming liturgy has never waned, and this year her efforts have culminated in Siddur Netivot Sholom, an alternative prayer book by and for members of the Reform synagogue. What began as liturgy for a family service blossomed into eight different services. “I had no intention of creating a prayer book. I was working on just one service,” she said.

With advanced degrees in English literature, and as an author or editor of books on Jewish life and liturgy, Patz brought a professional’s eye to the task. Over time, she developed a sensitivity to the style of the congregation as well as a clear idea of what works.

While the Reform movement does not keep track of how many synagogues are using alternative prayer books, it is aware of the practice, according to Emily Grotta, spokesperson for the Union for Reform Judaism. “One reason so many congregations have made their own is that Gates of Prayer [published in 1975] is no longer meeting the needs of congregations,” said Grotta.

Temple Sholom was one of those congregations. Although Gates of Prayer, which replaced the then 80-year-old Union Prayer Book, was considered progressive in its time, it has since fallen short of many Reform congregations’ expectations about creativity and inclusivity. “We wanted gender-neutral language and transliteration of all Hebrew texts,” said Patz.

Patz’s first response to the dissatisfaction was her creation of a Friday night family service. The results were “very popular,” she said. Next, she started on a healing service. “One by one, they fell into place,” said Patz, until the congregation was using only her services.

Still, Rabbi Norman Patz believed the congregation was “marking time” until the movement’s new prayer book, Mishkan Tefila, would arrive. The new prayer book, scheduled to be published this year, was edited by Rabbi Elyse Frishman of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Franklin Lakes and was offered to Reform synagogues in 2003 for feedback.

According to Rabbi Patz, the congregation had “fallen in love with what we were doing. And then we were asked to field test Mishkan Tefila. The reaction was very negative.”

“It didn’t match our needs as a congregation,” said Judy Wilson, one of three copresidents of the congregation. “It just wasn’t as fresh as we wanted.”

That’s when they knew it was time to gather their various alternative services into one volume. Thanks to a gift from Howard and Barbara Rich, the result was Siddur Netivot Sholom, whose name translates as “Paths of Peace.” The new prayer book was dedicated in May.

“I walked into the synagogue and saw all the prayer books lined up in the pews — it was an incredible thrill,” Naomi Patz said.

Other voices

The siddur includes five services for kabalat Shabbat — a family service, a celebratory service for Shabbat and festivals, a service for multiple generations, one based on Gates of Prayer, and a healing service — along with two services for Shabbat morning and a Havdala service. Each includes the core parts of the Reform movement services, with various adaptations, additions, or substitutions, plus readings from a wide range of sources, contemporary and classical, Jewish and non-Jewish.

Traditionalists might be surprised to find quotations from the likes of Albert Einstein and poets Marge Piercy and Marcia Falk. The book even includes excerpts from British novelist Zadie Smith and a poem by the Nootka people of the American Northwest.

“I believe that so long as a source is not anti-Semitic, there’s no reason why we cannot absorb wisdom and beauty from all over, whether it’s George Eliot or Rainer Maria Rilke,” said Naomi Patz. “They’re all grist. If it can broaden and deepen our religious understanding as Jews, I see no reason not to take and use it.”

Patz’s biggest concern, she said, was to create services that would speak to all the worshipers who could attend. “There might be an elderly widowed person and there might be a young family, and you would want to make sure they weren’t left out.”

While the siddur has its detractors, from those who simply don’t like change to those who object to specific readings, the majority of the congregation has embraced Netivot Sholom, including some who did not originally think a new siddur was necessary.

“I wasn’t unhappy with Gates of Prayer, but I like this better,” said congregant Diane Gilmore of Verona. “There’s something to be said for a book written for your synagogue by someone who has been there so long. There’s a connection. It feels like home.”

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.

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