For video presentation of this prayer ritual, click here: (to be uploaded soon)
סידור ספקות (Sidur Sfekot)
Siddur of Doubts – A Modern Siddur for Skeptical Traditional Jews (in Development, will be in published book form when complete!)
The intent and purpose of this siddur of doubts is to give a voice of dialogue with established Jewish tradition, within the ritual structure, for those with theological doubts. Just because we have deep skepticism of traditional beliefs, this does not mean that we must ultimately distance ourselves from or abandon familiar and comforting traditional rituals, as a means to resolve this inner conflict. If ritual behavior and intellectual honesty expressed together is important to you, then….
ברכו את החיים / bar’chu et ha’chayim
Blessing Life
le’òrech ha’doròt avotèinu he’emìnu b’èl yotzèr le’umì shèl ha’umà v’sagdù lahèm. hèm hich’rìzu b’sif’teihèm v’lim’dù otànu b’s’farìm lomàr:
Throughout the ages, our ancestors believed in and worshiped the nation’s national creator god. They professed with their lips and taught us with books to say:
kadòsh kadòsh kadòsh, adonài ts’va’òt m’lò khòl ha’àrets k’vodò. barùkh k’vòd adonài mim’komò. yim’lòkh adonài l’olàm. elohàyikh tsiyòn lidòr vadòr hal’luyàh. sh’mà yisraèl adonài elohèinu adonài ekhàd.
“Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of Hosts, the entire world is filled with his glory. Blessed is the glory of the Lord in its place. The Lord shall reign forever. Your God, Zion, from generation to generation, hallelujah. Hear, Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one!”
achshàv anàchnu yod’ìm tòv yotèr! yèsh et olàm ha’tèva, v’yèsh et ha’olàm ha’enoshì. ka’èt ànu yod’ìm she’ha’mòach kayàm bizchùt ha’gùf, v’ha’gùf kayàm bizchùt ha’neshamà she’betochò.
We now know better! There is the world of the natural universe, and there is the world of the human mind. We now know that the mind exists thanks to the body, and the body exists thanks to the breath within it.
àz z’hù, yehudì kayàm bizchùt ha’ kehilà ha’yehudìt! v’ha’kehilà ha’yehudìt kayèmet bizchùt ha’neshamà shèl ha’t’kasìm shelànu. b’kavòd amòk l’emunòt kdumòt, alèinu lomàr l’màh ànu mitkavnìm v’lehitkavèn l’màh she’ànu omrìm. anàkhnu ha’khayìm ach’shàv om’rìm:
So it is, a Jew exists thanks to the Jewish community! And the Jewish community exists thanks to the breath of our rituals. With deep respect to ancient beliefs, we must say what we mean and mean what we say. We who are living now say:
(kneel, waving half bows)
èifoh atàh? èifoh atàh? òr ha’eìn sòf, makòr elohèi, madùa èin lechà kòl ledabèr elèinu yeshiròt b’yemèi ha’ma’avàk?
Where are you? Where are you? Oh, Infinite Source, why have you no voice to speak directly with us in these days of struggle?
(bow)
nishpòch et libènu. avàl l’mì? làmah atèm lò kayamìm, elìm?
We will pour out our hearts. But to whom? Why do you not exist, gods?
(stand)
From the pages of
סידור ספקות (Sidur Sfekot)
Siddur of Doubts – A Modern Siddur for Skeptical Traditional Jews
The intent and purpose of this siddur of doubts is to give a voice of dialogue with established Jewish tradition, within the ritual structure, that honestly expresses modern awareness of what we call “life.”
What good is prayer, if it lacks personal meaning? How do you join community in prayer, if you doubt the existence of your community’s god? We are a people with a tradition of religious inheritance, and it is important to wrestle with it in the ways of our ancestors. That’s *being* a Jew. I hope my attempt here at contributing to this dialogue is embraced with interest and reflection.
Sincerely,
Joseph T Farkasdi, aka Tsefan Josef
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[As I said in the title up top, this siddur is a work in progress. PLEASE, if you see typos in either the English, Hebrew, or transliteration, feel free to let me know! The same, if you believe you have a better way to say a phrase, sentence, or paragraph. Have a suggestion on what from liturgy to include here in a modernized secular way? Share it!]