JOFA Endorses Koren-Sacks Siddur
The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) has officially endorsed the new Koren-Sacks siddur, the prayer book published in conjunction with the Orthodox Union (OU), that is posing the first serious competition to the Artscroll Siddur, which, for the last couple of decades, has been the prayer book of choice in most Orthodox congregations.
In an email sent to its mailing list today, JOFA announced its support for the Koren edition as a better alternative than Artscroll:
Until now there was only one widely used Hebrew/English-language siddur: ArtScroll, a siddur that doesn’t really include women as active participants in prayer.
Now you have a choice–a new siddur by Koren Publishers Jerusalem, with an introduction and commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
Rabbi Martin Lockshin writes that the Koren Sacks Siddur “shows a laudable sensitivity to the fact that half of all Jews are women.” Prayers are included for the birth of a daughter, and for women to recite upon returning to synagogue after giving birth. It also acknowledges that three women may constitute a quorum for zimmun, and that, following the rules of Hebrew grammar, a woman would say Modah ani.
Other than the Canadian Jewish News article by Rabbi Martin Lockshin mentioned above, much of the mainstream Jewish press coverage has omitted significant mention of the more women-friendly bent of the Koren siddur that JOFA is so excited about, though it is indicative of the more “modern,” rather than “ultra,” Orthodox nature of the siddur that has been the focus of press coverage. The mainstream Jewish press’s omission of the women-friendly details (prayers for the birth of a daughter, acknowledging that three women may constitute a quorum for zimmun, etc.) speaks to just how subtle these details are if one is not looking for them. This is not an egalitarian prayer book by any means: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah are nowhere to be found. But the nods to women are enough to move JOFA not only to publicly declare its preference for the new prayer book but to encourage its constituents to actively promote it:
We strongly support the inspiring Koren Sacks Siddur for synagogue and personal use, and urge you to:
· Build awareness of the Koren Sacks Siddur in your community
· Purchase one as a bar or bat mitzvah present
· Purchase a set for a women’s tefillah group
· Lobby your shul or school to replace their ArtScroll siddurim with Koren Sacks siddurim
· Encourage your friends and family to purchase and promote the siddur as well
The vehemence with which JOFA has thrown its support behind this prayer book shows just how much the other options, namely the Artscroll Siddur and the Artscroll Women’s Siddur, have been found lacking by Orthodox feminists.
And if the fact that the Koren-Sacks prayer book’s website has been down since shortly after the email went out is any indication, email recipients are heeding JOFA’s call to action.
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[...] The Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) has officially endorsed the new Koren-Sacks siddur, the prayer book published in conjunction with the Orthodox Union (OU), that is posing the first serious competition to the Artscroll Siddur, which, for the last couple of decades, has been the prayer book of choice in most Orthodox congregations. See my full post over at TJC’s Newsdesk blog. [...]
Pingback by Jewess » JOFA Endorses Koren-Sacks Siddur — May 19, 2009 @ 7:03 pm
Yes, we had to increase the bandwidth of the site last night.
Comment by Raphael Freeman — May 20, 2009 @ 4:18 am
I published my review of the Koren Siddur on the Tradition Seforim blog in December:
http://seforim.traditiononline.org/index.cfm/2008/12/9/Book-Review-The-Yehuda-Bilingual-Edition-of-the-Koren-Siddur
It included the following paragraph:
The Koren Siddur is more inclusive of women both in terms of its content and in terms of its instructions. The content includes the liturgy (imported from the Sephardic rite and increasingly prevalent in Israel) of the “Zeved ha-Bat” celebration upon the birth of a daughter (it appears in the excellent “Life Cycle” section of the siddur). It furthermore includes the thanksgiving prayer recited by a women after childbirth, which includes “Birkat ha-Gomel”. The ArtScroll Siddur makes no mention of this obligation (and the practice is even discouraged in the ArtScroll Women’s Siddur, which follows the minority opinion of the Mishna Berura on this matter without recording dissent). With regard to zimmun, the ArtScroll Siddur applies the practice to “three or more males, aged thirteen or older”. The Koren Siddur, on the other hand, states that “when three or more women say Birkat ha-Mazon with no men present, then substitute “Friends” for Gentlemen”.
You may also want to see my (much more bloggerish) review of the ArtScroll Women’s Siddur, here:
http://adderabbi.blogspot.com/2005/07/artscroll-womens-siddur-men-and-women.html
Comment by Elli Fischer — May 20, 2009 @ 10:30 am
[...] Feminist Alliance has been on a roll with the emails lately. Earlier in the week there was the website-crashing Koren-Sacks Siddur endorsement, and today there’s a deceptively plain-looking, unadorned missive titled “Responsa [...]
Pingback by Jewess » What (Liberal) Orthodox Rabbis Say About Women Joining Their Ranks — May 21, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
[...] JOFA (link) [...]
Pingback by Introducing the Koren Sacks Siddur | Jewish Book News — July 7, 2009 @ 11:52 am