Mishkan T'filah - Development

Development

Gates of Prayer was criticized as being a non-cohesive collection of prayers, resulting in a prayer book that was too large, and for its retention of masculine pronouns. To address these issues, some congregations prepared their own prayer materials (often with edits to neutralize gender) or continued use of the Union Prayer Book.

A project to address these concerns and increase the poeticism of a future prayerbook was initiated in 1981. Israeli poet T. Carmi was brought in to provide guidance on post-biblical Hebrew texts that could be incorporated into the Reform liturgy. The "Carmi Project" generated hundreds of possibilities, many of which would later be integrated into Mishkan T'filah.

A three-year study called "Lay Involvement and Liturgical Change" started in 1985 as part of an effort to better understand the changing spiritual needs of Reform worshipers. Diverse groups of volunteers were asked to keep journals regarding their experiences in prayer services as part of gaining insights into what worked well in the existing GOP prayer book, to prepare standards for evaluating new options and to start preparations for creating a revised siddur. The research found that the themed services touted as a benefit of the GOP did not meet the needs of all worshipers in aiming too narrowly at one group within the congregation and that the traditional responsive readings were found to limit participation. Feedback showed that congregants wanted accurate and meaningful translations of prayers, accompanied by a transliteration and commentaries that would provide additional insights into the text without distracting from it.

The CCAR received 18 submissions in response to requests for proposals to meet the standards specified based on the input gathered. Two proposals were selected, with one from Rabbi Elyse Frishman of the Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, who was able to provide insight on Jewish texts on liturgy and worship, who was named to serve as editor of the new siddur. In Frishman's concept, each pair of pages would feature the Hebrew text with a translation and transliteration on the right page and additional readings on the left from such authors as Yehuda Amichai and Langston Hughes. This would allow those seeking a more traditional prayer service to stay on the right side of the prayerbook, while others could choose to focus on the readings on the left. All would conclude with a common chatimah, a one-line conclusion, before moving on to the next page. Judith Abrams, who submitted a second proposal and who provided expertise in rabbinic source materials, was named as consulting editor, and Rabbi Peter Knobel chaired the editorial committee.