At first glance, the inclusion of “iyun” or study of prayer alongside respecting one’s father and mother, gemillut chasadim, and bikur cholim on the list of deeds whose observance ensures a divine reward and its additional fruits in this world and the next might be somewhat surprising.
On the other hand, anyone who works to get younger Jews involved in prayer and seeks to cement its status in everyday life knows just how complex and challenging such an effort really is: it’s hard to consistently pray every day, it’s just as hard to maintain proper concentration and kavannah, and it’s hard for those unfamiliar with the siddur to properly understand the text he reads in all its depth and breadth.
Given the always pressing need to reinforce the proper study and observance of prayer, a number of solutions have emerged over the generations regarding the study and interpretation of prayer, the acquisition of good prayer habits from a young age, and the ability to concentrate and say it with kavannah – all throughout a given prayer, or at least during its main parts.
Naturally enough, quite a few siddurim were arranged over time with the aim of providing simple explanations of prayers, pouring new content into ancient words, and bringing those who were not raised in daily prayer closer to the siddur. One of those siddurim – which became very popular and was distributed in tens of thousands of copies – was the Avi Chai siddur, which was published in 2000 and edited and illuminated by Professor Avigdor Shinan.
In some ways, the work of editing and designing the siddur was reminiscent of the efforts made to produce the first edition of the revolutionary Rinat Yisrael siddur: the steering committee which accompanied the work and which was accompanied by thinkers, scholars, and Rabbis, the careful design and the choice of a single, uniform and easy to read font, and the choice to produce the siddur based on nusach Sfard, which many believed to be a middle way between the Ashkenazi prayer tradition and that of Mizrahi Jews and those who were more kaballistically minded.
As has been noted elsewhere, Shlomo Tal originally sought to produce Rinat Yisrael based on nusach Sfard so as to unite people who had different traditions, but he found himself ultimately also producing siddurim for Ashkenazim and Mizrachi-Sefardi Jews. Another similarity between the two projects – though separated by thirty years in time – was the fact that both siddurim were not sold as a “new Israeli siddur” – and justifiably so! – but as a new production of the traditional siddur, albeit with a new design and framework appropriate for the time and place in which they were created and for the audience to which they appealed.
The Avi Chai Siddur appeared to be appealing to two very different audiences. One was composed of people who were distant from the world of prayer, and the siddur aimed to attract them with its clear design, comprehensive explanations, and by accompanying parts of it with needed historical and philosophical explanations. On the other hand, the siddur also appeals to veteran congregants, inviting them to delve deeper into the development, structure, and layers of the prayer book, thus renewing the prayer experience in more than one way.
This appeal to two very different audiences led to hard decisions regarding content and design, some of which were unique and thought-provoking. For instance, there was the surprising decision to print the Amidah twice – and separately – for individual and public prayer. This was likely due to a desire to make it easier to follow prayer in the siddur, especially for those who were just taking their first steps in this new world.
No less interesting and unique was the decision to split the siddur into two separate volumes: one devoted to all Shabbat prayers, and the other meant for use in the home and including “prayers and blessings for the home and family”: for cycle of life events and the holidays, but also on weekdays and Shabbat. This splitting of the printed world of prayer into two separate sub-siddurim – which does not appear to have any equivalent elsewhere – raises questions about the connection and relationship between individual and collective prayer, the private home and the synagogue, and the world of prayers and blessings as such.
As we said, the siddur was received very positively and was sold in far larger numbers than previously planned. This was likely due to the decisions of the editor and steering committee regarding design and content, as well as the clarity of the introductions and commentary on specific passages. At the same time, this success would seem to point to an overwhelming demand and need for siddurim which seek to renew and reinvent the experience of prayer – some of which I have written about elsewhere, and others which I may expand on in the future.
Originally published on JFeed.com.
