Sept 2006 Digest 139

            It is the nature of liberal Judaism to adapt to modern life. Look at the new Reform siddur (Mishkan T'filah) and the changes in it.

            "The big elephant in the room is that many of us are ambivalent, conflicted, and uncomfortable with prayer and worship. Except in moments of extreme danger and extreme relief, we are not inclined to cry out, "O God, please help me!" or "Thank God!" We may not even believe in a personal God who responds to prayers, or we may have profound doubts about what we do believe. And we may feel awkward or guilty about that. [See Whither Reform Worship by Dr. Richard Sarason on the “Current Issues in Reform Worship” page at www.urj.org/mishkan.]

            And this discussion of the Sh'ma in the new prayer book [The Three Paragraphs of the Sh’ma by Dr. Richard Sarason on the “Current Issues in Reform Worship” page at www.urj.org/mishkan] is a good example of wrestling with the text for modern times.

Mary