Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat & Festivals
Buy this book at Amazon
Siddur Lev Shalem for Shabbat and Festivals features a four column format, new translations in contemporary language, a commentary providing historical context as well as kavanot, poetry and prose that expand and enrich our relationship to the text. “It stretches us in two directions: it is both more traditional and more contemporary than any previous Conservative mahzor.” Siddur Lev Shalem stretches us in that same way: we’ve looked at each service, thinking through how it was put together, how the tradition around it developed, what customs were dropped that can be reincorporated, and what contemporary ideas can respond to the text. A Prayerbook for Home and Synagogue Siddur Lev Shalem is designed for use by individuals as well as for congregations, in the home and in the synagogue. The siddur begins with home preparation for Shabbat — including meditations on candle lighting, a song that incorporates halakhic instruction, a passage about the neshamah y’teirah (additional spirit) of Shabbat, an introduction to Shabbat from the Zohar, and much more. In the tradition of Mahzor Lev Shalem, the siddur includes an extraordinary array of sources and commentary — historical, halakhic, and spiritual. While the siddur includes all the traditional prayers, psalms, and songs that are familiar from previous Conservative siddurim, it serves also as an anthology, offering a wide array of readings that can be used to celebrate Shabbat as well as material for study about Shabbat: poems both ancient and modern, Hasidic wisdom, rabbinic midrashim, and commentary on the history and diversity of the liturgy. Today, as in the medieval synagogue, each community and individual can choose from the variety of texts offered, adding our own voices to the harmonious and lavishly textured “Song of Shabbat.” A Prayerbook for All Conservative Jews A Prayerbook for Anyone Attending a Synagogue Service Hardcover Shabbat and Festivals
From Tablet Magazine
The Conservative movement’s latest siddur goes way beyond traditional liturgy
By Vox Tablet
Earlier this year, the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative movement put out a new prayer book, or siddur. Siddur Lev Shalem, which means “full heart,” is full of innovations. There are new translations of traditional prayers. Poems are included. There are commentaries on different parts of the Sabbath and holiday services. There are straightforward explanations of simple rites and gestures, like when and why to bow during the Amidah. The last time the Conservative movement published a new siddur was 15 years ago—not so very long. What compelled rabbis to put together a new siddur so soon? How does it differ from what preceded it?
