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Introduction
SiddurWiki aims to apply a “wisdom of the crowds” approach to collaboratively create a more humanistic non-supernatural commentary to the traditional prayers in the siddur.
The goal of SiddurWiki is not to rewrite the siddur itself. Rather, we want to identify specific themes within each prayer in order to augment the mainstream meanings with a less theistic interpretation. From there, we hope that the individual congregant can meditate on those themes and interpretations while still remaining in a traditional prayer framework.
That's not an easy thing to do - to participate fully in a "regular" shul experience, even saying the traditional prayers, while "thinking" something else. You could liken it to "rewiring the neural pathways" in your brain that have, over the years, associated the word "God" with a very specific hierarchical and personally interactive conception, one that might have been liturgically relevant 2,000 years ago but no longer speaks to many, if not most, modern Jews.
This approach isn't an entirely foreign concept to traditional Judaism. When God gives the Torah to Moshe and the Jewish people, the Torah says that the people "saw" what was being "said." The goal here is similar - to read the words while at the same exact moment thinking something different; something new and personal.
The project can also be seen like this: Does God need human prayer? Or sacrifices? Many commentaries say no. Rather, the real reason for prayer is to reflect the praise being given to God back on the person praying, to make that person a better human being and the world a better place. SiddurWiki simply wants to take out the "middleman" - to learn from the prayers without it needing to boomerang on an external supernatural being.
Can it be done? Let's give it a try!
Those of us who will participate in this project may not be rabbis or biblical scholars. That's the point of putting the collective wisdom of the Internet into play. Please feel free to add your own commentaries and thoughts to the different sections of this Wiki, and to annotate and edit what others have written. We will ultimately create a PDF printable version that can be taken beyond the walls of the web.
Most of all, we hope that the resulting work will be inclusive; that it will be of value for both atheists and hassids, and everyone in-between, who want to enhance their prayer experience.
Sections
SiddurWiki is starting with Friday night prayers and "big" concepts. However, much of what is discussed here is applicable to other parts of the prayer service.
Friday Night
Kabbalat Shabbat - קבלת שבת
Ma'ariv - מעריב לשבת
Customs at Home
Shabbat Day
Coming Soon
If you're ready to contribute to this section, please click through!
Big Concepts
God
Baruch Ata Adonai - ברוך אתה יהוה
Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam - אלהינו מלך העולם
Holiness - קדושה
Divinity - אלוהות
Mitzvot - מצוות
Blessing - ברכות
Faith - אמונה
Messiah - משיח
Redemption - גאולה
Angels - מלאכים
Religion - דת
Torah - תורה
Tikun Olam - תיקון עולם
When Re-interpretation Fails
About the Translation
The English translation for SiddurWiki is taken from the new Koren English-Hebrew siddur (also known as the Koren Sacks for its commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks).
How to Use a Wiki
If you're not familiar with contributing to a Wiki, never fear. It's really quite easy. Wherever you see a page to which you'd like to contribute, just click the "edit" link. That will open an editing page. Don't worry about all the funky symbols. Just start typing. When you're done, click "Save page." That's all there is to it!
IMPORTANT NOTE: the SiddurWiki site has recently become a victim of cyber-vandalism. Content is being deleted or changed inappropriately. So, you may encounter sections where you cannot add your own thoughts directly. In these cases, contact brian @ siddurwiki.com (delete the spaces when you copy into your email program.
