Prayers of Our Heart - Tefilot BLev
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, sho-may-ah TEFILOT BA-LEYV.
Blessed are You, Almighty our God, Ruler of the universe, Who hears the PRAYERS OF OUR HEART.
The writing, or more correctly the compiling, of a new prayer book is a major undertaking. The primary requirements that we set out for our new prayer book were that it be non-sexist, comprehensive and flexible; and be meaningful to the various movements within Judaism.
Before sitting down to the actual writing, we researched the publications of the other Gay and Lesbian congregations. We quickly found that Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, the Gay Synagogue of New York, had created a Siddur that, no matter how much effort we expended, could not be surpassed. And so, with their permission, we have adapted their prayer book, B’CHOL L’VAVGHA, With All Your Heart, to our use. For the countless thousands of hours of love and work that they put into their Siddur, as well as for the permission to adapt, we extend our everlasting appreciation.
Our main contribution to this prayer book is the addition of a Torah Service, since this is an important part of our regular Shabbat Services. While we have succeeded in producing a service free of gender bias, in English, it should be noted that the original Hebrew remains unchanged, due to the technicalities of the language. In addition, this prayer book has been made comprehensive in order to provide each service leader enough latitude to include prayers appropriate to any occasion.
To all of our members and friends who made this printing possible, we also say THANK YOU. Without your support, this book would still have been just a dream. To all of those of you who worship with us on Shabbat, we hope that this book will be a source of inspiration, as well as comfort, hope and enlightenment.
We are proud of our past years of growth, and hope that this Siddur will be a significant contribution toward our future. As Gay and Lesbian Jews, we proudly offer this prayer book to K’lal Yisrael, the Jewish Community. It contains TEFILOT BA-LEYV, the PRAYERS OF OUR HEART.
Norman Sandfield Peter Kessler Warren Seigel Paul Zeitzew Alan Jaffe Advisor Co-Presidents Liturgy
July, 1982 Ab, 5742