{"id":71,"date":"2007-09-07T16:45:53","date_gmt":"2007-09-07T16:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/feilerfaster\/2007\/09\/the-death-of-god-now-in-synago.html"},"modified":"2007-09-07T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2007-09-07T16:45:53","slug":"the-death-of-god-now-in-synago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/feilerfaster\/2007\/09\/the-death-of-god-now-in-synago.html","title":{"rendered":"The Death of God — Now in Synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

The obituary of God is being written on the bestseller lists these days, as we all know. But now the latest chapter in the Death of God sweepstakes seems to be written … in synagogue! The Reform movement has written its new prayerbook <\/a>in a way that says belief in God is not a condition. Fascinating. <\/p>\n

Traditional touches coexist with a text that sometimes departs from tradition by omitting or modifying some prayers and by using language that is gender-neutral. References to God as \u201cHe\u201d have been removed, and whenever Jewish patriarchs are named \u2014 like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so are the matriarchs \u2014 like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. The prayer book took more than 20 years to develop and was tested in about 300 congregations. Its release has been delayed for a year because the initial printed product was shoddy, said people involved with the project. But the book is expected to be released in about a month \u2014 too late, however, for the High Holy Days, which begin Sept. 13.
\n\u201cIt reflects a recognition of diversity within our community,\u201d said Rabbi Elyse D. Frishman, the editor of the prayer book. \u201cWe have interfaith families. We have so many visitors at b\u2019nai mitzvah ceremonies that I could have a service on Shabbat morning where a majority of people there aren\u2019t Jewish,\u201d she said, referring to bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies on Saturday mornings.
\n\u201cThere are even those in my community who come to Shabbat worship each week who don\u2019t believe in God,\u201d said Rabbi Frishman, who leads the Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, N.J. \u201cHow do we help them resonate with the language of prayer, which is very God-centric and evokes a personal God, a God that talks to you in a sense? There are many, many Jews who do not believe in God that way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The obituary of God is being written on the bestseller lists these days, as we all know. But now the latest chapter in the Death of God sweepstakes seems to be written … in synagogue! The Reform movement has written its new prayerbook in a way that says belief in God is not a condition.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Death of God - Now in Synagogue - Feiler Faster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/feilerfaster\/2007\/09\/the-death-of-god-now-in-synago.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Death of God - Now in Synagogue - Feiler Faster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The obituary of God is being written on the bestseller lists these days, as we all know. 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