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"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

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Tag: machzor

Grandfather’s prayers

Grandfather’s prayers

The author’s family Machzor, which was printed in Warsaw in 1913, was most likely owned by her grandfather. (photo by Shula Klinger)

Growing up, I was never taken to shul. I never saw my parents pray, read religious texts or attend any Jewish community events. I saw my maternal grandfather’s tallit case once or twice; I don’t know if he attended shul regularly. These ritual items were simply family artifacts, not elements of our daily lives.

At school, I went to Shabbat with a school friend and muddled through, not knowing the customs. I went to Jewish assembly twice a week and learned the Shema – sort of – from the other girls. With an Israeli father who spoke fluent Hebrew, I didn’t know where I fitted in. Religious Jews weren’t “our people.” My father’s religion was Zionism, not Judaism. I was English, but, at the same time, I wasn’t.

My mother passed away in 2020. As I went through her belongings, I was startled to find a Machzor (prayer book for the High Holidays) that had belonged to – I presume – her father, Dr. Bernard (Boris) Stein. It was coming apart and not just from age; it had clearly been well-used.

This was a deeply moving discovery for me. It told me that my family had once kept the High Holidays, that my ancestors did attend services and were indeed part of a spiritual community.

The prayer book’s worn, shabby velvet has been repaired more than once. Once bound in a rich purple velvet, glue marks are all that is left of the cover ornament. The buckle is mostly intact but the spine is roughly stitched together with cotton thread. This is not the work of a professional artisan; maybe it’s the handiwork of my grandfather himself. He was used to handling a needle and thread, though as a surgeon.

From the Cyrillic text in the front, I learned that the book was published by Levin-Epstein in Warsaw. Why would my grandfather, who was born in Lithuania and raised in South Africa, have owned a Polish Machzor?

According to Nathan Cohen in Warsaw: The Jewish Metropolis, Warsaw did not rise to prominence in Eastern European Jewish life until the second half of the 19th century. This was a result of the czar’s 1836 decree that closed down Jewish printing houses in the Russian empire. Only select printers in Vilna and Zhitomir were allowed to print in Hebrew characters. Warsaw, however, was outside the boundaries of this region, so the Jewish printing industry moved there instead. My family prayer book was published in 1913.

photo - Once bound in a rich purple velvet, glue marks are all that is left of the cover ornament
Once bound in a rich purple velvet, glue marks are all that is left of the cover ornament. (photo by Shula Klinger)

And what of our Machzor’s future? I don’t want to pack it up and hide it away. I want it to be a family heirloom for generations to come, and for my children to see it as they grow up. They are proud of their heritage and will also want to see that the book is well cared for.

I sought the advice of a professional. Having worked with local bookbinder Richard Smart on a Jewish Independent story about Anne Frank in late 2017, I returned with the book and a new set of questions.

Could the book be repaired? Smart said no, because “any new suede isn’t going to blend in nicely with the old … it’s very fragile.” However, he came up with another option for conserving it: building a custom box. This way, he said, “it’ll stay in one piece, but it also keeps its history of having been handled and used.” I like this approach because it prevents the book from coming to further harm, but it also preserves it as evidence of my ancestors’ religious lives.

While the book will not be in circulation, I am heartened by the knowledge that it will, at least, be safe. Even if it doesn’t form a part of my own religious practice, it won’t be discarded or tucked away like a souvenir. This Machzor will be treated in a manner that befits an ancient treasure: laid carefully in a box that is made by hand. I’m proud to be its guardian until it passes to the next generation of our family.

To see a video of Smart reaching his decision about the Machzor, visit @oldenglishbindery on Instagram.

Shula Klinger is an author and journalist living in North Vancouver.

Format ImagePosted on April 28, 2023April 26, 2023Author Shula KlingerCategories Op-EdTags family, history, Judaism, machzor, memoir, prayer book
Reform has new prayer book

Reform has new prayer book

This month, the Reform movement’s new High Holiday prayer book, Mishkan HaNefesh, is being published. It replaces Gates of Repentance, which has served the movement since 1978, and is a companion to the movement’s siddur, Mishkan T’filah, which was published in 2007.

“It was an innovative siddur in a number of ways,” Rabbi Hara Person, publisher and director of CCAR Press, the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ publishing division, told the Independent. “It includes a lot of poetry and other kinds of readings that haven’t historically been in prayer books. It includes both the faithful translation of the text alongside, in some cases, alternative translations.

“The approach is multi-focal. It’s not an approach that says there is only one way to read our tradition or prayer. Instead, it opens up to people different ways of understanding, and struggling and grappling, with the text and tradition … and with theology.”

As an example of the new machzor’s increased accessibility, Person explained that, as does Mishkan T’filah (Sanctuary of Prayer), Mishkan HaNefesh (Sanctuary of the Soul) includes transliteration throughout for all of the prayers. “We wanted it to be open and welcoming to people, no matter what their background or how much or little a Jewish education they have,” she said.

About the diversity of the people sitting in the pews, she added, “Some may not be Jewish at all. They might be there with a Jewish spouse or partner. We don’t want to tell them that there’s nothing there for them. We want them to be able to learn and participate to the extent that they’re comfortable.”

Another significant aspect of the machzor is its inclusivity. “For over 25 years,” said Person, “we’ve been speaking up about inclusion of gay and lesbians in our communities on every level, so this is just another piece of that. That’s true for anybody who walks through our doors.”

This meant that the language of some of the prayers had to be updated.

At the heart of the prayers that talk about a bride and groom, for example, is the love between a couple. “So, we changed the language to reflect that and to not exclude gay and lesbian couples,” said Person. “Also, regarding being called to the Torah, we felt it should reflect the view and acceptance of all people, including those struggling with gender identity … calling people from the ‘house of’ as opposed to referring to them as ‘the son or daughter of.’…”

These most recent changes follow those that have come before regarding the increased participation and recognition of women.

“I think the Reform movement has a long history of egalitarianism, even from the very start,” said Person. “Even before women were rabbis, the Reform movement did away with separate seating in synagogues, so very early on in the history of the Reform movement, men and women were allowed to sit together in synagogues.

“So, these are just further steps in that progression of treating everybody with dignity and with a sense of equality and inclusiveness, and a way of saying we are all created in the image of God … women as well as men. It’s true for gay or straight or trans. Why would we exclude some but not others? It’s part of our value system to be inclusive.”

The new machzor has been in the works for a long time.

“We did a tremendous amount of piloting ahead of time,” said Person. “The book was in development for five or six years. Over those years, we had about 350 congregations across North America who piloted different sections of it.”

Some other interesting features of the new machzor are the poetry – from American and also Israeli writers – and art.

“We worked with an artist in New York named Joel Shapiro,” explained Person. “He created an opening piece of art for each of the services. They are woodblock cuts. He spent a huge amount of time studying the services and prayers and was inspired to create the art for the services.

“For me,” she continued, “it’s really exciting because some people love poetry and that’s going to … be a way into the prayer book and into the experience of worship for them. For others, it will be the commentary, and for others still, it will be the art…. Art may open the door for them and help them walk in. It’s really exciting that we were able to do all these things within the prayer book.”

A large-print version of Mishkan HaNefesh will also be available, as will an e-book version. “There is a percentage of people who actually use machzors before the holidays to do their own spiritual preparation,” said Person. “This book has so much in it for that. For a tablet, maybe they’d use it ahead of time, but not bring it to synagogue. I don’t know.”

For more information about the new machzor, visit ccarpress.org.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Format ImagePosted on June 19, 2015June 17, 2015Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories Celebrating the HolidaysTags CCAR Press, Hara Person, High Holidays, inclusivity, machzor, Mishkan HaNefesh, Reform Judaism
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