We recently celebrated my grandson Julian’s fifth birthday. At his party, alongside the other goodies, there was a small can of nuts. One unsuspecting grown-up opened the lid and SPROINNNGGG!!! a colorful toy snake sprang forth! At first the adult was quite speechless, but she soon joined the merriment as one child after another stuffed the contents back into the can, offered a friend some “nuts” and laughed uproariously as the snake sprang out on cue. The children never tired of the expected surprise and, because it was a party, the adults played at being amazed or startled, too. Next to opening the can, opening the presents paled by comparison. Only the cake held a candle to the nutsy trick!

I mention this because we are about to open a new prayer book at B’nai Harim. I think that what we find inside may startle us at first, but after seeing that some of our friends are delighted and that there is always something that will leap out at us, we’ll soon enjoy opening the siddur, anticipating the surprise in store.

Mishkan Tefillah is a lovely book, filled with possibilities! For those who like the familiar, there are many passages taken from Gates of Prayer and, of course, the standard Hebrew texts. The authors and editors assure us that we will soon grow familiar with even the new poetry on the pages! For those whose Judaism wells up from springs of social justice, there are passages that address this path to holiness. Feminists, humanists, advocates of tikkun olam, Classical Reform Jews and those of us who feel addressed in different ways each Shabbat will find words of comfort and inspiration each time we open the book.

When the children at the party tried to replace the springy snake, they really had to work to contain it in the little can. The work involved in using Mishkan Tefillah will be facilitated in a few ways. For the last few months the members of the ritual committee have been working on a special assignment. Armed with different colored stickers, each member has had an opportunity to go through the Shabbat morning services in my copy of the siddur, placing stickers on the passages they like. When I get my book back, I’ll see what the most popular choices are. Those are the ones we’ll try first.

The next step will come at Shabbat morning services in November. I will briefly introduce the book and its layout and we will use Mishkan Tefillah for prayer. The time usually “reserved” for a sermon will be used for your feedback. There will also be an opportunity to study some of the selections on November 15 at our Shabbat evening program. There will be enough that is familiar and enough that is surprising so that we are able to approach our services with the alertness needed to get the most out of our worship.

More than anything else, the story of the snake-in-the-can shows how the willingness to overcome initial discomfort can lead to enjoyment out of all proportion to the actions involved. The same is true of changing prayer books. All change is a little awkward, a little uncomfortable, a little strange, and full of surprises. But before it’s time to blow out the thirteen candles on our congregational birthday cake, we will have had an excellent opportunity to learn, to grow and to express ourselves. Best of all: this prayer book is a gift we can open again and again.

Rabbi Peg