October 11, 2011
This is the first complete prayer book to address the lives and needs of LGBTQ as well as straight Jews. With over 600 beautifully designed and art-filled pages, Siddur Sha’ar Zahav offers complete weekday, festival and Shabbat services, as well as special sections of Brachot/Blessings, Chesed v’Emet/Remembrance, and Shirim/Songs. Grounded in Reform theology, Siddur Sha’ar Zahav draws on prayers and readings from every major Jewish movement and tradition. From new blessings celebrating all aspects of our lives – including health, family, bar/bat mitzvah, sexuality and gender identity, joining or leaving a community – to an entire section offering comfort during bereavement, this siddur offers a diverse and inclusive liturgy inspiring to Jews of all genders and sexualities. It is a prayer book that can be used by congregations and havurot, at shiva minyans and joyous celebrations, and also at home for personal reflection and prayer. “This book is not afraid to name the deepest human experiences,” says Congregation Sha’ar Zahav’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Camille Angel said. “It invites us, all of us, to stand naked before God, to see — and to be seen.”