Last week the newest Siddur published by the Conservative Movement began distribution to interested communities. One of the biggest differences between this new prayer book, Lev Shalem, and our current Sim Shalom, is that the new one doesn’t speak of G-d as King. Senior Editor Rabbi Edward Feld explained, “The word ‘king’ is just empty for people living in an American democracy.” Consequently, you won’t see “King” in the English translation but “Sovereign.” Rabbi Feld continued, “Language changes so quickly in our time, there are words that you can’t say anymore [and be understood]. Every generation will need their own prayer book.”
I agree with the Siddur’s editorial move here on both counts. First, the image of a king is ultimately a metaphor. It’s meant to inspire us to feel G-d’s awe, majesty, power, benevolence, and transcendence. It worked for centuries when kings reigned. But as kings no longer rule, we need to change the metaphor.
How do I know that king is merely a metaphor? Look at this week’s Torah reading, Ki Tissa. Moses longs to know G-d’s ways, and G-d shares a metaphor with Moses: You can see My back but not My face (Ex. 33:20-23). G-d does not have a body like we do, yet the Torah uses the face and back as a metaphor to say – in words that make sense to us – that Moses can know some things about G-d but not everything.
Starting with the Torah, every generation is tasked with describing our faith and traditions in words that make sense to us.
Rabbi Neil Gillman, theology professor at JTS, shares in his book A Jewish Approach to G-d a student’s metaphor for G-d. For her, G-d was Fred Astaire to her Ginger Rogers. She said, “When we miss a step, it’s always my fault. He dances in flats, I have to dance in heels. He’s on the ceiling, I’m on the floor. He can be late, I can’t. He pinches me in the clinches, I musn’t. And Cyd Charisse is waiting for me to fail. But when we get it together, it’s sheer ecstasy.”
I don’t know the names here (except Astaire), but I know the closeness one feels to the other when dancing. I can feel it. It’s what a strong metaphor can deliver.
“Sovereign” works better than “king” so we should go with that. In another generation they’ll have to update it again. Every translation is itself an interpretation.
There’s a second editorial decision made by the new Siddur here that I like, and it’s subtle. It preserves the Hebrew word “Melech,” which means “king.” In this case, only the English is changed, not the Hebrew. I strongly believe there’s great value in not changing the Hebrew words – with very few exceptions – because that is precisely what binds us together as a global Jewish community. Right now we can visit nearly any synagogue in the world and feel at home because the words are the same. When we start editing the Hebrew – even if we don’t feel G-d as king is the best metaphor – we distance ourselves from other Jewish communities. Change the English, not the Hebrew. It’s one way to describe the Conservative Movement (there are some exceptions, but that’s for another time). It’s why this new Siddur is both new and old, precisely as it should be.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex Freedman
For more information about Siddur Lev Shalem, click here.
(The Temple currently does not plan to switch to this new Siddur.)