Siddur Nehalel BeShabbat

Nehalel beShabbat is the full Shabbat siddur in the new Nehalel series. Modeled on the vastly popular Nevarech bencher, Nehalel brings its groundbreaking format to the complete siddur. Stunning photographs are juxtaposed throughout with the texts, but not merely as decoration. The images wake us up to the contents of our prayers by portraying their meanings. The wholly traditional, beautifully set Hebrew text is superbly readable, and laden also with clear symbols for kamatz katan, sheva na, stressed syllable and more. Its new English translation by Michael Haruni, while devotedly faithful to the Hebrew, reveals the tefilah as elegant and vividly contemporary. Nehalel beShabbat is more than just an aesthetic delight: it realizes, as possibly no siddur before, the potency of our liturgy for an alert and heartfelt parlance with our Creator. Robustly modern in its devices yet thoroughly committed to tradition, Nehalel beShabbat is, first and foremost, a siddur for praying with.




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Nehalel Revie

I was immediately taken aback by the beauty and structure of the new Nehalel beShabbat siddur. This nusach Ashkenaz siddur, containing all the relevant prayers for Shabbat, is extremely unique and represents a fresh new dimension in the publication of siddurim. Similar to the Nevarech bencher, the Nehalel siddur is packed with extremely powerful and stunning full-color glossy photographs. Each photograph compliments the prayer that appears on the page. The words of the prayer that correspond to the picture are highlighted, bolded, or otherwise stand out. The photographs are intended to assist the worshipper in finding inspiration in the words he is reciting.

Here are a few examples of the synthesis between the photographs and the prayers: One of the photographs that accompanies Lecha Dodi features a panoramic nighttime view of the Old City of Jerusalem with the words v nivneta ir al tila highlighted. Indeed, there are dozens of photographs of Jerusalem, the Old City, the Temple Mount, and the Kotel that are dispersed throughout the siddur and feature at various mentions of Jerusalem. The Hashem Malach immediately following Lecha Dodi has a picture of giant roaring waves with the words mikolot mayim rabim... highlighted. The Kiddush page features large clusters of grapes on a vine corresponding to borei pri hagafen . In birchot hashachar, the blessing hamechin mitzadei gaver features Neil Armstrong s walk on the moon.

As part of the Shir Hama alot that follow the Shabbat afternoon mincha, Tehillim 123 features the infamous Nazi-Era photograph of a rabbi wearing tefillin being taunted by Nazi soldiers on the streets of Poland with the words rabat sava la nafsheinu; hala ag hashananim habooz l gei yonim . There is also a prayer for the government of the United States of America (featuring the seal of the president of the United States) and for The United Kingdom (featuring the Royal Seal). There is an index at the back of the siddur which identifies and explains each photograph.

This siddur is extremely Zionist in nature, complete with the prayer for the State of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF. It also has a prayer for soldiers still missing in action, not to mention a special Harachaman for the soldiers in the Birkat Hamazon. So too, many of the photographs are of Zionist themes, such as the famous Ben Gurion Declaration of independence, Kibbutz and kibbutznik related photographs, as well as highlights of modern aliyah (e.g. v hu yolicheinu komemiyot l artzeinu ).

There is an extensive introduction to the siddur that addresses the philosophical and halachic issues relating to having photographs in a siddur. It would be remiss not to point out that many of the photographs in the siddur include women, and in some cases,