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Session One
The Sample Plate: The Siddur

	Out of this rich variety of material, I want to look at a few passages from the Siddur which especially appeal to me and which may challenge some of our stereotypes about the limitations of Judaism. Here are four common stereotypes about Jewish limits, each with a text from the Siddur which challenges it. Click on each stereotype to explore a text which challenges it: Traditional Judaism is sexist and ignores women. Judaism thinks of God only as masculine. We believe that God has no needs. We are not allowed to think of G-d in images. Prayers are not just words; they are the voice, the tune, the gestures, the feelings we bring to the words. The words of any particular edition of the Siddur, and, broadly speaking, of the traditional Siddur in any edition, are fixed, but the way they are prayed is not. I highly recommend trying a number of approaches yourself; you could use one of the texts we've looked at. Here is a variety of descriptions of different Jewish ways of praying. After exploring the texts above and reviewing ways of Jewish prayer, go to the class discussion area to answer these questions:
	(c) Justin Lewis, instructor course offered through Kolel's department of Interactive Technology