Rewriting history?

Not sure how I feel about this. Long story short, Tzemah Yoreh, son of Talmud scholars and assistant professor of Bible at American Jewish University in L.A., served in the Israeli army and wasn't impressed. He said the experience "destroyed my ardent Zionism" and made him an athiest.

Still committed to his Jewish upbringing, Yoreh decided to rewrite the siddur and drafted his own atheist-feminist version that eliminates God and Zionism from the mix.

I don't know I'd go as far as to call myself an atheist. I don't vehemently deny the existence of God, but I'm not really convinced either. One of my favorite things about Judaism is that its so strongly rooted in culture and tradition that a core belief in God isn't necessary to feel connected.

My boyfriend's sitting right next to me and I haven't showed him yet, but I know it'll make him cringe. He'll say changing century old traditions undermines the religion. Jeff and I feel pretty much the same way about God, but for him, Judaism is about keeping the same traditions as our ancestors and the other Jews around the world to stay connected to each other as a religion and a culture.

I understand that, but I don't completely agree with it. I think it's ok when we develop new tunes to prayers, or modify laws to keep up with the times.

I have a hard time respecting anyone's work in Judaism who doesn't support Israel, but Yoreh had kind of a cool idea. He said, “If you define [prayer] as communication between humans and a deity, I think that’s a very narrow conception. . . I think prayer is communal and private expression of hopes, fears, an appreciation of aesthetic beauty, good attributes. But that has nothing to do with God.”

I like that. I don't pray to God because it doesn't really do anything for me, but broadening the meaning of prayer might open things up a bit for people like me.

I think it'd be cool to read his siddur, but more as something to study than something to use in synagogue. In that sense I think Jeff's right. I may not believe in God, but having a God at the center of Judaism is part of the tradition and part of the culture that have defined so much of my life.