When the editors of Yediot Acharonot’s “Am Hasefer” series, a modern and accessible version of the Jewish canon, decided that a siddur also be included to fully reflect the “Jewish bookshelf,” they needed to decide which siddur they would use. Their choice turned out to not be that surprising, both in terms of the series’ appeal to multiple communities with very different levels of observance, and in light of the character and goals of their choice – the “Klal Yisrael” siddur.
The Klal Yisrael siddur was first published in 1991 by Mesorah La’am, edited by Yoel Rafel and Rabbi Yochanan Fried. The siddur’s subtitle – “accompanied by midrashim and drashim, explanations and instructions” – clearly attested to its uniqueness and the innovation it brought to the world of Israeli prayer. Rabbi Fried himself said as much years after its appearance, when he explained the assumptions underlying its preparation and production:
“A Jew who is not used to prayer does not see it – the siddur – as being a need of any kind, unless he is forced to […] This siddur was designed in its content and form with the assumption that we can and must find ways to connect a broader public to it, one of young people and adults, a public unused to connecting to it […] Therefore we wanted that the siddur to be part of the cultural landscape which this public belongs to. We sought to find roads and pathways to its heart.”
The two editors were as good as their word, as this siddur was distinct from its predecessors in a number of ways, in terms of both content and design: it was printed as a colorful and refined hardcover, with thick and well-designed pages. It was accompanied with beautiful illustrations and photographs, which were meant to emphasize different aspects of prayers and serve as adornments to the siddur itself. Finally, it was printed in clear, modern-looking letters. All these stood out in contrast to many of the older and more well-known siddurs in Israel at the time.
In terms of content, an organized and clear introduction was added to the siddur written by Professor Dov Rafel, and the prayers themselves were accompanied, as promised, by basic and brief halachic instructions, as well as midrashic and machshavah passages which were included in the margins of each page, with clear lettering and in a different color. The prayer nusach itself, it should be said, was taken with permission from the Rinat Yisrael siddur and adhered to the Sfard nusach – much like the first edition of Shlomo Tal’s famous siddur.
According to Fried, the siddur’s original sales were “mediocre plus.” There is no doubt that its inclusion in the Am Hasefer series made it far more widespread and a household item in thousands of homes. Still, among the more veteran shul attendees, the siddur seems to have been received with less enthusiasm: it included instructions they didn’t need, it didn’t look like the siddurim they were used to from home, the midrashic and machshavah portions were very brief, and perhaps most of all, there may have been a sense that the whole was less than the sum of its parts, leading to a prayer experience that felt less than natural.
On the other hand, the Klal Yisrael siddur does seem to be the first in the genre of ecumenical, multi-community siddurim, with its almost album-like design and its multiple features beyond the siddur itself. All this would become true with other siddurim such as the Avi Chai siddur and the siddurim of Yonadav Kaplan.
Thus, even if it didn’t really take off initially, the Klal Yisrael siddur would eventually become the first chapter in story of the creation of “All-Israeli siddurim,” which are occupying an increasingly important place in the home of all Jews in the Jewish state, and which are worthy of their own discussion and scholarly attention.
Dr. Reuven Gafni is a senior lecturer at the Land of Israel Department at Kinneret College. He specializes in the field of synagogues and religion in the Land of Israel in the modern era, and the relationship between Jewish religion, culture, and national identity in the Land of Israel.
