by Fran Silbiger

B'nai Or (later renamed P'nai Or, and eventually merged into ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal) was the communal expression of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's vision of Jewish Renewal — a movement rooted in Hasidic mysticism but reaching toward ecumenicism, gender equality, and contemporary spiritual practice. In September 1985, Fran Silbiger of B'nai Or in New Jersey posted a description of their Yom Kippur service to net.religion.jewish, in response to questions about "New Age Judaism."

The account is a rare primary source document of the movement in its early years, predating most scholarly literature on Jewish Renewal. Silbiger quotes from Rabbi Zalman's book "The First Step" — its vision of tradition as organic, evolving, shaped by place and time and the people present — and then walks through B'nai Or's actual Yom Kippur practice: chanting the Kol Nidre, sitting mixed-gender with the United Synagogue siddur, using both Hebrew and English simultaneously, addressing G-d in both male and female forms.

The handling of the al-hhayt (communal confessional) is particularly striking: each congregant had written their sins on four cards (sins against self, against others, against the world, against G-d). During the four recitations of the prayer, cards were passed randomly, and the congregation stood in circles reading aloud the sins they held — confessing each other's sins as their own. The Jonah story was treated as psychodrama, and as the afternoon faded, the service moved toward a final communal shofar blast.

In response to Bill Peter's request for some basic orientation regarding New Age Judaism, and to Cornell who asked the difference between it and the orthodox approach, I will quote briefly from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's book "The First Step" and then describe briefly our Yom Kippur experience this year.

Tradition as Organic

"In moments of grace, I'm aware that G-d is available to me, in consciousness, love, and energy. He's there for all of us; all we have to do is find Him and take hold. The problem is that many of us are confused and disappointed. We have tried, but we haven't gotten far enough. We wander in one direction for a while, then another. But it is disheartening: the maps are old and the roads have changed. In addressing this problem, we have tried to sketch a contemporary road map for living in the Jewish universe and to provide a practical guide for using that map.

"The coordinates for our map are derived from the tradition of Jewish mysticism. The principles which inform this tradition are: 1) that an act be appropriate to the place, time, and people present, and 2) that it be in organic harmony with life. In this way, one who lives the tradition increases awareness and grows spiritually. This tradition has power. Like everything else in the universe, it is evolving, and in some measure, it is available to you now."

A B'nai Or Yom Kippur

Our B'nai Or Yom Kippur began at sundown with congregation chanting of the Kol Nidre. We use the United Synagogue of America Siddur. Most prayers are chanted, rather than spoken, in Hebrew, or English, or both, going from one to the other. The focus is on Kavanah (intention) rather than form. Men and women sit together and prayers such as the Amidah include the names of our matriarchs as well as our patriarchs. G-d is referred to in both male and female forms. Members of the congregation say the form of the name with which they are most comfortable.

We handle the al hhayt (for the sin—) as follows: each member of the congregation has filled out four cards: sins against self, against others, against the world, and against G-d. At each of the four readings of the al hhayt, the appropriate cards are passed at random. We stand tightly in circles and read aloud the sin we hold. This is a deeply moving experience as we struggle as a community to forgive ourselves and each other.

The Aliyahs are handled in various ways. For Yom Kippur, for the first Aliyah for Kohen, all those who were leaders or in charge were invited up. For the second, those who follow (Levi). For the third, all those wrestling with G-d. The fourth and fifth were related to the theme of the reading.

Late in the afternoon, when energy is low, the Jonah story is handled like a psychodrama with people examining the sub-conscious, conscious, and super-conscious aspects of Jonah's struggle. A prayer would be sung to a popular tune. This really makes the prayer alive at 5:00 p.m. We observe the deepening shadows and drive toward the final blowing of the shofar, by the Rabbi, the Bar Mitzvah boy, and other members of the congregation. We then adjourn for our breaking of the fast together.

I hope this gives you some flavor of how we do it. The focus is on intention rather than the specifics of the form. It is rather the struggle of the community to derive forms which meet the requirements of tradition and fulfill the intention of the act.

Colophon

Written by Fran Silbiger, B'nai Or, Holmdel, New Jersey. Posted to net.religion.jewish, September 1985, in response to questions about "New Age Judaism." B'nai Or was founded by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1924–2014), a seminal figure of the Jewish Renewal movement whose thinking merged Lubavitch Hasidism with Sufism, Zen, and Christian mysticism. The organization later became P'nai Or and eventually merged into ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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