S.C.J. FAQ: Section 18.5.1. Reform/Progressive Judaism: Traditional Judaism Differences: Why does Reform liturgy say "m'chayey hakol" [who gives life to all] instead of m'chayey meytim" [who gives life to the dead] ?

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Question 18.5.1:
Traditional Judaism Differences: Why does Reform liturgy say "m'chayey hakol" [who gives life to all] instead of m'chayey meytim" [who gives life to the dead] ?

There are individual Reform Jews who believe in resurrection "m'chayey meytim". However, the Reform movement does not have any creed which would require such a belief. By changing m'chayey meytim to the more generic m'chayey ha-kol, the prayer becomes equivocal. This allows the believer in resurrection to understand the prayer as resurrection while allowing those with the more conventional Reform belief to relate to the prayer with intellectual integrity.

Note that, in the United Kingdom, the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues has produced a new prayerbook, Siddur Lev Chadash. This prayerbook has reverted to Mechayeh hamaytim. Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, who was on the editorial committee, tried to explain it as a new understanding of the Amidah prayer as covering all life, including death, and the reintroduction as a way of reverting to a tradition, having spent many years disassociating it from its traditional feelings of a prayer for the dead.

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Soc.Culture.Jewish NewsgroupsFrequently Asked Questions and Answers

Question 18.5.1: Traditional Judaism Differences: Why does Reform liturgy say "m'chayey hakol" [who gives life to all] instead of m'chayey meytim" [who gives life to the dead] ?

Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Question 18.5.1:
Traditional Judaism Differences: Why does Reform liturgy say "m'chayey hakol" [who gives life to all] instead of m'chayey meytim" [who gives life to the dead] ?