One cannot fathom the effect of this siddur until one actually prays with it. At first glance, the main innovation is immediately recognizable– stunningly beautiful photographs accompanying each prayer on almost every page. The deep relevance of these photos will grip even the skeptic who has years-long familiarity with the Shabbat prayers. Each photograph serves as a commentary to a single emphasized line on the page, thus sharply focusing the reader’s thoughts on the intent of the words.
Moreover, the siddur, in its entirety, has a “natural” feeling to it, in more ways than one. First, it engenders a sense of reveling in God’s world and our place it. Secondly, there is room for all in this world. The photographs naturally include girls and boys (for “and light up our eyes with Your Torah”), men and women (in a beit midrash for “we shall discuss your decrees”), and scenes of natural wonders in Israel and in the universe (a brilliant juxtaposition of a baby taking his first steps to astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s 1969 walk on the moon for “Who engineers the stride of man.”
The photographs also illuminate contemporary Jewish history and Zionism, as in an archival photo of the 1945 liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp for “You emancipated us from a regime of slavery” and the classical shot of David Ben-Gurion declaring an independent Jewish state for “has made His redemption known.”
Some may feel initial discomfort with a prayer book filled with photographs and would prefer to have the abstract words filled with meaning by the one who prays. Nevertheless, the photographs in this volume are simply inspirational and are filled with reverence.
The photographs are not the only way that Michael Haruni brings the ancient prayers into the mindset of the present-day Jew. His English translation is contemporary and succinct, serving itself as an elegant commentary. Prayers for the State of Israel, IDF soldiers, and captive soldiers are included, alongside those for the rulers of Britain and the United States. The excellent yet visually unobtrusive instructions firmly guide the individual in the practices of prayer alone or in the synagogue. The print is clean with a good-sized font. Furthermore, the Hebrew grammar and punctuation are consistently correct—an improvement over some other popular prayer books.
It is not only the spiritual quality of this volume that is impressive; the paper quality also adds weight to the siddur (bringing it to 2.4 pounds). Nehalel beShabbat may be heavy for a siddur, but it is heavy with meaning.
Haruni has added profound significance to the words chanted on Sabbath morning: “If our mouths were as filled with poetry as the hugeness of the ocean … still we could not adequately thank You.” Through the poetry and the photography of the Nehalel siddur, one can truly immerse oneself in prayer.