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Lori Justice-Shocket was disappointed as she studied with her father, a Holocaust survivor, and her son for a three-generation joint b’nai mitzvah ceremony in 1998. She found the standard prayer book formal and stiff, lacking in visual or emotional engagement. For their b’nai mitzvah, she wanted a siddur that engaged her visually and intellectually, and would bring the prayer service home to each guest in a personal way. So, using the design skills she honed as Vice President of Conceptual Development at Los Angeles-based OPI Product, Shocket created her own siddur.
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Lori Justice-Shocket
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It was a difficult task, but Shocket had always chosen the non-traditional route. She was the first female paramedic in the United States in 1975. Later she, her husband, and her son spent the summer of 2002 in Israel as volunteers with Magen David Adom. They plan to volunteer in Ethiopia or Vietnam next year.
Five years after her family’s multi-generation b’nai mitzvah, Shocket’s siddur has been developed and published as Mikdash M’at—Small Sanctuary (Behrman House, 2004), a new full-color Shabbat morning prayer book designed especially for new worshippers and small prayer groups.
The liturgy in Mikdash M’at uses insightful commentary to explain the structure of the service and the meaning of the prayers, allowing all synagogue-goers to read or sing
along, to sit and stand at the appropriate times, and to understand the meaning of the liturgy. New translations and transliterations allow complete understanding and participation, regardless of one’s Hebrew skills. Equal treatment of men and women invites all worshippers to be full participants. And the full-color illustrations provide a visual interpretation of the service.
Prominent rabbis and educators, including Rabbi David Wolpe, Temple Sinai, Los Angeles, and Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, JCC of Greater Baltimore, have commented on the siddur’s combination of gender sensitivity, grace of language, and visual beauty. They have called Mikdash M’at "a book of wonder and artistry to celebrate the creator of all." We hope you agree.
For more information about Mikdash M’at, call 800-221-2755 or visit www.behrmanhouse.com.
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