A Woman’s Best Friend Is Her Siddur

A Woman’s Best Friend Is Her Siddur.

Think about that line for a moment, then tick the box that applies to you:

1. Always.
2. Um… pass
3. When I get an hour alone in the house, yes.
4. I recall a few specific occasions, at the Kosel and Kever Rochel, when I davened and felt like a load had been lifted from me. I’d love to get to that place on a regular basis
5. I don’t have a head to concentrate, and then I close my siddur feeling guilty.
6. When I was a teen, I davened three times a day. I’ve been going through a lot recently and can’t relate to the words anymore.
7. Honestly, if I really open myself up during tefillah, I feel scared. Like, I’m offering Hashem my heart, and I don’t know what His response will be.

The tattered siddur, pages worn with tears, is a legend. Beloved tool of connection between every woman and her Father in Heaven, constant companion through the meandering path of life.

But when we look closely, our relationship with tefillah can be uneasy. When Penimi, an educational organization, started to examine women’s relationship with tefillah, we uncovered ambivalence, disappointment, yearning.