The Conservative movement has introduced a new piece of liturgy for Yom HaShoah—Megillat HaShoah (“The Shoah Scroll”), which was read for the first time during last month’s Yom HaShoah observances at Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue in Toronto, and which will potentially become ritualized among Conservative worshippers throughout the world.

The new Conservative liturgy, unveiled last year in Israel, represents the first attempt by a major Jewish religious movement to address the void [in communal ritual commemorating the Shoah]. “Having one central text, shared by Jews wherever they live, will unite us and make possible the perpetuation of the story,” Rabbi Reuven Hammer, president of the Rabbinical Assembly, wrote in one of three introductions to the Megillah. “It will help us to fill what has become the new imperative of Jewish life: We must all view ourselves as if we had personally experienced the Shoah.”

The incorporation of such a ritual may do a great deal for the Conservative community, but what about other Jewish denominations? What potential does Megillat HaShoah have to be incorporated into ritual & tradition across denominational lines?

Apparently, there are no guidelines for the adoption of liturgy or new rituals, even in Orthodoxy. A tradition kept long enough eventually becomes halakha: “Minhag yisroel torah hee,” the custom becomes part of the Torah. But how this rule is applied is a hotly debated topic itself. The last time new liturgy was adopted by the Orthodox, it was the “Prayer for Israel” and blessings on Yom Ha’atzmaut, in the 1950s, and even so, they were not universally adopted. According to one Lubavitch rabbi I spoke with, only a very small minority of Orthodox people say these blessings.

Furthermore, though Megillat HaShoah was authored by a man, it was translated by a woman. And while I don’t see this posing much of a problem, with the consistently growing number of female rabbis, one must expect the question will arise soon enough, what the likelihood is that a piece of liturgy written by a woman will be adopted by mainstream Orthodoxy at all. While, for example, Shmoneh Esrei, one of the central pieces of Jewish liturgy, was inspired by the silent prayer* of the prophet Samuel’s mother, Hannah, modern women rabbis tend to get very little respect, if any at all, from the Orthodox world.

In response, Rabbi Jill Hammer of Ma’yan: The Jewish Women’s Project, author of Sisters at Sinai, and a co-worker/friend of mine, says that, regardless of whether or not a piece of liturgy was authored by a woman, “If it’s good, it will spread. Perhaps slowly, but it will spread.” Rabbi Hammer reports mild success in the Orthodox world with the advent of Ma’yan-sponsored rituals such as the Passover Miriam’s Cup ceremony and the Esther & Vashti Purim flags, which celebrate great Jewish women who are often overlooked in a paternalistic Jewish world. The group has recently gained the support of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance who themselves distrubted hundreds of flags to Orthodox women this Purim.

While these traditions are not quite widespread just yet, it does show promise for a more progressive evolution of Jewish practice, and one that is inspiringly more participatory than that which has been projected in recent history. As for Megillat HaShoah, I suppose only time will tell what will be of its fate…

*Clarified thanks to commentary offered by our resident rav, Grubmastahflex.