A Guide to Jewish Prayer - Hardcover

Steinsaltz, Rabbi Adin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805241744 ISBN 13: 9780805241747

Publisher: Schocken, 2000

Synopsis

One of the world's most famous and respected rabbis has given us the one guide we need to practice Jewish prayer and understand the prayer book.

From the origins and meaning of prayer to a step-by-step explanation of the daily services to the reason you're not supposed to chat with your friends during the service, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz answers many of the questions likely to arise about Jewish prayer.  Here are chapters on daily prayer; Sabbath prayer; prayer services for the holidays; the yearly cycle of synagogue Bible readings; the history and make-up of the synagogue; the different prayer rites for Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Yemenites, and other cultural/geographic groupings; the role of the rabbi and the cantor in the synagogue; and the role of music in the service.

The book also contains a glossary, a bibliography, and biographical sketches of the rabbis who were instrumental in creating and ordering the prayers through the ages.

Rabbi Steinsaltz's guide is an essential volume both for the newcomer to Jewish prayer and for those who have been engaged in prayer for years.

About this title

About the Author

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is internationally renowned as the author of a landmark commentary on the Talmud, twenty-two volumes of which have been published in English by Random House.  He is also the author of many books of Jewish thought, among them The Thirteen-Petalled Rose and, most recently, Simple Words.  Rabbi Steinsaltz lectures throughout the world and has been a resident scholar at both Yale University and the Institute for Advanced Study.  He lives in Israel with his family.

From the Back Cover

No book is closer to the heart of the Jew than the Siddur; none has had such a profound influence [or been] so uniquely able to penetrate to the very depths of the soul.

For generations, the Siddur was the first book the Jewish child learned to read, and through the struggle to grasp the combinations of letters, he repeated and learned to recite its phrases by heart. This bond with the prayer book engendered a great intimacy between the Jew and the Siddur in both the emotional and intellectual spheres. But the bond is not only a primary, intimate one; it is an ongoing, lifelong process. While other books are used only as study texts which, once mastered, need not be read again, or are reread only after a long period, the Siddur accompanies the Jew throughout life. . . .

No other Jewish book contains the entirety of Judaism. The Siddur is like a garland, intertwining all the strands of Judaism and encompassing all fields of Jewish creativity in all their variegated forms. It includes sections that reflect the fundamentals of Jewish faith, and those relating to the field of religious law. . . . [It] contains sections of exalted poetry, and matters of ritual procedure. There are prayers that deal with the most intimate details of individual needs and problems, supplications reflecting the sorrows and aspirations of the nation, and prayers that touch upon the entire cosmos.
--From A Guide to Jewish Prayer

From the Inside Flap

orld's most famous and respected rabbis has given us the one guide we need to practice Jewish prayer and understand the prayer book.<br><br>From the origins and meaning of prayer to a step-by-step explanation of the daily services to the reason you're not supposed to chat with your friends during the service, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz answers many of the questions likely to arise about Jewish prayer. Here are chapters on daily prayer; Sabbath prayer; prayer services for the holidays; the yearly cycle of synagogue Bible readings; the history and make-up of the synagogue; the different prayer rites for Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Yemenites, and other cultural/geographic groupings; the role of the rabbi and the cantor in the synagogue; and the role of music in the service.<br><br>The book also contains a glossary, a bibliography, and biographical sketches of the rabbis who were instrumental in creating and ordering the prayers through the ages.<br><br>Rabbi Steinsaltz's guide is an es

Reviews

Steinsaltz, one of this era's most influential rabbis (Simple Words), turns his attention to prayer, marrying straightforward how-to tips with reflections on the nature and meaning of Jewish prayer. The book opens with a discussion of individual versus communal prayer, with Steinsaltz explaining that although Jewish prayer heavily emphasizes community, there is a place in Judaism for individual prayer. Communal prayer expresses the needs and hopes of the entire nation of Israel, but individuals can and should still pray alone, with or without liturgy, in times of personal need. He also tackles gender. Men and women, he explains, are both obligated to pray (although women are not legally obligated to participate in the thrice-daily minyan). Steinsaltz offers a concise history of the Jewish prayer book, tracing the development of prayers from the Second Temple period to 20th-century prayers commemorating the Holocaust and Israeli Independence Day. In the book's valuable how-to section, he carefully examines weekdays, Sabbaths and holidays, explaining which prayers are said when and why. He introduces readers to "prayer accessories" such as the tallith (prayer shawl) and tefillin (phylacteries). The book concludes with a rousing discussion of Jewish music and its relation to prayer traditions. This guide will help both novices and experienced Jews to deepen their understanding of prayer. One caution: it is decidedly Orthodox in outlook. Non-Orthodox readers will find much of interest, but they will not find discussions of, for example, feminist language for God. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Schocken
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805241744
• ISBN 13: 9780805241747
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464