Jewish Liturgy

This article traces the narrative source of Avinu Malkenu (Our Father, Our King) through two stories in the Babylonian Talmud, and one in the Jerusalem Talmud. By examining these stories, we can gain clarity on the purpose of this prayer and it relationship to the leader.

During the fifteenth century Jewish litrugical texts and customs were reconsidered by rabbis living in Austria, Moravia, and neighbouring countries. The writings of two famous rabbis that were active in Brno for some time during the earlier half of the fifteenth century, Eizik Tirna and Jisrael Bruna, fragments of liturgical manuscripts found in the bookbindings of Christian books and documents in Moravia, and marginal glosses in the Trebic machzor all attest these attempts to correct the text of Jewish prayers. Im mittelalterlichen Leben der Juden spielte das Gebet eine wichtige Rolle. Es herrschte die allgemeine Überzeugung, daß Gebete absolut unerläßlich für die Sicherung des Überlebens sowohl für den Einzelnen, als auch die Gesellschaft sei-en. 1 Zudem war eine verbreitete Ansicht, daß es sich beim Beten nicht um einen spontanen Ausdruck religiöser Gefühle handle; es sei im Gegenteil nötig, vorherbe-stimmte Texte zu rezitieren, und zwar sowohl in der richtigen Reihenfolge als auch zu den richtigen Zeiten. Falls das Gebet nicht richtig vorgetragen werde, sei es ungül-tig und unwirksam. Fromme Menschen verwandten damals viel Zeit und Energie darauf, festzustellen, wie der richtige Text von Gebeten lauten solle. 2 Heutigen Lesern mag es verwunderlich erscheinen, wieviel Gründlichkeit mittel-alterliche Juden etwa Fragen hinsichtlich der korrekten Aussprache eines bestimm-ten hebräischen Wortes widmeten oder dem Problem, ob die Konjunktion " und " in einen Text gehört, obwohl dies in keiner Weise dessen Sinn ändert. Es ist wich-tig, gleich zu Beginn zu unterstreichen, daß mittelalterliche Juden ein derart kleines Detail in Texten hebräischer Gebete sehr ernst nahmen, da sie glaubten, daß die Wirksamkeit eines Gebets genau davon abhinge. Im 15. Jahrhundert spielte Mähren eine wichtige Rolle bei der Herauskristallisie-rung der sogenannten ost-aschkenasischen Liturgie, die in späteren Jahrhunderten

The article is devoted to an examination of the relations between the payytanic epithet (Heb. Kinnuy) and  figurative language in Pre-Classical Piyyut (ca. fourth-fifth centuries CE). The poets used epithets when they did not wish to call a familiar concepts or  figures by their proper name. Some scholars even suggested that the relatively limited use of  figurative language in Piyyut relates to the extensive use of epithets. In the present article only those epithets which use  figurative language are discussed. The article examines  first instances in which the poet introduced original epithets. Then the more common epithets that are based on biblical  figurative language are discussed. In addition the article investigates rare cases in which  figurative poetic epithets are included in the broader development of  figurative language in a single line or over a number of lines, and cases where an epithet interrupts a  figurative sequence. The article is based on an analysis of numerous lines of poetry from the rich corpus of Pre-Classical Piyyut.

(שימו לב - ניתן להוריד את המאמר גם אם לא ניתן לקרוא אותו על המסך)


קריאה של מאות רבות של פיוטים שנכתבו על ידי יהודים שחיו במרחבים מוסלמים מאז ראשית האסלאם ועד היום, מראה תמונה חד משמעית של איבה קשה כלפי המסולמים וציפייה שהא-ל יקח מהם נקם. המעניין בדבר הוא שגם יהודים שחיו תחת 'מלכי חסד' - שליטים שהטיבו עם יהודים - שרו וכתבו פיוטים בגנות המוסלמים והאסלאם. המאמר מנסה לפצח את הסיבות העמוקות לכך.

This paper examines the liturgical placement, meaning and significance of the poem Yedid Nefesh. I will first discuss its composition and entry into the siddur in various locations and then analyze it based on some of the other writings of its author, El'azar Azikri. Finally, I will attempt to draw some thematic connections between the poem and Qabbalat Shabbat, the service it currently introduces in many prayerbooks.

רבי דוד בן רבי יהושע הנגיד, האחרון לשושלת הנגידים שהתחילה ברמב"ם, היה סופר פורה. עד כה פורסם רק חיבור אחד שלו, "מורה הפרישות ומדריך הפשיטות", על ידי יוסף פנטון, שהניח גם את אבני היסוד בזיהוי חיבוריו האחרים. כאן מתפרסמת התחלת פירושו של רבי דוד הנגיד לתפילה, מתוך מהדורה שתראה אור בקרוב. הפירוש משלב באופן מקורי רציונליזם מבית מדרשו של הסב הדגול, הרמב"ם, עם חסידות מבית מדרשו של בנו רבי אברהם, והוא כולל גם מובאות מספר הזוהר.

It is now Leonard Cohen's fifth yahrzeit and, though there has been a myriad of commemorative articles since "closing time," as he would have referred to it, there is always room for another look at his Jewish legacy. Just as the ending of one cycle of Torah readings marks the beginning of the next, Cohen understood the blurring of beginnings and endings-Closing time / Every new beginning / Comes from some other beginning's end.

The music that the Jewish community of Tangier, Morocco, claims as its heritage is divided by clear gendered boundaries. The music of communal ritual that dominates the public sphere of liturgical practice in the synagogue is performed primarily by men and is predominantly in Hebrew. Music identified with and sung by women, known as los cantares de las antiguas (lit. the songs of the old women), in contrast, is in Judeo-Spanish and is typically confined to the private sphere of the family and life-cycle celebrations. 1 Exceptionally, however, on specific holidays in the annual liturgical cycle and at certain moments in the Sabbath morning liturgy, a gendered musical interplay occurs as both men and women's melodies are sung in the synagogue , and the language changes from Hebrew to the Judeo-Spanish vernacular the language normally associated with the private (feminine) sphere of the home. This chapter attempts to explain the significance of these phenomena through a gendered understanding of the liturgical structure. 2 [2.1] The information in this study is based on my personal observations while attending close to one hundred holiday and Sabbath services in the Jewish community of Tangier between 2005 and 2011; on interviews I conducted with members of the community between 2007 and 2012 while researching gender issues in Jewish women's traditional songs; and on the knowledge I acquired through my participation in communal study sessions while living in Tangier in 2007 and 2008. During those two years, I was the only woman invited to participate in the halacha (Jewish law) and mysticism classes held in the home of Rabbi Avraham Azancot on Sabbath mornings after services.

Si esamina la storia della pianta basilicale della chiesa cristiana, derivata dalla sinagoga, con lo sviluppo della chiesa siriaca che colloca il bema al centro della navata. La genesi di questa struttura consente di mettere a fuoco i problemi dell'architettura delle chiese nell'applicazione della riforma liturgica del Vaticano II.

Resumen. En este artículo se trata sobre la controvertida cuestión del origen de la amidá, principal oración del servicio religioso judío, en el contexto de creación de la liturgia rabínica tras la destrucción del Templo de Jerusalén en el año 70 d. C. Para ello se analiza primero su estructura formal y literaria, ofreciendo a continuación un análisis crítico sobre su origen que se hace eco del debate académico acerca de la cuestión. En apéndice se ofrece una traducción anotada de esta oración rabínica del s. I d. C.

The Mourner’s Kaddish is seared in the mind of so many Jews as a familiar yet mysterious prayer that is taken with the utmost seriousness. In this essay, I will examine three myths of the modern American experience of reciting the prayer, in an attempt to open up a broader interpretative field for the Mourner’s Kaddish.

Liturgical music played an important role in the consolidation of the distinct cultural identity of the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam and by extension of most of the Western Sephardi centres that sprung out from it. This paper explores a few key aspects of this liturgical tradition.

The most important book of Jewish theology is the prayer book, or siddur.  And, within the siddur, the most important Jewish theology of redemption is displayed in the daily morning prayer service, or shacharit.  Before offering a careful reading of the structure of this service, I would like to share a few thoughts with you on why I believe both Christian and Jewish theologians would have much to gain from studying the siddur as a source for contemporary Jewish theology.  The context out of which I offer these remarks is not “Judaism in general,” but a particular movement of what I will label “postliberal Jewish theology,” which also works in dialogue with a current movement of “postliberal Christian theology.”  For postliberal theologians, both Jewish and Christian, theology is performed prayerfully.  This means both that it is performed in relation to the revealed word of the eternal God and that this relation, and therefore this theology, is always specific to some time.  The time of postliberal Jewish theology is after the Shoah and after modernity.  This means the time when the Jewish people is still struggling to give new voice to a Covenant that, in some senses, died (God forbid) in the Shoah.  And it seeks to find this voice at a time when the great “isms” of modern civilization have lost their hegemony.

מהדורה ניסויית של פרק אחד של הבבלי כשלצידו המקבילות בתלמוד הירושלמי.
במהדורה זו מציגים את הסוגיות זו מול זו, וכבר לימדונו רבותינו זיכרונם לברכה שבנושאים אלו 'טוב מראה עיניים ממראה מקום' (ר"ש ליברמן, תלמודה של קיסרין).
כדי להצמיד את הירושלמי למקבילה בסוגיא בבבלי לא הבאנו את הירושלמי כסדרו גם בפרק החליל, ומראה מקום גם למהדורת האקדמיה ללשון העברית המבוססת על כתב יד ליידן (ציון לעמודים, ובעיקר לשורות). הפנייה זו  נועדה גם לראות את סדר הסוגיות בירושלמי. לדוגמא, עיינו בסוגיה הראשונה ממש.

מהדורה מעודכנת - אלול תשפ"א

The apparent absence of Shabbat-specific language in Psalm 92 has long puzzled scholars. An understanding of the psalm’s appropriateness for Shabbat emerges when it is read in the Temple context. Its themes of victory, enthronement, the Temple, and creation were central to the Levites’ conception of Shabbat. This paper seeks to uncover these connections, as well as the psalm’s possible liturgical performance alongside Genesis 1:1-2:3 in Temple ritual.

תקציר
במאמר זה שחזור נרחב של ההקשרים הספרותיים והגיאו-תרבותיים של ויכוחים המתועדים בקטע גניזה, ועוסקים בשאלת זהותו של אליהו ותיאורו כפינחס הקנאי. ויכוחים אלו התעוררו בבית כנסת בעקבות אמירת פיוטי הבדלה, ובמאמר אנו מצביעים על עליית מעמדו של מדרש האגדה כמקור סמכות, על השפעת הויכוח על נוסחם של פיוטי הבדלה, ועל מרכזיותה של ההגירה האנושית והתרבותית מאירופה הנוצרית בתחילת המאה הי'ג ברקע תהליכים אלו.

Abstract
The article identifies the literary, historical, and geo-cultural contexts of debates regarding the prophet Elijah, and his relation to the biblical figure of Pinheas.  The article traces the growing authority of aggadic midrash and its influence on recensions of the Havdalah poetry, against the backdrop of human and cultural immigration from Christian Europe in the early 13th century.

תופעה חריגה בתהליך גלגולי הטעמים. בחבלי הארץ המרכיבים את אוקראינה של ימינו וסביבתה בוקובינה, גליציה, מורביה וחלק מרוסיה, התבצרה מסורת של קריאה בטעמי המקרא המקובלים בגרמניה. סקירה נרחבת על מקור הטעמים והתפשטותם ועל הסיבה בה הם כונו "טעמי ברדיטשוב".

This paper seeks to interpret the liturgical role of a rare form of horizontal scrolls found in the Cairo Genizah. These liturgical fragments all share a unique combination of features: the scrolls follow the Palestinian textual and codicological tradition, focus exclusively on holiday prayer services, and incorporate a very narrow selection of liturgies based entirely on biblical passages and psalms. It is suggested that these liturgical scrolls may represent an early form of prayer books - an intermediate phase between Scriptural scrolls used in liturgical context and standard prayerbooks, emerged at times when only biblical liturgy was recorded in writing. Alternatively, the scrolls may be counted among other biblical scrolls used publicly for liturgical purposes, (such as Haftara and Targum scrolls) and might have served for the ceremonial reading of liturgical passages of special significance to the Palestinian prayer tradition.

Bibliography and Developments in Progressive Jewish Liturgy, 1967-2015
After the complete bibliography of prayer books and liturgical material used in European congregations this article analyses the changes and specific developments in European Jewish liturgy since 1967.

How do Jews pray and why? What do the prayers mean? From where did this liturgy come and what challenges does it face today? Such questions and many more, spanning the centuries and continents, have driven the study of Jewish liturgy. But just as the liturgy has changed over time, so too have the questions asked, the people asking them, and the methods used to address them.

Jewish Liturgy: A Guide to Research enables the reader to access the rich bibliography now available in English. In this volume, Ruth Langer, an expert on Jewish liturgy, provides an annotated description of the most important books and articles on topics ranging historically from the liturgy of the Second Temple period and the Dead Sea Scrolls to today, addressing the synagogue itself and those gathered in it; the daily, weekly, and festival liturgies and their components; home rituals and the life cycle; as well as questions of liturgical performance and theology. Introductions to every section orient the reader and provide necessary background.

Christians seeking to understand Jewish liturgy, either that of Jesus and the early church or that of their Jewish contemporaries, will find this volume invaluable. It’s also an important reference for anyone seeking to understand how Jews worship God and how that worship has evolved over time.

The AIDS epidemic tragically caused the death of millions of people. This article examines the role that the American Reform Jewish community fulfilled in responding to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, and what lasting effects, if any, these responses had, and how they related to Reform Judaism as a whole. In 1985 the General Assembly of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC)1 passed a historic resolution calling to abolish discrimination against HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) positive people. The Reform movement thus became the only formal Jewish institution to advocate an open discussion regarding congregants who lived with HIV or had AIDS, and presented a clear resistance to the AIDSphobic Orthodox agenda, which declared the disease to be a punishment from God for the “sin” of homosexuality. Based on the textual analysis of recovery and memorial prayers, rabbis’ sermons and community services activities and educational programmes, I argue that the Reform community served as a social agent for the recognition of people with HIV/AIDS. Thus, I conclude that the Reform response, which was arising from personal mourning and social needs, advocated and encouraged inclusion of the American gay Jewish community.

Throughout generations, various prayers have been composed to express religious and cultural experiences of the Jewish community, such as holidays life-cycle and national tragedies. However, some social issues, such as sexual assault, have been excluded from this canon. This article uncovers Jewish prayers and liturgical texts dedicated to female victims of sexual assault. Drawing on a qualitative inquiry based on content analysis and interviews with the prayers' authors, I demonstrate how these texts (re)position sexual assault victims in Jewish liturgy by including new phrasings and references to God; by removing masculine violence related to God; by mentioning biblical female characters who experienced sexual harassment; by denouncing of patriarchal abuse; or by sanctifying the woman's painful body, which is incorporated as an important agent in the ritual's structure. Therefore, I suggest considering these texts a political mean to voice women's traumas and to incorporate them into the religious sphere, thereby rectifying a long-silenced discourse.

The five centuries of the Second Temple era mark a significant transition from Israelite religion to the emergence of practices that would characterize Judaism as it developed after the fall of the Temple. Rituals of circumcision, the observance of Sabbath, and bathing for purification were common practices occurring outside the Temple that shaped the Jewish identity of individuals. Popular practices involving "magic" without centralized sanction also became prevalent. The rise of scripture and the emergence of the synagogue as a communal place for studying the Torah are two important developments that would shape Judaism to the present.

The papers published in this volume were presented at an international conference organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Theology of the University of Oslo and held at SOAS, University of London, from 5-7 November 2018. The conference examined the social and institutional contexts and oral, literary, and material formats in which religious knowledge emerged and was transmitted in antiquity, from ancient Mesopotamian until early Byzantine times. We investigated settings-e.g. the family and household; the temple, synagogue, church, and "school"-that enabled the transmission of customary practices and ancestral traditions from one person to another and from one generation to the next.