Overview

Why We Pray What We Pray details the various factors that have influenced six important Jewish prayers and shaped how and when Jews recite them. This book shows that each prayer--Shema, Nishmat, Birkat HaHodesh, Anim Zemirot, Aleinu and Kaddish--has a complex history of which contemporary worshippers are mostly unaware. As readers learn about the factors and forces that shaped these prayers and Jewish liturgy in general, they will gain a more profound appreciation of what Jewish worship is all about. Why We Pray What We Pray also sets forth important moments in Jewish history with depth and detail.

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9789655240344

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Reviews

""A scholar and a rabbi, [Barry Freundel] has an uncommon talent for combining textual and historical erudition with an immense sensitivity to the experience of prayer. He deploys his immense learning with great skill, and again and again casts new light upon some of Judaism's most familiar words. Above all, this book is animated by a profound and admirable commitment to the thoughtfulness of religious faith."" --Leon Wieseltier, author, Kaddish ""This is a scholarly book of impressive depth and originality that should intrigue and enlighten a large readership. . . . Rabbi Freundel turns a familiar liturgy into a palimpsest of emergent Jewish thought down the generations."" --Herman Wouk, author, The Language God Talks and This Is My God

Author Information

Rabbi Dr. Barry Freundel is the rabbi of Congregation Kesher Israel in Washington, DC. He is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University and an associate professor of religion at Towson University. He serves as the vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America and as chair of its Geirus Policies and Standards Committee. He is the author of Contemporary Orthodox Judaism's Response to Modernity. He lives in the Washington, DC area.

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