Hebrew University Professor and Israel Prize recipient Emeritus Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022), widely recognized a one of the greatest historians of Jewish thought of our era, probes texts of the Jewish prayer book which process religious philosophical teaching into the language of prayer. With the addition of historical, philological, and literary contexts, the volume provides the reader with first-time access to the comprehensive meaning of prayer–filling a vacuum in the experience and scholarship of Jewish worship.
Hebrew University Professor Emeritus and Israel Prize recipient Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022) is widely regarded as one of the greatest historians of Jewish thought of our era. In Siddur Hatefillah, he probes the Jewish prayer book as a reflection of Judaism's unity and continuity as a unique spiritual entity; and as the most popular, most uttered, and internalized text of the Jewish people. Schweid explores texts which process religious philosophical teaching into the language of prayer, and/or express philosophical ideas in prayer’s special language – which the worshipper reflects upon in order to direct prayer, and through which flows hoped-for feedback. With the addition of historical, philological, and literary contexts, the study provides the reader with first-time access to the comprehensive meaning of Jewish prayer—filling a vacuum in both the experience and scholarship of Jewish worship.
Arvustused
Schweids comprehensive work digs into the depths of Jewish prayer as hardly any other scholarly book does. The readers feeling is that the book emerges from the authors deeper need to search the soul and the profound meaning of prayer in Judaism.
Alessandro Grazi, Journal of Modern Jewish Studies
Translators Acknowledgements
Translators Introduction: Eliezer Schweid as Worshipper in the State of
Israel
Authors Preface: My Path to the Jewish Prayer Book (Siddur Hatefillah)
Introduction: The Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book): Its Sources, Goal, and
Theological Basis
Worship of God and the Process of the Sacred Congregations Formation and
Expression
Prayer as a Form of Primal Expression of the Human Soul
Torah and Prayer: The Problem of Love and Sin in the Relations between God
and the Human Being
The Name and Kingship Blessing as the Fundamental Rubric of Standing before
God in Prayer
Establishing the Covenant of Faith between the Individual Human Being and His
God
Principles of Faith
Keriyat ShemaCovenant of Love between God and His People
The Poetics of the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei
The Shemoneh Esrei Prayer: The Kedushah (Sanctification) and aninat Hadaat
(God as Giver of Knowledge)
The Shemoneh Esrei PrayerRequests by the Individual in the Assembly:
Teshuvah (Repentance) and Forgiveness
The Shemoneh Esrei Prayer: Redemption, Healing, and Livelihood
The Shemoneh Esrei (Eighteen Benedictions) That Are Really Nineteen:
Redemption from Deepening Exile
The Shemoneh EsreiResponding in Anticipation of Complete Redemption
Types of Biblical Poetry as a Source of Prayer
Between the Poetry of Prophecy and Prayer
The Poetry of the Psalms: Personal-Soulful and Societal-Political Messages
Hymnal Song for the Sabbath Day. The Sign between God and His Treasured
Nation and the Isolation from Christianity
Breaking the Boundary of Mystery between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Earth:
Praying with Devekut (Adherence) and with Kavanah (Intention)
Epilogue: The Universality and Perpetuity of Moving from Slavery to Freedom
and from Exile to Redemption
Glossary
Index
Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022) was widely recognized as one of the foremost historians of Jewish thought of this era. He was Professor Emeritus at Hebrew University and an Israel Prize recipient.
Gershon Greenberg is a visiting professor in the history of Jewish religious thought through the Holocaust at Hebrew and Bar Ilan universities in Israel. He is based at American University in Washington, D.C. where he created and directed the Jewish Studies Program and serves as Professor of Philosophy and Religion.
