Why be Jewish?
A fascinating dialogue across denominations of the High Holy Days and their message of Jewish purpose beyond mere survival.
Almost forty contributors from three continents—men and women, scholars and poets, rabbis and theologians, representing all Jewish denominations and perspectives—examine the tension between Israel as a particular People called by God, and that very calling as intended for a universalist end, furthering God's vision for all the world, not just for Jews alone. This balance of views arises naturally out of the prayers in the High Holy Day liturgy, coupled with insights from philosophy, literature, theology and ethics.
This fifth volume in the Prayers of Awe series provides the relevant traditional prayers in the original Hebrew, alongside a new and annotated translation. It explores the question "Why be Jewish?" in a time when universalist commitment to our planet and its people has only grown in importance, even as particularist questions of Jewish continuity have become ever more urgent.
Prayers of Awe: A multi-volume series designed to explore the High Holy Day liturgy and enrich the praying experience for everyone—whether experienced worshipers or guests who encounter Jewish prayer for the very first time.
Contributors:
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL
Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD
Rabbi Will Berkovitz
Dr. Annette M. Boeckler
Dr. Erica Brown
Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, CM, DHL, DD
Rabbi Lisa Exler
Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Rabbi Laura Geller
Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, DHL
Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, PhD
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD
Rabbi Walter Homolka, PhD, DHL
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, DHL
Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, PhD
Dr. Mark L. Kligman
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Catherine Madsen
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, PhD
Rabbi Dalia Marx, PhD
Ruth Messinger
Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, PhD
Rabbi Jay Henry Moses
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
Rabbi Jack Riemer
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, DMin
Rabbi Marc Saperstein, PhD
Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, DMin
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, DMin
Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin
Rabbi David A. Teutsch, PhD
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
Dr. Wendy Zierler
"TXT1">
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.
"TXT">His many books, written and edited, include seven volumes in the
Prayers of Awe series:
Who by Fire, Who by Water―Un'taneh Tokef;
All These Vows―Kol Nidre;
We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism―Ashamnu
and Al Chet;
May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism―Yizkor;
All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days;
Naming God: Avinu Malkeinu
―Our Father, Our King; and
Encountering God: El Rachum V'chanun―
God Merciful and Gracious. Hoffman also edited the ten-volume series
My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and coedited
My People’s Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award (all Jewish Lights).
"TXT">Rabbi Hoffman cofounded and developed Synagogue 2/3000, a transdenominational project to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century. In that capacity, he wrote
Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Jewish Lights).
