<p>Traditional Jews encounter the prayer-book-the Siddur-more often in their daily lives than any other text, yet it is mysteriously absent from their otherwise nearly comprehensive curriculum of study. In addition, they tend to recite it mantrically, more for its sound than its meaning. The neglect of meaning is so complete that no edition of the prayer-book has yet appeared with a comprehensive range of commentaries. The present work, the first to examine this paradox, explains it as a reluctance to engage with the intellectual and emotional questions that lie just beneath the surface of the text. An analysis of the opening sequences of the daily ritual reveals that the prayerbook, far from representing one side of a deferential dialogue with an attentive deity, actually challenges God to allow access to the revelation on which human safety depends and to keep his side of the covenant. Confronting the chaotic unpredictability of the human condition, this undercurrent of protest allows Jews to question why God's urgently needed intervention seems absent. Anger at this apparent absence is qualified only by gratitude at being alive. The core of this book consists of a novel examination of the opening sections of the traditional daily morning liturgy according to the Ashkenazi rite. The analysis is based on mostly untranslated medieval and later commentaries identifying the biblical and rabbinic echoes from which the liturgy is woven, and employs analytical methods of the kind traditionally applied to talmudic and midrashic texts. It shows how each citation and echo imports aspects of its original context into the new composition, forming a countertext to the words on the page. It examines each textual layer, as well as the surface meaning that is usually the only one to be noted, and relates these to the speaker's actual location-home and later the synagogue-as well as to the time of day when the prayers are recited, as the worshipper faces the dangers of the day ahead. The resulting chorus of ideas-linking everyday life to the sacred narrative from creation to exile-demonstrates the philosophical sophistication of rabbinic spirituality in offering poetic insight into an ultimately tragic vision of reality.</p>

Undercurrents of Jewish Prayer (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

History

Schonfield, Jeremy

World

The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization

<p>Jews encounter the prayer-book - the Siddur - more often in their daily lives than any other text, yet it is mysteriously absent from their otherwise comprehensive curriculum of study. The present work, the first to examine this paradox, explains this as a reluctance to engage with the intellectual and emotional questions that the liturgy generates. Submitted to close examination, Jewish prayer is shown to be less a deferential dialogue with an attentive deity than a liturgy of protest in the face of the chaotic unpredictability of the human condition, a protest qualified only by joyous recognition of God's role in ensuring life itself. This ground-breaking work studies the opening sections of the morning liturgyËœusing methods traditionally applied to talmudic and midrashic texts. Close analysis of each textual layer, and not merely the surface meaning, demonstrates that because the liturgy is composed of citations drawn from other texts, the echoes of the original context reverberate in the new composition and form a countertext to the words on the page. It further shows how the emotions generated by these texts are tempered by the individual's location - home and later the synagogue - as well the fact that they are recited when facing the dangers of the day ahead. The resulting chorus of ideas, linking everyday life to the sacred narrative from creation to exile, demonstrates the philosophical sophistication of rabbinic spirituality in offering poetic insight into an ultimately tragic vision of reality. *** "With Undercurrents of Jewish Prayer, Jeremy Schonfield asserts his undeniable right to be accepted into the first rank of Jewish liturgical scholars . . . no-one who completes this superb book will be able to look at a prayer book in the same way again. Schonfield sets the tone for his approach in the first three chapters, preparing his reader for an analysis that will be minute, lateral, creative, and highly convincing, as well as informed throughout by the author's broad scholarship . . . a collection of jewels." Ëœ~ Charles Middleburgh, Jewish Chronicle</p>

Littman Library of Jewish Civilization

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Schonfield, Jeremy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Schonfield, Jeremy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Schonfield, Jeremy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Undercurrents of Jewish Prayer (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Undercurrents of Jewish Prayer (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)