Celebrating the Jewish Year

by Steinberg, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780827608429
• ISBN10: 082760842X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-01
• Publisher: Jewish Pubn Society

Summary

The first volume of JPS's new holiday seriesJPS's new holiday books take us through the joys, spirit, and meaning of the seasons. Blending the old and the new, they ground us in the origins and traditions of each holiday and open up to us ways we can add our own expression to these special days. Although synagogue ritual is touched upon, the real focus here is on our personal connections to each holiday and our home observance. As we move from season to season, Paul Steinberg shares with us a rich collection of readings from many of the Jewish greats -- Maimonides, Rashi, Nachmanides, Shlomo Carlebach, Marge Piercy, Elie Wiesel, Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Arthur Green, and others -- and he guides us in discovering for ourselves the many treasures within each text. The readings teach us about the history of each holiday, as well as its theological, ethical, agricultural, and seasonal importance and interpretation; others give us inspiration and much food for thought. These stories, essays, poems, anecdotes, and rituals help us discover how deeply Jewish traditions are rooted in nature's yearly cycle, and how beautifully season and spirit are woven together throughout the Jewish year. The Winter Holidays: Hanukkah, Tu b'shevat, and Purim will be available in October 2007. The Spring and Summer Holidays: Passover, Shavuot, The Omer, and Tisha b'av will follow in 2008.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Framework of This Book	p. 1
Heart, Mind, and Celebration
The Spiritual Cycle of the Jewish Holidays	p. 5
Reason, Faith, and Jewish Observance	p. 6
Origins of the Jewish Calendar
Seeing the Moon	p. 13
Setting the Calendar	p. 14
A Fix for the Two-Day Fix	p. 15
Naming the Months and the Days	p. 16
Rosh Hashanah
The Head of the Year	p. 23
Rosh Hashanah in the Bible	p. 24
The Month of Elul: A Footpath to Mercy	p. 26
Is It Two Days or One Long Day?	p. 29
Food and Other Customs on Rosh Hashanah	p. 30
Pathways Through the Sources	p. 33
Midrash Rabbah: Presence and Pardon	p. 33
Jerusalem Talmud: God's Partners	p. 34
High Holiday Machzor: The Decree	p. 34
The Zohar: A Shofar's Harmony	p. 35
Moses ben Jacob of Coucy: Self-Mastery	p. 36
Or Ha-Chaim: Gentle Justice	p. 37
Mei Ha-Shilo'ach: The Original Intention	p. 38
The Rebbe of Strelisk: Heeding Advice	p. 38
Rav Kook: Sacred Freedom	p. 39
Arthur Green: Returning to Wholeness	p. 40
Interpretations of Sacred Texts	p. 42
Judgment and Injustice	p. 42
Remembrance and Compassion	p. 44
The Shofar and Prayer from the Heart	p. 46
Significance of the Holiday: Some Modern Perspectives	p. 48
From Obscurity to Prominence	p. 48
Remembering Creation	p. 50
A Clarion Call to Fixing the World	p. 53
The Days of Awe and Israel	p. 55
The Shofar: A Cry into Eternity	p. 57
Alternative Meditations	p. 59
Singing Creation into Being	p. 59
Facing the Music: A High Holiday Meditation	p. 59
Hagar and Sarah, Sarah and Hagar	p. 61
Yom Kippur
The Day for Spiritual Second Chances	p. 65
Yom Kippur in the Bible	p. 66
Days of Awe	p. 71
Erev Yom Kippur: The Threshold of Sanctity	p. 72
Yom Kippur and Self-Denial	p. 75
Pathways Through the Sources	p. 77
Mishnah: Between God and Fellow	p. 77
Maimonides: Perfect Repentance	p. 77
Zohar: The High Priest's Intervention	p. 79
Yehudah Ha-Levi: Attending to the Spirit	p. 79
Kitzur Shulchan Arukh: Observance and Practice	p. 80
The Maggid of Mezritch: Discovering Unity	p. 81
The Rebbe of Lizensk: Forgiving God	p. 83
Franz Rosenzweig: To Stand before God	p. 84
Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Unforgivable	p. 85
Erich Fromm: No Judgment Without Love	p. 86
Interpretations of Sacred Texts	p. 88
Festivity and Marriage	p. 88
Sin and Confession	p. 90
Truth versus Mercy	p. 92
Significance of the Holiday: Some Modern Perspectives	p. 94
An Evolution in Rite and Prayer	p. 94
Repentance, Confession, and Atonement	p. 97
Moral Freedom and Responsibility	p. 99
Accepting the Decree	p. 102
Alternative Meditations	p. 105
Elul	p. 105
The Ritual of the Scapegoat	p. 107
Meditation before Yom Kippur for One Who Cannot Fast	p. 107
A Carnival at the Gates: Jonah and Laughter on Yom Kippur	p. 108
Sukkot
A Merging of Worlds	p. 117
Sukkot in the Bible	p. 118
Symbols of Sukkot	p. 120
The Heavenly Guests	p. 128
The Water Ritual	p. 130
Three "Last" Days	p. 134
Reading Kohelet	p. 138
Pathways Through the Sources	p. 141
Midrash: A New Reckoning	p. 141
Midrash Rabbah: Prolonging the Celebration	p. 143
Rashi on Kohelet: The Joy of Now	p. 143
The Zohar: Hosting the Divine	p. 144
Sefer Ha-Hinnukh: The Power of Four	p. 145
Moses Chaim Luzzatto: Engulfed in Light	p. 146
The Rabbi of Kamionka: The Etrog's Glow	p. 147
Samson Raphael Hirsch: Minding What We Share	p. 147
Elie Wiesel: Joy under Adversity	p. 149
Interpretations of Sacred Texts	p. 150
Materialism and Redemption	p. 150
Prayer and the Powers of Rain	p. 152
The Law and the Lesson of Fragility	p. 154
Significance of the Holiday: Some Modern Perspectives	p. 156
History and Tradition Interwoven	p. 156
Harvest and New Seed	p. 159
Open to the Earth and All Humanity	p. 164
The Season of Our Rejoicing	p. 165
Never-ending Joy	p. 168
Alternative Meditations	p. 170
Imagining Zaydeh's Sukkah	p. 170
That Tzaddik's Etrog	p. 172
New Rituals for Simchat Torah	p. 175
Guidance along the Way
Is It Law or Custom?	p. 181
Exploring Traditional Sources	p. 182
Endnotes	p. 197
Glossary	p. 219
Contributing Authors	p. 235
Index	p. 239
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