My Peoples Prayer Book

by Hoffman, Lawrence A.

• ISBN13: 9781879045842
• ISBN10: 1879045842
• Edition: Bilingual
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Pub

Summary

This momentous, critically-acclaimed series is truly a people's prayer book, one that provides a diverse and exciting commentary to the traditional liturgy. It will help modern men and women find new wisdom and guidance in Jewish prayer, and bring the liturgy into their lives. It also has received significant attention in the Christian world.

The major sections of the prayer book each are covered in separate volumes in this series. My People's Prayer Book provides in each volume:
-- The traditional Hebrew text.
-- A modern translation (designed to let people know exactly what the prayers actually say).
-- Commentators from all perspectives of the Jewish world, some of today's most respected Jewish scholars and teachers, who cover the prayer book's connections to the Bible, history, traditional law, kabbalistic wisdom, feminism, modern developments, and much more.

This stunning work, an important expression of the spiritual revival of our times, enables all worshipers to claim their connection to the heritage of the traditional Jewish prayer book.

Table of Contents

About My People's Prayer Book	vii
Introduction to the Liturgy: The Shape of the Daily Service	1	(6)
Lawrence A. Hoffman
Tachanun and Penitential Piety: A Jewish View of Human Nature	7	(12)
Lawrence A. Hoffman
The Paradoxical Power of Tachanun	19	(5)
Daniel Landes
The Puzzling Power of Kaddish	24	(4)
Daniel Landes
Introduction to the Commentaries: How to Look for Meaning in the Prayers	28	(6)
Lawrence A. Hoffman
The Liturgy
1. Tachanun	34	(67)
Preamble for Mondays and Thursdays: The Seven-Paragraph V'Hu Rachum (``He is Merciful'')	34	(29)
Ordinary Daily Introduction: ``David Said to Gad''	63	(8)
David's Own Tachanun: Psalm 6	71	(9)
Penitential Addition for Mondays and Thursdays: ``Adonai God of Israel''	80	(7)
Shomer Yisra'el (``Guardian of Israel'')	87	(8)
Conclusion: ``We Do Not Know What to Do''	95	(6)
2. Concluding Prayers	101	(89)
Psalm 20 and the K'dushah D'sidra	101	(28)
Full Kaddish (Kaddish Shalem) and Alenu	129	(20)
Mourner's Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom)	149	(13)
The Thirteen Principles of Faith	162	(28)
About the Contributors	190	(3)
List of Abbreviations	193	(1)
Glossary	194	(23)
About Jewish Lights	217