Siddur Hatefillah: The Jewish Prayer Book. Philosophy, Poetry, and Mystery

by Eliezer Schweid, Gershon Greenberg (Translator), Gershon Greenberg (Introduction)

Overview

Hebrew UniversityProfessor 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781644698655
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	514
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.13(d)

About the Author

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 Universityand 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 Universityin Washington, D.C. where he created and directed the Jewish Studies Program and serves as Professor of Philosophy and Religion.

Table of Contents

Translator’s Acknowledgements

Translator’s Introduction: Eliezer Schweid as Worshipper in the State of Israel
Author’s Preface: My Path to the Jewish Prayer Book (Siddur Hatefillah)
Introduction: The Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book): Its Sources, Goal, and Theological Basis

1. Worship of God and the Process of the Sacred Congregation’s Formation and Expression

2. Prayer as a Form of Primal Expression of the Human Soul

3. Torah and Prayer: The Problem of Love and Sin in the Relations between God and the Human Being

4. The “Name and Kingship” Blessing as the Fundamental Rubric of Standing before God in Prayer

5. Establishing the Covenant of Faith between the Individual Human Being and His God

6. Principles of Faith

7. Keriyat Shema—Covenant of Love between God and His People

8. The Poetics of the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei

9. The Shemoneh Esrei Prayer: The Kedushah (Sanctification) and Ḥaninat Hada’at (God as Giver of Knowledge)

10. The Shemoneh Esrei Prayer—Requests by the Individual in the Assembly: Teshuvah (Repentance) and Forgiveness

11. The Shemoneh Esrei Prayer: Redemption, Healing, and Livelihood

12. The Shemoneh Esrei (Eighteen Benedictions) That Are Really Nineteen: Redemption from Deepening Exile

13. The Shemoneh Esrei—Responding in Anticipation of Complete Redemption

14. Types of Biblical Poetry as a Source of Prayer

15. Between the Poetry of Prophecy and Prayer

16. The Poetry of the Psalms: Personal-Soulful and Societal-Political Messages

17. Hymnal Song for the Sabbath Day. The “Sign” between God and His Treasured Nation and the Isolation from Christianity

18. 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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Eliezer Schweid (1929-2022) was one of Israel's most creative thinkers. A scholar of Jewish philosophy, a philosophical theologian, a social theorist, and a public intellectual, the late Professor Schweid (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) exerted a profound impact on Israeli culture. With his beautiful translation of Schweid's book on the Hebrew prayer book, Professor Gershon Greenberg (American University) has made the legacy of Professor Schweid accessible to broad readership. Written in a non-academic style, Schweid's exposition of the prayer book explicates the thematic structure of the Judaic worldview, the interdependence of the prayer book and the Bible, and the conceptual link between prophecy, poetry, and philosophy. Schweid's insightful exposition enables readers to understand the intellectual depth and spiritual power of the prayer book, while shining light on Schweid's own religiosity, philosophic acumen, and poetic proclivities. All Jewish readers, regardless of religious affiliation or ideological commitment, will find Schweid's work on the prayer book intellectually powerful, emotionally moving, and existentially meaningful. Written by a consummate educator who knows how to get to the heart of the matter, this book is extremely useful for the study of the prayer book in diverse Jewish educational settings. In translating Schweid's work, Gershon Greenberg has perpetuated Schweid's life mission: to ensure the future of the Jewish People as the carrier of the covenantal relationship with God."

– Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Regents Professor of History, Irving and Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern Judaism, and Director of Jewish Studies at Arizona State University

“Eliezer Schweid was one of the most creative scholars of the Jewish tradition in his generation. Not widely known among English readers until recently, his work spans the breadth of Judaism from the Hebrew Bible to the present, focusing on a broad philosophy of Jewish existence. Late in his career, having published works on the philosophy of the Hebrew Bible and the liturgical calendar, we now have his personal and philosophical analysis of Jewish prayer. Beautifully translated by Gershon Greenberg, this work brims with personal passion and the sharp intellectual acumen one expects from Schweid. As Schweid writes in his introduction, 'a personal-existential vital text necessitates a personal-existential relationship to it.' And here Schweid delivers. A touching and deeply reflective analysis of Jewish prayer and the praying subject who enters its gates.”

– Shaul Magid, Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College

“Eliezer Schweid's Siddur Hatefillah is a major contribution to the familiarity with and comprehension of Jewish prayer and its philosophical, theological and liturgical logics. The Siddur and the Hebrew Bible are the two most read and related to books of Jewish culture. A masterpiece of one of the most prominent philosophers of Judaism and Jewish existence of our time, Schweid's book invites readers of all traditions and backgrounds to the intimate inner world of Jewish spirituality. It accompanies the learner in a close journey through the pathways of the Jewish prayer daily and yearly rhythm. Its excellent English translation, composed by Professor Gershon Greenberg, a leading scholar of Jewish Thought and a close disciple of the author, offers now readers in this language an accessible and friendly corridor into the palace of Jewish prayer and Jewish life.”

– Rabbi Professor Yehoyada Amir, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem