Prayer

by Rabbi Reuven Hammer - Past President, Rabbinical Assembly

We have been witnessing a renewed interest in prayer over the past several years, and more and more books are being written to meet this concern.

Max Kadushin engaged in scholarly investigations of Jewish liturgy and emphasized the way in which the basic values or “value-concepts” of Judaism were reflected in our prayers. His Worship And Ethics (Northwestern University Press, 1964) is well worth exploring, as is The Service of the Heart (Thomas Yoseloff, 1958) by his wife, Evelyn Garfiel. In the latter, Garfiel utilizes her husband’s methodology while explaining the various services and prayers in easy-to-understand language.

Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote extensively about prayer throughout his career. He sought to convince his students and his readers that prayer is the heart of Judaism and an essential component of life. For him, prayer was not an intellectual exercise but a way of expressing our wonder at the world in which we live and at the existence of a God. His inspiring words can be found in a volume of collected essays entitled Man’s Quest for God (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954).

For specific information about the historical background of individual prayers, the indispensable work is Ismar Elbogin’s Jewish Liturgy: A Comprehensive History (Jewish Publication Society-Jewish Theological Seminary). The book, originally written in German, was translated and brought up to date by Raymond P. Scheindlin in 1993.

Several years ago, I felt the need for a book that would make the subject of Jewish prayer easily accessible. That volume, Entering Jewish Prayer (Schocken Books, 1994), is written from the point of view of the Conservative Movement, though it is not limited to the Conservative prayerbook.

An extremely extensive work still in progress is My People’s Prayerbook (Jewish Lights), edited by Lawrence A. Hoffman, which contains multiple commentaries on each prayer written by well-known authorities from various streams of Judaism. In addition, Jules Harlow, who in the past has served as the translator and editor of many prayerbooks for the Conservative Movement, has written a delightful book entitled Pray Tell (Jewish Lights 2003), explaining the prayers from a contemporary perspective.

Finally, several years ago I was asked by the Rabbinical Assembly to create the first Conservative comprehensive commentary on the siddur, to be printed together with the newest version of Siddur Sim Shalom. The first volume (Shabbat and Festivals) was published in 2003. Entitled Or Hadash (Rabbinical Assembly-United Synagogue), it contains phrase-by-phrase comments on the entire siddur as well as introductions to services and individual prayers, with both historical and religious explanations as well as quotations from modern writers and from classic texts. A second volume, weekday prayers, will follow.