Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-685pp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-04T01:18:17.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

13 - Jewish Worship and Liturgy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

By
Ruth Langer
Edited by
Judith R. Baskin  and
Kenneth Seeskin
Judith R. Baskin
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
Kenneth Seeskin
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
Get access

Summary

Worship marks the human experience almost from the beginning. According to the Bible, after Adam and Eve give birth to Cain and Abel,

Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil. In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil; and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The Lord paid heed to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed … and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:2b–8)

The presumptions here are that God delights in human worship and that the choicest form for this worship is animal sacrifice. These presumptions shape formal Jewish worship of God throughout subsequent history, even when sacrificial worship is not possible. Throughout the centuries, Jews have endeavored not only to communicate their needs and desires to God, but also to worship God in ways that they believed would be pleasing on high.

IN THE HEBREW BIBLE

According to the biblical narrative, before the Israelites received the ground rules for corporate worship of God at Sinai, they worshiped through sacrifices. Indeed, in their world, one could hardly conceive of alternatives. Surrounding cultures all made physical offerings to their gods.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture , pp. 337 - 356
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brody, Robert. 1998. The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shaping of Medieval Jewish Culture. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Shaye J. D. 1992. “Purity and Piety: The Separation of Menstruants from the Sancta.” In Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, ed. Grossman, Susan and Haut, Rivka, 103–115. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.Google Scholar
Ehrlich, Uri, and Langer, Ruth. 2007. “The Earliest Texts of the Birkat Haminim.” Hebrew Union College Annual 76:63–112Google Scholar
Fleischer, Ezra, and Langer, Ruth. 2000. “Controversy.” Prooftexts 20 (3): 380–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, Arthur. 2004. A Guide to the Zohar. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Harland, Philip A. 2003. Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Lawrence A. 1979. The Canonization of the Synagogue Service. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Knohl, Israel. 1995. The Sanctuary of Silence: The Priestly Torah and the Holiness School. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.Google Scholar
Langer, Ruth. 1998a. “From Study of Scripture to a Reenactment of Sinai.” Worship 72 (1): 43–67.Google Scholar
Langer, Ruth. 1998b. To Worship God Properly: Tensions Between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism. Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College Press.Google Scholar
Langer, Ruth. 1999. “Revisiting Early Rabbinic Liturgy: The Recent Contributions of Ezra Fleischer.” Prooftexts 19 (2): 179–194.Google Scholar
Langer, Ruth. 2005. “Theologies of Self and Other in American Jewish Liturgies.” CCAR Journal: A Reform Jewish Quarterly Winter: 3–41.
Levine, Lee I. 2000. The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, Michael A. 1988. Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Petuchowski, Jakob J. 1968. Prayerbook Reform in Europe: The Liturgy of European Liberal and Reform Judaism. New York: World Union for Progressive Judaism.Google Scholar
Reif, Stefan C. 1993. Judaism and Hebrew Prayer: New Perspectives on Jewish Liturgical History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenzweig, Franz. 1971. The Star of Redemption. Trans. Hallo, William W.. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Sanders, E. P. 1992. Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63BCE–66 CE. London: SCM Press and Trinity Press International.Google Scholar
Sarason, Richard S. 2003. “Communal Prayer at Qumran and Among the Rabbis: Certainties and Uncertainties.” In Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Chazon, Esther, 151–172. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Tabory, Joseph. 2005. “The Piety of Politics: Jewish Prayers for the State of Israel.” In Liturgy in the Life of the Synagogue: Studies in the History of Jewish Prayer, ed. Langer, Ruth and Fine, Steven, 225–246. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.Google Scholar
Taitz, Emily. 1992. “Women's Voices, Women's Prayers: Women in the European Synagogues of the Middle Ages.” In Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, ed. Grossman, Susan and Haut, Rivka, 59–71. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.Google Scholar
Weissler, Chava. 1998. Voices of the Matriarchs: Listening to the Prayers of Early Modern Jewish Women. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×