Jewish liturgy as a spiritual system

Rosenberg, Arnold S.

This book explains the Jewish liturgy prayer by prayer, according to what, in the context of ancient and medieval Judaism, was its raison d'etre: a structure for transforming one's mind and way of life. The author writes: "The crisis Judaism now faces, while genuine, is due not to a lack of depth in the traditional Jewish prayer service but to a profound and almost universal lack of understanding of that prayer service that pervades all segments of the Jewish community. Jewish prayer services in many contemporary synagogues lack spiritual fervor because the linkage between word and ritual, on the one hand, and mental transformation on the other, that would generate such fervor is not generally known to Jewish adults and is not taught to Jewish children. Unfortunately, the prayer service regularly degenerates into a race through words and gestures divorced from the sequence of...

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