Why be Jewish?
A fascinating dialogue across denominations of the High Holy Days and their message of Jewish purpose beyond mere survival.
Almost forty contributors from three continents—men and women, scholars and poets, rabbis and theologians, representing all Jewish denominations and perspectives—examine the tension between Israel as a particular People called by God, and that very calling as intended for a universalist end, furthering God’s vision for all the world, not just for Jews alone. This balance of views arises naturally out of the prayers in the High Holy Day liturgy, coupled with insights from philosophy, literature, theology and ethics.
This fifth volume in the Prayers of Awe series provides the relevant traditional prayers in the original Hebrew, alongside a new and annotated translation. It explores the question 'Why be Jewish?’ in a time when universalist commitment to our planet and its people has only grown in importance, even as particularist questions of Jewish continuity have become ever more urgent.
Prayers of Awe: A multi-volume series designed to explore the High Holy Day liturgy and enrich the praying experience for everyone—whether experienced worshipers or guests who encounter Jewish prayer for the very first time.
Contributors
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL
Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD
Rabbi Will Berkovitz
Dr. Annette M. Boeckler
Dr. Erica Brown
Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, CM, DHL, DD
Rabbi Lisa Exler
Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
Rabbi Laura Geller
Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, DHL
Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, Ph D
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D
Rabbi Walter Homolka, Ph D, DHL
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, DHL
Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, Ph D
Dr. Mark L. Kligman
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Catherine Madsen
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, Ph D
Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph D
Ruth Messinger
Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, Ph D
Rabbi Jay Henry Moses
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
Rabbi Jack Riemer
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, DMin
Rabbi Marc Saperstein, Ph D
Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, DMin
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, DMin
Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin
Rabbi David A. Teutsch, Ph D
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
Dr. Wendy Zierler
Spis treści
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: In General and in Particular, the Moral and
Theological Dilemma of Our Time 1
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D
Part I Universalism and Particularism: Speaking Generally
Why Be Jewish? The Universalist Message of the High Holy Days 11
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D
Monotheism, Mission, and Multiculturalism: Universalism Then and Now 30
Dr. Annette M. Boeckler
A Sage among the Gentiles? A Halakhic Lesson on Moral Universalism 40
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Universalism, Transnationalism, and the Challenge of Triumphalism 45
Rabbi David A. Teutsch, Ph D
The Prayer for the State of Israel: Universalism and Particularism 49
Rabbi Dalia Marx, Ph D
The Music of V’ye’etayu—’All the World’ 77
Dr. Mark L. Kligman
Part II Views from Philosophy and Literature
For a Judaism of Human Concerns 85
Rabbi Walter Homolka, Ph D, DHL
All Peoples Will Break into Song, but the Song Will Be Hebrew 91
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, DHL
Is Judaism Too Important to Be Left Just to Jews? The Sh’ma and the Alenu 98
Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, Ph D
’We’ and “They” in Jewish Liturgy 107
Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, Ph D
All Shall Come to Serve (My Version of) Thee 112
Dr. Wendy Zierler
Part III “All the World” Remembered: Its Impact on Generations
Two Kinds of Universalism 123
Rabbi Marc Saperstein, Ph D
The Missing Hymn: “All the World Shall Come to Serve Thee” 128
Rabbi Andrew Goldstein, Ph D
Part IV The Liturgy
Translation of the Liturgy and Commentary 135
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
“All the World, ” by Israel Zangwill 151
From Union Prayer Book, Newly Revised Version
Part V Interpretations from the Field
Worshiping in Technicolor; Seeing Others in Black and White 155
Rabbi Tony Bayfield, CBE, DD
“I Didn’t Do It!”: A Rosh Hashanah Nightmare 160
Rabbi Will Berkovitz
An Open Door 164
Dr. Erica Brown
Our Jewish Golden Rule 168
Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, CM, DHL, DD
A “Light unto the Nations” or a “People Who Dwell Alone”? 173
Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand
A Snowball That Cannot Melt 178
Rabbi Laura Geller
Laughing Islands, Dancing Prayer Books 183
Rabbi Edwin Goldberg, DHL
“One True Religion” or “Any Number Can Play”? 188
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman
Crowning “the Un-king” King 192
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, DHL
They Are Us: Uv’khen and T’shuvah 197
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Iftar in the Synagogue: Jewish-Muslim Relations, from the Pages of the Machzor 200
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
The Acidic Masters 204
Catherine Madsen
Word and World: From Faith to Action 209
Ruth Messinger and Lisa Exler
“So Loud Your Praise Shall Sing” 213
Rabbi Charles H. Middleburgh, Ph D
A Synthesis of Hope 217
Rabbi Jay Henry Moses
Melekh al Kol Ha’aretz: Just How Jewish Is Rosh Hashanah, Anyway? 221
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
Let It Be! Let It Be! Let It Be! 226
Rabbi Jack Riemer
What We Can All Believe 230
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, DMin
The Dance of the One and the Many 235
Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, DMin, and Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, DMin
In God, Even the Infinite Becomes One 240
Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater, DMin
Yoga Poses for the Mind: Wrapping Our Minds around It All 244
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, DD
Universal in Vision, Particular by Necessity 248
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
Notes 252
Glossary 263
O autorze
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.He has written and edited many books, including All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor, We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism—Ashamnu and Al Chet, Who by Fire, Who by Water—Un’taneh Tokef and All These Vows—Kol Nidre, the first five volumes in the Prayers of Awe series; the My People’s Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries series, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and he is coeditor of My People’s Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries (all Jewish Lights), a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.Rabbi Hoffman is a developer of Synagogue 3000, a transdenominational project designed to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century.Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Ph D, is available to speak on the following topics:A Day of Wine and Moses: The Passover Haggadah and the Seder You Have Always Wanted Preparing for the High Holy Days: How to Appreciate the Liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur The Essence of Jewish Prayer: The Prayer Book in Context and Worship in Our Time Beyond Ethnicity: The Coming Project for North American Jewish Identity Synagogue Change: Transforming Synagogues as Spiritual and Moral Centers for the Twenty-First Century Click here to contact the author.