In this study of the psalms of the Jewish liturgy, Rabbi Miriyam Glazer brings these well-known psalms alive. She focuses on each psalm's pathos, power, richness of imagery, and spiritual beauty. This work concentrates on the psalm-as-prayer, showing how lines are connected with one another and how each psalm can take its reader on an inner journey. The author also explains the role each psalm plays in its liturgical setting.
When thinking about psalms and prayers in the Second Temple period, the Masoretic Psalter and its reception is often given priority because of modern academic or theological interests. This emphasis tends to skew our understanding of the corpus we call psalms and prayers and often dampens or mutes the lived context within which these texts were composed and used. This volume is comprised of a collection of articles that explore the diverse settings in which psalms and prayers were used and circulated in the late Second Temple period. The book includes essays by experts in the Hebrew bible, the Dead Sea scrolls, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, and the New Testament, in which a wide variety of topics, approaches, and methods both old and new are utilized to explore the many functions of psalms and prayers in the late Second Temple period. Included in this volume are essays examining how psalms were read as prophecy, as history, as liturgy, and as literature. A variety methodologies are employed, and include the use of cognitive sciences and poetics, linguistic theory, psychology, redaction criticism, and literary theory.
From the acclaimed author and artist who created The Song of Songs: The Honeybee in the Garden, this breathtakingly beautiful book fuses the artist Debra Band's stunning illuminated interpretation of selected psalms with the scholar Arnold Band's insightful analysis of the text. In shimmering gold and brilliant color this book invites contemporary readers to experience the intense emotion embodied within the ancient verses. It features 36 of the most well-known and moving psalms, including songs of personal and communal joy, prayers for healing and redemption in times of desperation, expressions of love and longing for Jerusalem, and prayers of comfort traditionally included in mourning rites. Band ingeniously interprets each psalm through two illuminations on facing pages: one that brings to life the Hebrew text; the other that illustrates the JPS English translation. Each pair of full-page illuminations is followed by an analysis of the psalm by Arnold Band and an explanation of the symbolism of the artwork by Debra Band. This beautifully bound book can be used for prayer and study, as well as aesthetic enjoyment, and, it makes an unforgettable gift for weddings, anniversaries, and other special occasions. Included in the volume is a foreword by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner.
This work provides the first translation into English of the Targum of Psalms, together with an introduction, a critical apparatus listing variants from several manuscripts and their printed editions, and annotations.
The ideas and emotions that make the book of Psalms such a powerful text for Judaism and Christianity alike are brilliantly captured in this deft translation by a scholar of Judaism. Aaron Lichtenstein offers the English translation in verse, just as the original Hebrew text is in poetry, in the various poetic modes required by the myriad moods and messages. Readers will be moved by the inspiring words of the Psalms in this essential resource.
A collection of blessings, poems, meditations, and rituals presented in English and Hebrew offers a traditional perspective to weekday, Sabbath, and New Moon festival observances.
Presenting new insights into the history and interaction between Jewish and Christian liturgy and worship, the various contributions offer a deeper understanding of the identity of Judaism and Christianity. It addresses issues such as: – Is the Eucharistic Prayer a ‘Berakha’ and what information is available for the reconstruction of the history of the Jewish ‘Grace after Meals’? – How does Jewish liturgy rework the Bible, and are Christians and Jews using similar methods when they create liturgical poetry on the basis of a biblical text? – Which texts of the Cairo Genizah are of direct importance for the history of Christian liturgies, and are Christian creeds in fact Prayers or Hymns? – What does it mean that both Jews and Christians recite Isaiah's "Holy, Holy, Holy" at important points in their respective liturgies? Questions like these brought together scholars and specialists from different disciplines to share their recent insights at a conference in Aachen, Germany, and to offer the reader a fascinating discourse on a broad range of aspects of Jewish and Christian liturgies.
This three-volume prayer series based on the Conservative Shabbat Morning Service transforms Hebrew study into a practical prayer learning experience. The only entry requirement is the ability to read Hebrew phonetically.¬+
Christians know the Psalms, sing the Psalms, and pray the Psalms more than any other book of the Bible. Yet, even as believers have grown more devoted to individual psalms, they have lost the big picture-the single sense that unites all the psalms as one coherent book. Michael Barber is at the forefront of an emerging movement in biblical theology. With this book, he is recovering the narrative plot that was the common heritage of Jews and Christians in the ancient world. Barber shows how King David serves as an example for the chosen people as they struggled in exile. As David was rescued by the Lord, so would Israel be restored as a kingdom for all ages. This is the story of Christ as well, whom Barber reveals as the "new David." And, in Christ, it is the story of every Christian. The Psalms bring us-in our reading and in our prayer-from suffering and pleading to glory, triumph, and praise. Barber's analysis follows upon an extensive introduction by Scott Hahn, Ph.D., detailing the historical, cultural, and theological background of the Psalter.
