What is the siddur, the Jewish prayer book? In order to answer this question our first task will be to understand the structure of this complex and richly textured book. Investigation of the literary and historical background of the various units will assist in our main goal of exploring the main themes of the distinct prayers. Finally, the question of the theology of the siddur, whether implicit or explicit, will naturally be raised with each unit as well as in our retrospective synthesis. Most of our attentiom will be devoted to the early and basic Rabbinic building blocks: Birkhot Hashachar (Morning Blessings), K’riat Shema (Recital of the Shema), and Amidah (in ancient sources Tefillah (the Prayer).
- Kursleiter*in: Eljezer Reich