Jewish Liturgy and Synagogue Life

 

This year's school will address the history and development of Jewish liturgy from its earliest and formative stages to contemporary attempts at forging new and innovative forms of prayer. Seminars will examine the historical and theological contexts in which normative jewish liturgical texts were created and disseminated. Specific topics of inquiry will include: the relationship of prayer to poetry; prayer as a mystical experience; the development of musical contexts for liturgical expression; the evolution of liturgical texts from Qumran and the talmudic/geonic periods through the Middle ages; varietirs of liturgical development among specific Jewish communities; a comparative study of Christian and Jewish liturgies; prayer as the religious expression of elite and non-elite groups within the Jewish community; contemporary liturgy and the challenge of feminism. A day-long trip to ancient synagogues in the Galilee will attempt to provide a sense of the physical and social environments in which liturgical texts were produced and employed.