Rhetoric of the Jewish Liturgy

Reuven Kimelman is Professor of Classical Judaica at Brandeis University and rabbi of the Beth Abraham Sephardic Congregation of New England. He is the author of The Mystical Meaning of ‘Lekhah Dodi’ and ‘Kabbalat Shabbat’ (Hebrew; 2003) and a contributor to The Cambridge History of Judaism and The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology.

• MAH TOVUA Psychological Introduction to Prayer ADON OLAMA Theological Introduction to Prayer PRELIMINARIESPreparing the Mind and Body for Prayer ASHREIPsalm 145 and the Liturgy PESUKEI DEZIMRA AND THE LITURGICAL USE OF SCRIPTUREA Liturgy in the Making THE SHEMA LITURGYFrom Covenant Ceremony to Coronation THE AMIDAHThe Literary Structure and the Rhetoric of Redemption ALEINUMeaning and Historical Context KADDISHIts Meaning in the Light of Its Origin CULMINATIONThe Liturgy as a Whole

‘ReuvenKimelman’s works on liturgy have been indispensablereading for decades. This new book is eagerly awaitedand promises to make a major contribution to attempts tounderstand the liturgy in the twenty-first century.’- Professor Jeremy Schonfield, author of Undercurrents ofJewish Prayer