Jewish Ritual

Daniel Judson, Kerry M. Olitzky

Description

A window into the meaning of Jewish rituals throughout history and today—
written especially for Christians.

Ritual moments and opportunities guide the daily life of practicing Jews. These spiritual practices give expression to Jewish identity and reflect Judaism’s core beliefs and values. But what can they mean to Christians seeking to understand their own faith? In this special book, Rabbis Olitzky and Judson guide you through the whys and hows of nine specific areas of Jewish ritual.

• Observing the Sabbath
• Keeping Kosher
• Putting on Tefillin (Prayer Boxes)
• Wrapping the Tallit (Prayer Shawl)
• Covering the Head
• Studying Torah
• Praying Daily
• Saying Blessings throughout the Day
• Going to the Ritual Bath

Providing you with the biblical and historical background of each practice, insight into its contemporary use and significance—including the often divergent approaches of different Jewish movements—and personal stories from rabbis and lay people, this easy-to-understand guide illustrates the deep meaning these rituals have in the Jewish relationship with God. Linking these practices to familiar rituals in the Christian tradition, Olitzky and Judson help you better understand the roots of Christianity and how the fundamentals of Judaism relate to and reflect your own spiritual foundation.

Sujets

• Rituals
• Philosophie et théologie
• List of Jewish prayers and blessings
• Jewish philosophy
• Judaism
• Religion
• Practice

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 23 avril 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781580235976
• Langue: English

Extrait

Jewish Ritual :
A Brief Introduction for Christians
2006 Second Printing
2005 First Printing
2005 by Kerry M. Olitzky and Daniel Judson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to Jewish Lights Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address / fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to [e-mail] .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olitzky, Kerry M.
Jewish ritual: a brief introduction for Christians / Kerry M. Olitzky and Daniel Judson.
p. cm.
Includes articles by other authors.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-210-4
ISBN-10: 1-58023-210-8 (quality pbk.)
1. Judaism-Customs and practices. 2. Judaism-Relations-Christianity.
3. Christianity and other religions-Judaism. I. Judson, Daniel. II. Title.
BM700.O433 2005
296.4 5-dc22
2004021971
Grateful acknowledgment is given for permission to print the material contained in this book:
Keeping Kosher: The Jewish Dietary Laws 2005 by Mark Sameth, Saying Grace and Ninety-Nine Other Blessings throughout the Day 2005 by Andrew Vogel, Going to the Ritual Bath 2005 by Debra Nussbaum Cohen. These contributions were based on material previously published in The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal 2002, published by Jewish Lights Publishing.
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright holders of all material used in this book. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions that may remain, and asks that any omissions be brought to their attention so they may be corrected in future editions.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cover Design: Sara Dismukes
For People of All Faiths, All Backgrounds
Published by Jewish Lights Publishing
A Division of LongHill Partners, Inc.
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Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
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A LSO AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES
Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
The Jewish Approach to God: A Brief Introduction for Christians by Rabbi Neil Gillman
For Jerry Levine and Laura Samberg Faino -KO
And the Reverend Coleman Brown -DJ
C ONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Would Christians Be Interested in the Rituals of Judaism?
A Note on the Text
1 Observing the Sabbath
2 Keeping Kosher: The Jewish Dietary Laws Rabbi Mark Sameth
3 Putting on Tefillin (Prayer Boxes)
4 Wrapping the Tallit (Prayer Shawl)
5 Covering the Head
6 Studying Torah
7 Praying Daily
8 Saying Grace and Ninety-Nine Other Blessings throughout the Day Rabbi Andrew Vogel
9 Going to the Ritual Bath Debra Nussbaum Cohen
Notes
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Contributors

About Jewish Lights
Copyright
P REFACE
J EWISH RITUAL GUIDES the daily life of practicing Jews. It informs the Jewish psyche. It gives concrete expression to Jewish identity, and it reflects deeply held beliefs and value systems. Some Jewish rituals are straightforward. Others are more complicated and require a great deal of explanation and instruction. This book is an introduction to the daily or weekly Jewish rituals that are best known and most practiced. Each chapter introduces you to a specific ritual. For those interested in exploring these rituals in greater depth, we have included a list of suggestions for further reading at the end of the book. Although we have limited the number of Hebrew words in each chapter, and have defined them as we have used them, we have also included a glossary at the back of this volume.
Judaism can be confusing because of the differing movements within Judaism and their divergent approaches to Jewish practice. Further,in the past few years, Judaism has been undergoing a small transformation as its liberal wing moves toward a more traditional approach to Jewish ritual practice. Previously, the more liberal movements often modified or abandoned certain rituals to reflect their particular theology.
The idea that ritual can be changed and adapted may also be confusing to some Christians (and some Jews as well). While there are established rules for ritual practice (emanating from the body of Jewish law called halakhah ), there is also a great deal of flexibility in the implementation of Jewish ritual, as well as opportunities for personal and creative expression.
We have written all the chapters except where a different author is noted, and each chapter, no matter the author, includes a variety of approaches to many of the rituals covered in this book. We have also tried to compare and contrast each ritual with relevant Christian religious practices to deepen their meaning for Christian readers.
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E ARE GRATEFUL to Jon Sweeney of Jewish Lights Publishing for inviting us to prepare this volume, motivated by the successful publication of our first collaborative effort, The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal (Jewish Lights). No book would be complete without the thoughtful guidance and support of the publishers, Stuart and Antoinette Matlins, whose optimistic and inclusive Jewish communal vision continues to inspire us. Grateful to them both, we are humbled by the opportunity to share their passion for Judaism and Jewish ritual with others and be elevated heavenward as a result. We also thank the many staff members of Jewish Lights Publishing who, with great care and compassion, gently moved this project along from concept through production and distribution. In particular, we thank our editor, Emily Wichland,who takes loving care with each word on the printed page.
We also thank the many people who read sections of this book, particularly those in the Christian community. In particular, we express our appreciation to Rich Basile, Kelley Connolly,the Reverend Michael Doyle,and the Reverend Dr. Kirk Smith.
We thank our families and children-Sandy Falk, Naftali and Maayan Falk-Judson and Sheryl, Avi, and Jesse Olitzky-who share with us a vision for a better world as shaped by the words of the Divine.
We must thank the Holy One of Blessing who has brought us to this day and constantly inspires us to do this sacred work together.
Rabbi Daniel Judson Rabbi Kerry ( Shia ) Olitzky
I NTRODUCTION : W HY W OULD C HRISTIANS B E I NTERESTED IN THE R ITUALS OF J UDAISM ?
I N SOME WAYS , this book marks a watershed moment. Because there are enough Christians today interested in Jewish rituals to warrant the publication of this book,we have reached a dramatic turning point in the way Jews and Christians see each other. It was precisely Jewish rituals from which the early church broke away. The apostle Paul vehemently rejected the detailed laws of Jewish observance, such as the many rules surrounding keeping kosher, and for almost two millennia this basic disapproval of Jewish ritual has been a part of the church.
But today we live in a far different world than the generations before us. The extent to which religions come into contact with each other is historically unprecedented. Jews and Christians not only live next door to each other, they often live with each other. You may be reading this book because you yourself or someone in your family is engaged in a relationship with someone who is Jewish. You may be seeking to better understand new Jewish parents-in-law, a new Jewish brother-in-law or daughter-in-law, or maybe a new Jewish wife or husband.
Some Christians may delve into this book out of an interest in Christian history. You may want to learn more about the tradition out of which Christianity sprang. In exploring Jewish rituals, you will find that some are profoundly similar to Christian rituals, such as the mikvah and baptism (see chapter 9 ). Not only may this knowledge provide you with an understanding of Jewish ritual, but it may also give you a deeper understanding of your own Christian faith as well. We should note that there is a lot of precedent in Christian history for just this type of religious inquiry. We know, for example, that the Pilgrims were fascinated with Hebrew and studied with the rabbis of Holland to learn the language so that they could read and translate the Hebrew Scriptures for themselves.
Some Christians may be coming to this book for yet a third reason. We live in a syncretistic age; that is, an age in which there is a great deal of borrowing and swapping between cultures and religions. Judaism and Christianity have always borrowed ideas from each other and have even adapted rituals from each other, but today, with the advent of the Internet, this trend has increased exponentially. You may be turning to this book with the intention of finding a practice that speaks to you, a practice you could adopt as your own.
Jewish mysticism contends that there are basic fissures in the fabric of the world-broken places where God s presence cannot be felt. It is the obligation of each individual to perform tikkun (repair), healing acts to mend these broken places of the world. The history of Jewish-Christian relations is such a place of brokenness. It is in need of millions of acts of mending. We fervently hope that the writing and reading of this book will be one such act, one small tikkun in this process, allowing Jews and Christians to see each other s religion with greater clarity and greater respect.
A N OTE ON THE T EXT
A CCORDING TO JEWISH TRADITION , the first five books of the Bible were given as the Torah (or written law) to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. An oral law was given at