| Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life Contributor(s): Hoffman, Lawrence A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1580232485 ISBN-13: 9781580232487 Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing OUR PRICE: $17.99 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2006 Annotation: Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, a well-known pioneer in synagogue transformation for the twenty-first century, provides a framework for the theoretical understanding of what synagogues are and what they yet can be. He provides a theological rational for the synagogue, defining what constitutes transformative, not just additive, change, and explores alternative systemic infrastructure that is likely to yield the kind of community best positioned to carry religious Judaism into the future. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Judaism - General - Religion | Leadership |
| Dewey: 296.650 |
| LCCN: 2006013536 |
| Physical Information: 0.64" H x 6.04" W x 8.98" (0.74 lbs) 240 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Jewish |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A critical and challenging look at reinventing the synagogue, as the centerpiece of a refashioned Jewish community. "America is undergoing a spiritual revolution: only the fourth religious awakening in its history. I plead, therefore, for an equally spiritual synagogue, knowing that any North American Jewish community that hopes to be around in a hundred years must have religion at its center, with the synagogue, the religious institution that best fits North American culture, at its very core." Synagogues are under attack, and for good reasons. But they remain the religious backbone of Jewish continuity, especially in America, the sole Western industrial or post-industrial nation where religion and spirituality continue to grow in importance. To fulfill their mandate for the American future, synagogues need to replace old and tired conversation with a new way of talking about their goals, their challenges and their vision for the future. In this provocative clarion call for synagogue transformation, Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman summarizes a decade of research with Synagogue 2/3000--a pioneering experiment that reconceptualized synagogue life--providing fresh ways for synagogues to think as they undertake the exciting task of global change. |
Contributor Bio(s): Hoffman, Lawrence A.: - Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, has served for more than three decades as professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He is a world-renowned liturgist and holder of the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Chair in Liturgy, Worship and Ritual. His work combines research in Jewish ritual, worship and spirituality with a passion for the spiritual renewal of contemporary Judaism.His many books, written and edited, include seven volumes in the Prayers of Awe series: Who by Fire, Who by Water--Un'taneh Tokef; All These Vows--Kol Nidre; We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism--Ashamnu and Al Chet; May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism--Yizkor; All the World: Universalism, Particularism and the High Holy Days; Naming God: Avinu Malkeinu--Our Father, Our King; and Encountering God: El Rachum V'chanun--God Merciful and Gracious. Hoffman also edited the ten-volume series My People's Prayer Book: Traditional Prayers, Modern Commentaries, winner of the National Jewish Book Award; and coedited My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award (all Jewish Lights).Rabbi Hoffman cofounded and developed Synagogue 2/3000, a transdenominational project to envision and implement the ideal synagogue of the spirit for the twenty-first century. In that capacity, he wrote Rethinking Synagogues: A New Vocabulary for Congregational Life (Jewish Lights). |