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Lecturer(s)
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Visi Tamás, doc. Ph.D., M.A.
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Course content
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1 Why do we pray? (Prayers in the Bible - the emergence of prayer as a major form of worship during the Second Temple period - prayer in rabbinic literature - prayer as a religious duty) 2 The stabilization of Jewish liturgy during the Middle Ages (Babylonian vs. Israeli traditions, the geonic prayer-books, the emergence of the synagogue as a center of worship, piyyutim, minhagim, local variants) 3 Shema Yisrael 1: the halakhic theory (what is Shema? when and how to recite it?) 4 Shema Yisrael 2: the biblical texts (Hebrew reading) 5 Shema Yisrael 3: blessings (Hebrew reading) 6 Siddur Rashi and Mahzor Vitry 7 Tefilla 1: the halakhic theory (what is Tefilla? when and how to recite it?) 8 Tefilla 2: the text (Hebrew reading) 9 Sefer Hasidim and Eleazar of Worms' commentary on the Tefilla 10 Aleinu: polemic and censorship (Abraham ben Azriel, Arugat ha-Bosem, Eizek Tirna, Sefer ha-minhagim) 11 Lekha Dodi (History and Hebrew reading) 12 Prayers in Jewish theology and mysticism (Maimonides? theory, post-Maimonidean approaches, Kabbalistic theories and practices)
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
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Learning outcomes
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Besides reading the most important Jewish prayers and liturgical texts the seminar will provide introduction to the most important concepts and halakhic principles of Jewish liturgy and to the structure and history of Jewish prayer-books. We will also discuss some of the theological, philosophical, and mystical theories concerning prayers that circulated in medieval and early modern Ashkenaz
Familiarity with the text of the basic prayers and with the basic liturgical concepts Ability to read Shema and Tefilla in Hebrew and to translate them to the student?s native tongue Familiarity of the basic intellectual trends in medieval Ashkenaz.
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Prerequisites
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Elementary knowledge of Hebrew
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Oral exam
Participation in classes, (50%); oral exam at the end of the semester (50%)
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Recommended literature
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. (2008). Sidur Adir Ba-marom. Praha.
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Haym Soloveitchik. (1987). Religious Law and Change: The Medieval Ashkenazic Example. AJS Review 12, 205-221 .
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Haym Soloveitchik. (1976). Three Themes in the ´Sefer Hasidim´. AJS Review 1,311-357.
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Israel M. (2004). Israel M. Ta-Shma, "Al kama inyanei Mahzor Vitry," in idem, Knesset Mehqarim, vol. 1, 62-76. Jerusalem: Bialik.
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Israel M. (2004). Ta-Shma, Ha-tefilla ha-ashkenazit ha-qeduma (The Early Ashkenazic Prayer) . Jerusalem: Magnes.
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Ivan Marcus. (1981). Piety and Society: The Jewish Pietists of Medieval Germany . Leiden: E. J. Brill.
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J. Newman, G. Sivan. (1992). Judaismus od A do Z . Praha.
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Stefan C. Reif. (1993). Judaism and Hebrew Prayer . Cambridge.
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