May God Remember: Memory and Memorializing in Judaism—Yizkor
Through a series of lively introduction and commentaries, over thirty contributors--men and women, scholars, rabbis, theologians, and poets, representing all Jewish denominations--examine the history and ideas behind Yizkor, the Jewish memorial service, and this fascinating chapter in Jewish piety.
Featuring the traditional prayers--provided in the original Hebrew and a new and annotated translation--this fourth volume in the Prayers of Awe series explores the profound theological questions at the core of this service and our own humanity: What happens to us after we die? Is there really an afterlife? Does our fate after death depend on the goodness with which we have pursued our earthly life? And more.
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Book details
- Edited by
- Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, Dr. Annette M. Boeckler, Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler
- Imprint
- Jewish Lights, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 304
- Formats
- Hardcover, Paperback
- Series
- Prayers of Awe
- Subjects
- Religion › Judaism › Rituals & Practice
Religion › Prayer - Topics
- Jewish memorial service · Jewish prayer · afterlife · Jewish theology · death and remembrance · Jewish rituals
- ISBN-13
- 9781580236898 (Hardcover)9781683361886 (Paperback)
About the author
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).