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 [...] 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 [...] 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).

Minhag Ami: Our Diary of Prayer Across the Centuries
Lawrence A. Hoffman
Introduction to the Liturgy: What to Look for in the Service
Introduction to the Commentaries: How to Look for Meaning in the Prayers

The Liturgy
1. Bar'khu
Call to Prayer
2. Yotser
Blessing on Creation
3. Birkat Hatorah
Blessing on Revelation
4. Sh¿ma
A. "Accepting the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven" (Deuteronomy 6:4¿8)
B. ¿Accepting the Yoke of the Commandments¿ (Deuteronomy 11:13¿21)
C. ¿The Section on Tassels¿ (Numbers 15:37¿41)
5. G¿ullah
Blessing on Redemption

About the Commentators
List of Abbreviations
Glossary