What You Will See Inside a Synagogue - Softcover

Hoffman, Rabbi Lawrence A.; Wolfson, Dr. Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594732566 ISBN 13: 9781594732560

Publisher: SkyLight Paths, 2008

Synopsis

A colorful, fun-to-read introduction that explains the ways and whys of
Jewish worship, faith, and religious life.

What You Will See Inside a Synagogue will:

• Satisfy kids’ curiosity about what goes on in synagogues attended by their friends, broadening awareness of other faiths at an important age when opinions and prejudices can first form.
• Provide Jewish children with a deeper understanding of the practices of their own religious tradition.
• Give children the opportunity to ask questions, making them more active participants.

Colorful full-page photographs set the scene for concise but informative descriptions of what is happening, the objects used, the clergy and laypeople who have specific roles, the spiritual intent of the believers, and more.

The What You Will See Inside... series is designed to show children ages 6–10 the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of traditional houses of worship, liturgical celebrations, and rituals of different world faiths, empowering them to respect and understand their own religious traditions―and those of their friends and neighbors.

About this title

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).

From Booklist:

Gr. 3-5, younger for sharing. The authors focus on the synagogues and services of three branches of North American Judaism--Conservative, Reconstruction, and Reform. Clearly establishing Judaism as a religion as opposed to a race or a nationality, they introduce readers to Sabbath customs, prayer, the sanctuary and its contents, the Torah, important holidays and life cycle events, and key tenets of the faith, such as giving to others and repairing the world. Topics are presented in attractive double-page spreads comprising succinct text, full-color photographs, and pronunciation guides for Hebrew words. Numerous sidebars containing captioned, close-up photographs of a variety of ritual objects are a plus. This is a worthy successor to older titles such as Joan Sugarman's Inside the Synagogue (1984), and it will be welcomed in religious school collections as well as school and public libraries where Judaism or comparative religion is a subject of interest. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: SkyLight Paths
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1594732566
• ISBN 13: 9781594732560
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32