This study analyzes mythic narratives, found in the 8th century midrashic text Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer (PRE), that were excluded, or ‘repressed’, from the rabbinic canon, while preserved in the Pseudepigrapha of the Second Temple period. Examples include the role of the Samael (i.e. Satan) in the Garden of Eden, the myth of the Fallen Angels, Elijah as zealot, and Jonah as a Messianic figure. The questions are why these exegetical traditions were excluded, in what context did they resurface, and how did the author have access to these apocryphal texts. The book addresses the assumptions that underlie classic rabbinic literature and later breaches of that exegetical tradition in PRE, while engaging in a study of the genre, dating, and status of PRE as apocalyptic eschatology.

How did ancient Jewish authors claim authority for their interpretations? How, after the “end of prophecy”, could they claim the authority of revelation? Whom did one have to be, or aspire to be, in order to merit authority? Hindy Najman addresses these questions through close readings of ancient Jewish texts, e.g., Ezra-Nehemiah, Philo of Alexandria, 4Ezra, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Jubilees. In Seconding Sinai (Brill, 2003), Najman reconceived pseudepigraphy, developing the idea of a Mosaic discourse that comprised a series of ancient texts attributed to Moses. Here she develops the broader notion of a discourse tied to a founder, situating practices of pseudepigraphy and authoritative interpretation within a variety of ways of seeking perfection in ancient Judaism.

My thesis in this book is simple. Jews pray every day in holy synagogues and in ordinary places throughout the world. When they do so, they engage in sacred rituals and they recite and sing and meditate prayers that derive from six archetypes. I invite you to meet the six personalities: the performer, the mystic, the scribe, the priest, the meditator and the celebrity.

This is not a book about the origins and historical development of Jewish liturgy, but rather about different templates of Jewish liturgy and the liturgical experience. Tzvee does not believe that Jewish prayer and its texts are uniform in either theology or medium, and we should learn to welcome this diversity. He invites people to come “to the synagogue to witness a rock festival with six bands performing.

Each presentation has its own sound, lyrics and style. I will show you in the coming chapters that, in the Siddur and the synagogue, I see a book and its performances that make up a complex set of multiple voices. Sometimes, the personalities behind those voices speak to one another or perform together. Oftentimes, they sing past one another, separately and apart.

I think that this is maybe the most important lesson of the book. There is an acknowledgement and welcoming of the diverse liturgical texts and experiences that Judaism has to offer.

The author’s interest is also not limited to the liturgy of the synagogue. There is a discussion of the Passover Seder and the myriad of blessings that a person can recite during the day. By expanding the borders of what is often thought of as Jewish liturgy, i.e. limited to what is recited in the synagogue, Tzvee opens up additional avenues for people to appreciate Jewish prayer and liturgy.

I recommend God’s Favorite Prayers to anyone who is looking for a book that will help him/her gain a greater appreciation and knowledge of the different Jewish liturgical experiences and possibilities that are available.

I sent Tzvee a number of questions that he was kind enough to answer.

Q: In your book you skillfully illustrate the different types of liturgical texts and experiences that are found in Judaism. Do you envision most people being able to identify with these different types concurrently, or will they find themselves drawn to certain experiences and texts more than others?

A: Worshippers ought to be educated to use the prayers of the various archetypes to evoke the varied elements of their spiritual personalities. In actuality, some people will be eclectic and some will be one dimensional. I do believe that every Jew has the potential to activate all six archetypes in a greater or lesser degree by tuning in to the contents of our masterpiece prayers in the siddur and the machzor.

Q: And what about you personally?

A: I identify more strongly with the Scribe and less so with the Celebrity. At times I am a Meditator, especially at the end of Yom Kippur. I write about my father who fit more into the Priest archetype. In a sense, I try to describe the genetic makeup of the Jewish soul as expressed in the prayers. The application of my framework will vary according to the time, place and person.

Q: What is your opinion about new liturgical texts? Are there any that you find meaningful, and if so, why?

A: On Tisha B’Av I use the version of the Nachem paragraph that Abraham Rosenfeld wrote after the Six Day War. I do hope that bringing more substantive focus to the emotional meanings of the prayers and to their “personalities” will enable us to revise and sharpen their dramatic spiritual impact.

The Greeks and Romans were mostly preoccupied with the monotheism of the Jews, their customs and rituals such as abstinence from pork, Sabbath, and circumcision, and their success: proselytism.

The recent Musaf Shabbat of Makor Rishon includes a review of two recent publications on the Cairo Geniza. One is the most recent volume of Ginzei Kedem, the annual devoted to Geniza Studies. The other book is הקנון הסמוי מן העין: חקרי קנון וגניזה. The second book looks like a very interesting collection of multi-disciplinary articles about the Geniza and canonization in general.

-Chaya T. Halberstam. Law and Truth in Biblical and Rabbinic Literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. (review here)

The theme of this book is the manner in which the rabbinic search for justice is characterized by fundamental uncertainty. In her introduction, Chaya T. Halberstam characterizes the Hebrew Bible as presenting a world in which divine truth can be apprehended by humanity. However, she argues that the rabbis had to grapple with the problem of how fallible human beings could ever aspire to delivering true justice. They thus experienced a tension between, on the one hand, the need to aspire to true justice and, on the other, the need “to accept and even sanctify imperfect, human juridical activity” (p. 3). The author explores this theme by reference to different judicial processes of legal decision making. Her case studies include ritual as well as criminal law and seek to juxtapose the operation of what she sees as the “assuredness” of biblical law with the ambiguity of narrative. Overall, the author sees the Hebrew Bible’s confidence regarding the possibility of divine justice as a matter of “rhetoric” (p. 109), sustainable in the light of its belief that divine omniscience supports human attempts to seek justice. This contrasts, she argues, with the uncertain stance of early rabbis who regarded access to divine truth as impossible, and therefore irrelevant to doing justice.

-Shulamit Ṿaller. Massekhet Sukkah: Text, Translation and Commentary. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009. (review here)

Shulamit Valler’s book is part of a mega-project under the editorship of Tal Ilan to produce the first feminist commentary to the Babylonian Talmud. In conformity with the series as a whole (and as outlined in Ilan’s Massekhet Ta’anit[1]), Valler opens her study with a general introduction to her particular tractate, followed with selected Mishnaic texts related to gender issues, followed by the bulk of the work–selected Babylonian Talmudic texts of the same sort but independent of the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud serves as the cornerstone of rabbinic Judaism, the Judaism that informed the Jewish people until emancipation and beyond; hence it is a timely and worthy project. It follows on the heels of similar projects examining the biblical canonical literature for Jews and Christians under the critical lens of feminism. Perhaps the project will push Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others in Eastern religions towards a similar critical examination of their own canonical collections. To wit, this social revolution is now possible after a generation of effort produced a critical mass of feminist scholars capable of putting the traditional text under such intense scrutiny.

Related to the second book review, see this video at Ynet (Hebrew) about batei midrash for women.