Menachem Mendel

Here is an informative obituary of Naphtali Wieder (1905-2001) from the Independent.

Posted on February 25th, 2010 under Liturgy. Comments: 1

Both Makor Rishon (2.12.2010) and Behadrei Hareidim have reports about an interesting class-action suit. Two brothers are suing a number of publishers of siddurim and mahzorim, charging that despite claims to the contrary, these siddurim and mahzorim do not contain all of the prayers used during the entire year. In addition, because of [...]

Posted on February 14th, 2010 under Israel, Liturgy. Comments: 2

Here are some online resources for the study of Jewish liturgy and prayer:
1. Tzvee Zahavy’s website has an excellent collections of articles, books, a bibliography, and syllabuses.
2. The Beurei Hatefila Institute offers a very large selection of source sheets and resources for the study of Jewish liturgy.
3. The Prayer in Rabbinic Literature Database is a [...]

Posted on January 17th, 2010 under Liturgy, Online resources. Comments: 2

The Masorti Movement in Israel has published a new edition of their siddur, ואני תפילתי. A description of the siddur can be found here. The siddur will be distributed by the Yediot Achronot publishing house so it should be available in many bookstores within the next few days.

Posted on December 7th, 2009 under Conservative Judaism, Israel, Liturgy, New Books. Comments: None

Ynet has an article (Hebrew) titled “From Mainz to Beit ha-Shitta.” The article talks about one of the central prayers of the Yamim Noraim, Untaneh Tokef (see here for the poem in Hebrew). The authorship of this liturgical piece was attributed to Rabbi Amnon of Mainz (11th c.) for many years and recently [...]

Posted on September 27th, 2009 under High Holy Days, Israel, Liturgy. Comments: 1

The Rabbinical Assembly will be publishing a new mahzor next year. You can see some sample pages which can be downloaded here.

Posted on September 13th, 2009 under High Holy Days, Liturgy, New Books. Comments: None

Ynet has published an article (Hebrew) about changes which Rabbi Yuval Sherlow wants to make in the architecture and functioning of the synagogue (Orthodox) in order for it to be more welcoming to women. He isn’t necessarily so liberal when it comes to some things and many of these things have been standard in [...]

Posted on July 22nd, 2009 under Israel, Liturgy, Synagogue. Comments: 1

Ynet has an article which questions whether people should continue fasting on the tenth of Tevet, the seventeenth of Tamuz (just around the corner), and Tzom Gedaliah. By the number of comments, the writer seems to have touched upon a raw nerve (or an empty stomach). Also see this previous post in which [...]

Posted on July 1st, 2009 under Liturgy, Rabbinic Authority. Comments: None

From the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, a.k.a. CAD. (here)

For an example of its use in Akkadian see here. See here for a theory of how this definition may connect with the history of the synagogue.

Posted on June 2nd, 2009 under Bible Studies, Hebrew, Liturgy. Comments: None