A Study of Jewish Worship

Judaism The Origin Of Which Dates From The Rejection Of Polytheism By The Patriarch Abraham Nearly Four Thousand Years Ago Is Committed To The Worship Of The One And Only God. In The Course Of That Long Period Of Devotion The Character Of That Worship Has Evolved From A Primitive Form To Progressively More Sophisticated Approaches Necessitated By Historical Circumstances. The Present Study Is Concerned Primarily With The Original Concept Of Worship Of The Divine In The Form Of A Sacrificial Cult Conducted By A Priestly Hierarchy As Described In The Biblical Pentateuch And The Later Transition To A Democratized Form Of Verbal Worship Conducted By The Laity In A Synagogue Or By The Individual In One’S Home As Described In The Rabbinic Literature.One Of The Significant Difficulties Encountered In Such A Study Is The Translation Of Biblical And Rabbinic Hebrew Texts Into English Which Employs Terminology Such As ‘Worship’ And ‘Prayer’ Terms Which Have No Reliable Biblical Or Rabbinic Hebrew Equivalent. Accordingly The Common Equation Of Worship In The General Sense Of Reverence Paid To A God With Prayer In The More Precise Jewish Sense Of Supplication Or Petition Can Be Misleading. Indeed Prayer Understood In The Latter Sense Constitutes A Rather Small Segment Of The Voluminous Liturgy Of Jewish Worship Much Of Which Is Drawn Directly From Scripture Whereas Prayer As Petition Both Formal And Personal Is Primarily The Product Of Individuals Confronting A Variety Of Challenges To Their And Their Coreligionists’ Social And Physical Wellbeing. The Principal Focus Of This Study Is On Prayer Understood In The Latter Sense Which Is Traditionally Interconnected With Benedictions Intended To Give Hope To Those Petitioning For Divine Beneficence.